08.29.2022
[Pharresia] focuses on Philosophy, Culture, Tech, Theology, and more. The content stems from original pieces, curated links, and the occasional podcast.
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Newsletter. Last times Newsletter can be found below, as well as some of the things I’ve been reading lately:
Founded on Nothing: An Interview with Quentin Meillassoux
Updates
Hey everyone, I hope you all are doing well. I wanted to take some time to keep you all updated on the Newsletter for the coming weeks and into the holidays. This way, you can expect a Newsletter (or not) accordingly.
In the following weeks, roughly two weeks to be exact, I will be marrying my high school sweetheart. So if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I’ve been beyond busy, slightly burned out, and tinged with a hint of laziness.
With all of this in mind, I hope to deliver at least one more Newsletter next week before taking a one-month hiatus to enjoy my “wedding.” I haven’t told anyone about this. I usually refrain from talking about this stuff out of lack of interest, but since it conflicts with my ability to produce the weekly content, I need a break without ghosting the Newsletter.
If you wish to thank me in any way, consider supporting the Patreon all linked below, even if it’s for one month; we sincerely appreciate it, or even sharing this Newsletter, as it rapidly grows in the audience and clicks; any interaction from you all means the world to me.
Hope to catch you all soon,
-C.N
Notes on Friendship, the Midwest and Loneliness
I have recently been thinking about my relationships after college. So many of the high school friends I went to university with all acquired jobs, opportunities, or positions that have relocated them outside the state where I reside. Now it’s not like the state where I live is a big deal, but in essence, it comes down to some shame for living in the vacuous void of the Midwest.
In the absence of those I used to spend so much time with, talking, walking to class, or seeing in class, a sense of solitude permeates the average modern person’s life. The story often told involves an individual who moves out of their college town, finds a new job, and struggles with changes similar to the original acclimating period of moving to college. The struggles include finding new friends, becoming familiar with the new environment, which is to be called home, etc.
Many of these struggles are particularly unique; they are uneventful and plentiful, and everyone will face a similar battle at least once in their life.
The struggle I often find harder to grasp is feeling alienated in the new restructured place you call “home.” As I mentioned, many of my friends are gone, and that isn’t to say I have no friends; there are amazing people I am still connected with in person and over the internet, people I trust and care about deeply.
The struggle is the reconstitution of the familiar, for I consider this place in the middle of the midwest my home, yet I feel this overwhelming pressure of solitude.
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I feel as if there is a particularly crushing aspect to the midwest. Not only do young people rarely stick around, but if they do, it usually comes down to some sense of necessity.
There is almost a deeply metaphysical weight to this solitude as the land reflects the inner world of those who live here. For if you look in any particular direction, you are overwhelmed by the sublime and crushing immensity of the midwestern sky. A devastatingly massive expanse that tells you this is God’s land. In both a literal and barren sense, there is absolutely nothing that escapes the omnipresent stare of God’s face.
A deep blue stare.
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To my friends, I hope to see you all soon.
~Links~
“The self-assured believer is a greater sinner in the eyes of God than the troubled disbeliever.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
I would also like to send a special thank you to my Patrons:
James McGlade (Patreon name)
Mirrorvisc (Patreon name)
PantherModern (Patreon name)
My Patreon is connected to the podcast I co-host with @YAgamben.
We recently opened up a Patreon to help support the expenses to keep some of these operations running, including hosting and things of that nature.
We strictly want to follow a “buy me a cup of coffee” model, so any “donation” is welcome. If you want to support any of our work, consider becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/Decodecast.
-C.N.