3 of 4

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 6

In Taoism, it is letting go. For Nietzsche, the Dionysian satyr "was man's true prototype, an expression of his highest and strongest aspirations. For the Greek the satyr expressed nature in a rude, uncultivated state:"[3] Lao Tsu also emphasizes nature and emotion, as "the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees."[4]

Being back in college and living the life I do has put dualism in my face in a big way. Not only do I have the typical angst over choosing a major but I have had the misfortune of having my past rear its not so ugly head up at me, tempting me back into paths long forgotten. For years, I was a corporate whore; a depressed, technology addicted, fat, angry, anal retentive, pill popping, controlling, micro managing, bitter yuppie bitch. I had money. I had challenging work. But I hated everything about my life. I hated myself. There was this guy. He was the smartest man I'd ever met. I was the smartest woman he'd ever met. But we weren't necessarily compatible in a one-one relationship. It turned out he was happier without me. He decided to leave the country, to follow his dreams and go to South Korea for a year to teach English. I had no one. Nothing. I'd moved to Boulder with him because he'd gotten a great tech job there. It felt like he'd yanked the world out from under my feet. I tried to kill myself.

That was the turning point of my life; the division between the me' that was and the me' who is. In a very real way, I did kill that unhappy bitch that day. We have very little in common. I spent the last five years actively running away from my left brain and trying to cultivate my right brain instead. With great success, I have since managed to switch hemisphere dominance to become such a different person that I normally forget how much I've changed or how far I've come until events remind me of that distant past. I'm a happy, dreamy, giddy, free thinking, creative free spirit. I have friends now. I have a great life. I look ten years younger. I'm getting in touch with my body and my spirituality. No one who knows me now would ever guess that I once was so anal retentive that I literally didn't fart for five years.

So, again, I meet a guy. He's one of the smartest men in the world, a math genius. He's the god of the geeks, a legend among those in the know, the virtual king of Logos, and the very prince of Apollonian reason. I've got a touch of that myself. I've never met anyone who could understand my formulas before. He inspires

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about A comparative study of Eastern and Western philosophers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!