LECKEN Appassionata

There are times when the most effective way to access our character is to suspend the relatively organized structure of our identity and let ourselves fall into a less organized state of being. During such moments, we are engulfed by what could be called a "swerve of passion": a sudden surge of passion that disrupts our normal existential rhythm, jolts us out of complacency, and overpowers, sometimes even erases, our usual sources of passion.

Such experiences make us feel as if we were lifted above the mundane. We let ourselves be transported "beyond thinking." Rather than evaluating the conversation we are having, we simply converse. Rather than dissecting the erotic encounter we are enjoying, we simply enjoy. During such moments, we become so spellbound by the world's offerings that the normal distinction between self and other becomes permeable.

There is something inherently countercultural about passion. When we cease to be driven by our passions, when our aspirations no longer have the power to incite us, we become incapable of conceiving alternatives to our reality. It's like being caught up in repetition compulsion: we cannot imagine other modes of organizing our lives, no new ideals, values, goals, and ambitions can enter the world. The more we hold on to our idiosyncratic desires, the less receptive we are to the ideals and desires that the political and economic establishment makes available for us, with the result that we become harder to control, to brainwash.

This is why it is impossible to talk about character without talking about the inherent rebelliousness of passion. Listening to the call of character, and its singular passions, is one of the few ways to ensure that we do not become so immersed in the values of our cultural order that we completely lose our critical faculties.