Sunday, January 27, 2008

Dionysus and Apollo

I feel like I have a mental tug-of-war between my Dionysian and Apollonian tendencies. Growing up, I was not the best of students, and I almost never did homework at one point. I definitely did not care too much about school. It was not until later in high school and when I started going to college that I really got serious about doing work and being disciplined in my studies. Because I spent so much time without applying myself, I feel like I have a bit of Dionysus that will never leave me. Also, most of my friends are good representatives of the Dionysian lifestyle, and they tend to drag me back to that direction when I see them.
I try to avoid being Dionysian as much as possible. Ideally, I would like to be as much like Apollo as possible. I can pull it off most of the time. When I have work to do now, it always gets done. When I study, I don't get distracted easily and leave to go do other things. I also never let partying get in the way of finishing anything that needs to be done. I think I have become more and more like this lately because I have developed a lot of ambition, and I know that my Apollonian side needs to be present as much as possible to get me there.
The Dionysian side of me still exists, but in smaller doses. I would say that it only comes out in little bursts, and only when I feel the time is appropriate. I still have that side of me that wants to ignore school and go back to playing in punk bands, and the side of me that would rather fall asleep or do anything besides study or do homework. I guess I have to work on developing the perfect combination of the two.

3 comments:

Allen Q Lu said...

yeah, friends do always manage to drag you into things huh? ... Well, I think you are developing your apollo-dionysus personality quite well so far... good job concentrating in school and such.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you on getting the work done before partying. =) That just shows a lot about yourself and how you get your piorities straightened and I respect that.

*Kathy* said...

I really need to learn from you and your self discipline! I respect your drive and ambition. Don't worry toooo much about trying to be Apollonian, let your wild side out once in a while!