hannah arendt says "go outside!"

the writer and political theorist hannah arendt, who went out with philosopher heavy heidegger, fled germany in the 1930s (she was jewish), and hung out in paris with philosopher heavy walter benjamin. she was the first female full professor at princeton and wrote "the origins of totalitarianism", "on violence" and "on revolution". a smart cookie all around, so to speak.

but she also wrote about public space, and how to have freedom we must have action, and in order for actions to be meaningful, they must be in public so that there is a "context in which individuals can encounter one another as members of a community"*. she wrote that "we first become aware of freedom or its opposite in our intercourse with others, not in the intercourse with ourselves". you won't know how to think about what you're doing and who you are if you do it alone, you must go out into public spaces and see how other people act to have a context. you might not realize you're crazy or that you're genius or totally normal and a-ok.

i like this idea and think it directly applies to taking public transport where you see a wide range of characters, from adorable kid-parent interactions to sitting next to people that smell because they don't have access to a shower to business men and gangsters and punks and fashion students etc. if i didn't take public transport, i would pretty much only see people that are like me, my six co-workers and five good friends and the people who work at whole foods and trader joes, and the bicycle gangers. i think it's healthy to be reminded of and interact with the rest of the world. so thanks, hannah arendt, for proverbially "keeping it real".

*Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy : http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/arendt.htm