or at least he did for me this week…Wenger had my full attention and unwavering support after reading on the first few pages. On page 175 he discusses his definition of belonging. What really touched me was his comment regarding the physical limits in time and space. It’s possible that the only reason it was a home run and not a double hitter could be because right now I feel completely overwhelmed (the physiological limits he mentions) and constrained by the number of hours in the day and the amount of items that need to be completed within the next 48 hours. If I listed them for you, I might even be considered a superhero, for I truly think that no human could possibly accomplish such a feat. I feel that I am not alone in this endeavor. I often hear others (including faculty, fellow students, friends, and family members) who share this pain. The physical boundaries of time don’t bulge. Therefore, when we cram enough activities/requirements of ourselves into that space, something has to give, and we know it isn’t the walls of time. Wenger mentions that a trade off of our swelling engagement is competence. How much competence is sacrificed in order to complete the tasks that we have required of ourselves? So much to do, yet so little time… It sounds like the old quality versus quantity debate. Who will win the battle? Either victory creates a loser. Is there an ideal victor? Could we find peace in times of war between quantity and quality? What drives me crazy about this debate is the fact that the outcome of such a battle impacts the individual’s identity. The degree of competence shapes our self esteem and how others view us (two defining characteristics, I think, in identity formation). This perception of self either by ourselves or by others impacts our identity and has implications in our lives. It determines your friends, your occupation, your opportunities, your life choices, etc. Yet, knowing all of this, many of us still insist on shoving more clothes into the suitcase of time. Why do we do it?
dmd340 says
That is my question, Why DO we do it? We all have the same 24 hours, and life is about choices…we choose to align ourselves with normative community activity which requires of us participation at the levels necessary to meet the parameters of the practice. Wenger cautions that such mix of allegiance and compliance is a form of identification manifesting through “pure relations of authority and submission”(p. 197). When alignment is achieved “at gunpoint”(p. 197), “it expresses a relation of power that seeps into the identities of those involved”(p. 197). Maybe that is why we do it.
Identity determined by power? Is this a true identity? An identity of choice? Alignment at any cost?
mtt143 says
I wonder why your notions of time are so rigid. Time is relative. If only we could all travel near the speed of light.
REBECCA WEST BURNS says
My thinking went something like this… Despite its relativity, wouldn’t it be bound by a limitation? That limitation could/would be different for each person, but you can’t create more time. You can create the illusion of more time by decreasing the amount of engagements, but we can’t manufacture more hours in a day.