Tabula Rasa

Summary

The text reflects on the personal experience of feeling overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of blankness, despite being emotionally aware and present.

Abstract

The protagonist of the piece is depicted as someone who, despite being emotionally intact, experiences life's highs and lows as an observer, with his reactions failing to affect him deeply. He is aware of his internal confusion and turmoil but remains detached from these feelings, allowing them to exist without influence over his actions. This state of being is likened to "tabula rasa," a blank slate that is not empty but filled with potential, much like a book of destiny with unseen text waiting to be revealed through one's actions. The author describes the protagonist's emotional state as a quiet room filled with white smoke, suggesting a sense of calmness amidst the overwhelming sensation that defies articulation or containment. The narrative is a response to a writing prompt about what is overwhelming the author at the moment, with the protagonist's experience serving as a metaphor for navigating the complexities of life without being consumed by them.

Opinions

The protagonist's emotional state is misunderstood by others as disconnection or sadness, but he feels alive and connected in his own way.
He doubts those who cannot forgive or understand his non-extreme reactions to life's events.
The author suggests that the protagonist's experience of blankness is not emptiness but a profound state of being that is full of potential and connection to life.
The protagonist's emotional landscape is compared to a dark, quiet room filled with white smoke, symbolizing a tranquil yet overwhelming presence that cannot be defined or confined.
The text implies that the protagonist's internal world is rich and complex, despite appearances of detachment or lifelessness to outside observers.

Overwhelmed by a kind-of-nothing

He hasn’t lost his ability to feel, but the external stimulus of the excitement or the disappointment are just scenes of the movie he watches. Even when tears come out, it’s like these can’t wet his cheeks. When he smiles and laughs, he can sense the authentic source and cause inside, and that’s fulfilling by itself. He can detect his mind’s confusion and his chest’s upheaval when happening, but these don’t act on his behalf; these can do whatever “they” want. He is aware and that’s all.

His non-extreme reactions seem sad and lifeless to some “others”; they accuse him of disconnection. He doesn’t accuse them of anything; He just doubts the unforgiven…

He feels alive and connected. It looks like he experiences blankness. He does and he doesn’t. It’s like tabula rasa, which isn’t exactly blank. Or, like the book of destiny; its content has been engraved on the phenomenally blank pages, and our action will determine the way and the rhythm in which it’ll be fulfilled.

His chest is like a dark, quiet room full of white smoke. Could I say it’s empty? I think he’s just overwhelmed by something that can’t be imprisoned in hands or minds, and it doesn’t need to be named.

Anthi Psomiadou — CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International : Credit must be given to the creator/ Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted/ No derivatives

Thursday’s prompt: Overwhelmed

Tabula Rasa

Overwhelmed by a kind-of-nothing