#is it only about her ability? or did 14 years of hardships made him reflect in any way at all?

[originalaccountname]

Mori Ougai’s belief as the boss is [...] “The boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” For the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.” That is the duty of the boss. [...] “Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.”

Kafka Asagiri, for the BSD exhibition

On Mori and regret.

This man acts based on his perceived "optimal solution". It means relying on cold logic, detached from (his own and others') emotions. In that way, he fits right in as one of the smart characters of BSD, contrasting for example Dazai's way of working with/around people's feelings, and Fyodor's way of manipulating and twisting those feelings into monsters.

Mori remains cold, logical, distant, efficient. It meant disregarding Yosano's and the soldiers' deteriorating mental health during the war because the concept of an army that cannot be wiped out was too good. It meant following Natsume's plan and taking the old boss' place himself to fix Yokohama's underground and protect the city and its people. It also meant disposing of Mimic by sacrificing Oda in order to get the special ability business permit, despite (and perhaps because of) Dazai's attachment to the man.

The thing is, humans are not logical creatures, and will inevitably encounter conflicting emotions.

(does this look like the face of a man without regrets to you?)

Mori in Dark Era tried to pass on to Dazai his practice of putting aside his own feelings for the sake of choosing the most efficient solution that will benefit the group. It backfired spectacularly, so much so even, that Mori regrets it to this day.

For the BSD exhibition, Asagiri wrote some individual character commentaries, all very interesting insights into their characters and the writing intentions. For Mori, here's what he wrote:

“He who fell out of the optimal solution” Mori Ougai’s belief as the boss is described in the novel “Dark Era” and “Dazai, Chuuya, Fifteen”. That is “The boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” For the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.” That is the duty of the boss. There is an unspoken additional point to it. “Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.” We can catch a glimpse of that in this scene. [the ADA-PM alliance meeting] Mori’s expressions after “Burnt it.” and “Like what you did to your predecessor”, gave us a glimpse of his true feelings that were made sacrifices for the sake of the “logical optimal solution”. (By the way, it goes without saying that Dazai is inducing Mori’s thoughts by words that will make him regret the past. It is to make him decide to form an “alliance”.) source and translation: Popopretty

(notice the inclusion of Hirotsu in this scene. Remember that later, Hirotsu suggests that Dazai knows why Mori did what he did to overthrow the old boss, which, in my opinion, is both a proof of Dazai's support in Mori's goal, and a reminder to uphold it.)

One of my favourite parts of the Dark Era light novel is a small scene during the epilogue that was not adapted into the anime. This is two weeks after Dazai defected:

To quote Asagiri again, "Therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings." Mori is conflicted about the outcome of the Mimic incident. He holds in his hands the Silver Oracle he himself gave to Oda, and reflects on its purpose: to "help the man mentioned above without hesitation in the face of any and all trials". Didn't he fail to do just that with Oda? Didn't he set him up and sent him to his doom? Didn't he abandon him to his trial?

But he rationalizes the events by saying he got the permit they so badly needed. No matter if he sacrificed one of his men. No matter if he drove Dazai away. He accomplished his priceless goal. It was a total success.

And yet, he poorly folds a paper airplane with the very Silver Oracle he gave Oda, throws it, watches it crash immediately, and mourns the loss of his right-hand man, without ever moving on.

But we have a direct example of Mori expressing regret.

The perception that Mori in BEAST is a completely different character than Mori is in canon, when that perception doesn't extend to any other character from that universe, rubs me the wrong way. The characters in BEAST are very similar to their canon selves, with some core traits getting a new twist. They are all one or two major life changes away from becoming these versions of themselves. As far as we know, Mori's only life-altering event was being forcefully removed from the Port Mafia by Dazai, and secretly put in charge of Atsushi's old orphanage.

Mori unambiguously made that orphanage a better place, as stated by Atsushi himself. BEAST!Mori is a lot softer, vulnerable and honest. That Mori offers to be a father to Atsushi while he heals. He also expresses regret in not being able to help Dazai when he was in his care.

I think it's very interesting, especially when knowing that Asagiri wrote both BEAST and Fifteen at the same time for the Dead Apple movie, because in Fifteen we have this:

The beginning of the first chapter of Fifteen is a gold mine. It is narrated from Mori's point of view, the man of logic and calculations, and yet it is full of doubt. He is alone and struggling to fix everything with so many people against him. But, throughout this scene about grasping at the Port Mafia's power, there is also this secondary thought being woven in, of Mori having started to actually care for Dazai.

The teenager is scary to him, smart enough to be a threat should he decide to be done with all this and turn against him, and yet, he immediately (and with a hint of sadness) finds that Dazai reminds him of himself. This lonely, lonely man found a kindred spirit, bright enough to grasp any situation in seconds and prone to using an uncomfortable obsession to divert and keep you guessing his true intentions. Mori entered Mentor Mode™ then. He taught Dazai his ways, he shared his struggles and thought process, he fought tooth and nail to keep him alive.

So when he asked Dazai why he wanted to die, it was with the concern of someone who has started to care. It was with the mind of someone who is trying to prevent the worst by fixing the problem at its source.

(translation: Reneray)

But it's also that self-projection/ability to relate that made him drive Dazai away, when he pushed too hard and forced Dazai to adhere to his optimal solution philosophy. Because Dazai cannot separate himself from his attachments, could not ignore his emotions like Mori does, and chose Oda over Mori's logic. From Dazai's point of view, that was betrayal. Mori and him were accomplices!

Dazai planted the idea that Mori was afraid of him taking over as boss, and Mori seems to agree with that thought (would it be because he feared for his life, or for Dazai's ability to replace him?) Yet, for a man afraid of his closest subordinate backstabbing him, he seems to be hanging on quite hard to the possibility of Dazai coming back, leaving his seat open to this day, inviting him back twice in the same arc, and...

(yeah I used this picture at the start too. "I hAvE nO rEgReTs" he says)

Mori may try to convince himself he feels no regrets and no guilt over his own actions by weighting gains and losses objectively, but he still hurts and has a very hard time moving on. He's human despite his best efforts, prone to mistakes and doubts. He's lonely and wishes to impart his knowledge onto others. His cold logic has both helped him in fixing the city, and alienated him from some of the people he most cared about.

In a similar vein, should the ADA employee transfer be of topic again, and should Mori clash with Yosano again, I wish we get to see some similar conflicting emotions in Mori between the usefulness of Yosano's ability, and Yosano herself as a person. The war was 14 years ago, that's a long time, and I want to believe that counts for something.

[stardustandheart]

YOUR PURPOSE

hi my beautiful readers,

recently in my intrapersonal communication class, we were asked the questions “what is your passion?” and “do you know your life purpose?”

if you don't have an answer to these questions, don't freak out! i have the perfect solution for you.

first of all though, i need you to know that you do not have to know everything right now in this moment. you might feel like you just suck as a person if you don't know your passion by now, but let me tell you something. there is nothing wrong with that! who says you have to have it all figured out? nobody but yourself. that voice telling you that you have to know it all is your own subconscious convincing you that you're not interesting enough. guess what? i'm still figuring myself out. but, relax, take a deep breath, and don't stress because what I am about to share with you will be a great exercise in giving you a reality check of the beautiful person you REALLY, truly are! you are unique, and you are awesome.

below is a list of 15 questions to help you figure out your life purpose. put on some comfy clothes, find your own personal little space, put away all distractions, grab a piece of paper and a pen, and write away. you will be amazed.

i have posted my answers below the exercise, so you can know a little bit more about me too. 

little tip: write your answers with a smile on your face to remind yourself of the beautiful person you really are.

1. what makes you smile? (activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)

2. what are your favorite things to do in the past? what about now?

3. what activities make you lose track of time?

4. what makes you feel great about yourself?

5. who inspires you most? (anyone you know or do not know. family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) which qualities inspire you, in each person?

6. what are you naturally good at? (skills, abilities, gifts etc.)

7. what do people typically ask you for help in?

8. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

9. what would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

10. you are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside your porch; you can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. you are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? list them out.

11. what are your deepest values?

select 3 to 6 and prioritize the words in order of importance to you.

12. what were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? how did you do it?

13. what causes do you strongly believe in? connect with?

14. if you could get a message across to a large group of people, who would those people be? what would your message be?

15. given your talents, passions and values, how could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? (to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)

now, it's time to compose your own personal mission statement.

“writing or reviewing a mission statement changes you because it forces you to think through your priorities deeply, carefully, and to align your behavior with your beliefs.” ~Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

a personal mission consists of 3 parts:

what do I want to do?

who do I want to help?

what is the result? what value will i create?

steps to creating your personal mission statement:

1. do the exercise with the 15 questions above as quickly as you can.

2. list out actions words you connect with.

3. based on your answers to the 15 questions, list everything and everyone that you believe you can help.

4. identify your end goal. how will the ‘who’ from your above answer benefit from what you ‘do’?

5. combine steps 2-4 into a sentence, or 2-3 sentences.

now, you have a perfect little biography to put into whatever social media account! just think about it, people will read that and be amazed. yeah baby, you're awesome. embrace it loud and proud. :)

my answers:

what makes you smile? (activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)

seeing a movie at the theater with popcorn and an ICEE, zumba, making snapchat videos with my boo, going out to dance, seeing my world from 30,000 feet in the air, eating ice cream, seeing paris, getting a lovey-dovey text from my boo (Chris), going to the beach & feeling the breeze, jamming out to music with the windows down, cuddling with my Chris, babies, weddings, funny movies & TV shows, receiving compliments from people about my singing, & when something is super awesome and/or amazing.

what are your favorite things to do in the past? what about now?

past: singing & playing the piano, writing, going shopping, going to the movies, sleepovers, flying/traveling, spending time with friends & family, going to the park, zumba, drawing.

now: singing & playing the piano, writing, spending time with Chris, going to the beach, going to the movies, flying/traveling, watching netflix and/or movies & TV shows, zumba, spending time with friends & family, cuddling, making people smile and laugh.

what activities make you lose track of time?

spending time with my Christopher, singing, writing, shopping.

what makes you feel great about yourself?

helping somebody, singing, zumba, making people smile and laugh, receiving compliments about my singing, knowing that i’ve inspired someone in a special way, whether it’s through music, writing, or an act of kindness.

who inspires you most? (anyone you know or do not know. family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) which qualities inspire you, in each person?

Christopher: he is my 2nd biggest inspiration. he inspires me to always do my best in whatever i do. he pushes me to be the best version of myself. he gives me reality checks when i need them. he tells me what i don’t like to hear, but what i need to hear. his work ethic is unparalleled; it inspires me to work harder. his open-mindedness inspires me to not be quick to judge and to see things from different angles. his positive spirit inspires me to be positive and more optimistic. his support for my hopes and dreams inspires me to never give up on them.

my dad: he is my #1. his wisdom and patience is what inspires me the most. he inspires me to be more patient towards everybody i encounter. his intelligence inspires me to be a smarter thinker and doer. his humility and loving heart inspires me to always love and to put my whole heart into everything i do. he also inspires me to pursue all of my dreams and goals. his willingness to help me whenever i have a problem inspires me to help use my gifts and talents to help others in whatever way that i can.

my grandmother: her down-to-earth personality inspires me to dream, but to also remember and consider the realistic side of things. her classiness inspires me to be classy too. she also has a little bit of a funny side, and that inspires me to stay positive even in the midst of hard moments. her wise insight inspires me to not think so close-mindedly, and i truly value that.

what are you naturally good at? (skills, abilities, gifts etc.)

loving, singing, playing the piano, empathizing with other people, giving good life & relationship advice, seeing the good in others, organizing, completing tasks, accomplishing goals.

what do people typically ask you for help in?

people usually ask me for my advice before making a decision, big or small. they typically ask me what i think about it and if they have a few options, they ask me to help them decide which option would be best. sometimes people ask me to help them with their romantic relationships too.

if you had to teach something, what would you teach?

i would teach on the importance of communication in relationships, especially romantic ones. i can’t stress how important that is. after being in a relationship for almost two years with Chris (that wasn’t always perfect), i have learned immensely. now, after having improved my communication skills, i am in the most blissful state in my romantic relationship. the power of good communication is unbelievable. not only will it avoid so many problems; it will completely transform your relationship in that it will give birth to the deepest and sweetest type of intimacy (the kind that everybody wants, but only a few people actually have).

what would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

nothing. i wouldn’t be who i am or how i am today if i had done things differently in the past. i love who I am and what i’ve done in the past only motivates me to do better in the future.

you are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside your porch; you can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. you are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed; what matters to you most? list them out.

what matters the most to me is that i have lived a beautiful life because i chose to be happy and chose to soak up the beauty of this life every single day by loving everybody and everything. i will have lived the greatest life with the love of my life, Christopher, who is my favorite human being and who does anything and everything he can to make me happy. he is my biggest blessing. i will have lived a beautiful life with him and we will have created a beautiful family who represents both of our incredible values combined. i will have traveled to almost everywhere in the world through my career as a successful flight attendant who made a true difference in the lives of her passengers. Chris and i will have accomplished all of our dreams and goals for the future. i will reflect on my loving and incredible parents. they are my foundation and my steady, constant thing. i will have made many friendships through my career as a world traveler and will have made some of the most amazing friends. i will have lived the best life because i was happy. nothing else matters.

what are your deepest values?

friendship, health/fitness, family, honesty, integrity, security, independence, intimacy, love, passion, curiosity, inner peace, joy, personal growth, relationship, respect, spirituality, success, comfort.

select 3 to 6 values and prioritize the words in order of importance to you.

love, passion, health, inner peace, independence, relationship.  

what were some challenges, difficulties and hardships you’ve overcome or are in the process of overcoming? how did you do it?

right now, i am in the process of enduring the hardships that come with a long distance relationship. it’s not easy, but it is worth it. sometimes, trust can be hard, but that’s when i have to remember that Christopher and i love each other very much, and that we would not hurt each other. i am also dealing with this hardship by becoming better friends with this thing called acceptance. i am accepting that i am far away from him. i am accepting that i have to share him with other people. i am accepting whatever is meant to happen and trusting the process. acceptance is hard. but, it is my biggest life lesson right now. what a difference it can make when you choose to accept something. acceptance is the first step to overcoming anything, trust me.

what causes do you strongly believe in? connect with?

blood donation is something that i feel really strongly about. it’s incredibly powerful to think that taking an hour out of your day to do something that so simple and virtually painless can mean the difference between life and death for someone in need. blood is needed more than you think; car accidents, cancer patients, and surgeries are just a few examples. blood is the life force. donating blood is nothing but time for the donor, but a potential life changer for someone in need.

if you could get a message across to a large group of people, who would those people be? what would your message be?

i would give this message to everybody in the whole world: be in love with everything in your life. this is the only way you will live happiness, not “achieve” it. it makes me sad to see people go through life searching to be happy when it’s actually a journey, not a constant search. YOU are the only one who can control how you feel, unless you let others do that for you, but don’t! i have had to learn this the hard way. choose to be happy. fall in love with everything. if you do this, you will look at everything with light and love, and you will always glow. you will see the good in everything and in everybody.

given your talents, passions and values, how could you use these resources to serve, to help, to contribute? ( to people, beings, causes, organization, environment, planet, etc.)

nothing makes me happier and more fulfilled than having touched somebody’s heart when i have just sung. i’m not interested in using my talents and passions to contribute to causes and/or organizations; i want to do something bigger than that, something larger than life itself. i want to make people happy and cared for. i want to spread love in any way that i can. through my musical gifts and loving personality, i will remind people of the importance of love and how our world needs it more than ever right now. love is the life force - it is what keeps us connected. sometimes we lose this or we can’t feel it. i want to be the person that gives it. i want to be the one who makes a difference in the life of somebody who forgot what love felt like. i want my excitement for life to radiate out of me and to enter other souls like a contagious virus (a good virus). i want people to be happy and to see the beauty of this world and life we’ve been given.

here are some of my values and goals:

what matters most is my connection with myself, being present and feeling blissful.

what I value most is having meaningful relationships with people and being happy.

i plan to travel to many different parts of the world. experiencing different cultures, documenting them in photographs and sharing them with others.

having a family is important to me. i desire a deep, loving relationship with my spouse.

to live everyday fully as if it was my last.

My Personal Mission Statement:

my purpose in this life is to create an atmosphere of love, positivity, and vibrancy. i will accomplish this by encouraging and helping people, giving, spreading and sharing my positive spirit with them, inspiring and nurturing them, and by understanding them. above all, I will love them, because love is the ultimate life force. it is the bridge between you and everything.

The source: http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/life-on-purpose-15-questions-to-discover-your-personal-mission

XOXO- jami 

[helloworlddemo1122-yahoopar-blog]

Sarah Drew Shares Sentimental Message After 'Grey's Anatomy' Farewell: 'It Feels Like a Little Death'

Warning: Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched Thursday's season 14 finale of Grey's Anatomy.

Farewell, April Kepner.

Grey's Anatomy star Sarah Drew bid adieu to her beloved character after nine seasons on Thursday's season 14 finale of ABC's medical drama, which saw April saying "I do" to her old flame, Matthew (Justin Bruening). Following the episode, Drew shared rare, never-before-seen photos on Instagram from her swan song, where she reflected on her decade-long run April, whom she's played since season six, in a heartfelt message to the fans.

"It's hard to say goodbye to characters I've played. It always feels like a little death, but this is different," Drew said in an emotional post on Thursday evening. "I've lived with April nine months out of the year every year for nine years. She's a part of me. I'm a part of her. Saying goodbye to her is big and deep and sad and beautiful and joyous. It's all the feelings mashed up into one."

"Because I've spent so much time with her, advocating for her, investing in her journey, she feels like a real person to me. She's been through a lot of joy and a lot of pain, and I've felt that joy and that pain while playing those scenes. Her stories have made their way deep into my soul. So it is hard to let her go," she continued, revealing the lessons she's learned by inhabiting April. "She has taught me about courage, about taking a leap no matter what anyone else says. She has taught me about resilience. She was fired twice and then came back twice with her whole heart ready to throw herself into whatever was put in front of her with no resentment or anger. She lived through unspeakable pain and fought to heal not only herself but her marriage as well."

"She was beautifully flawed and unapologetic about needing to work through her pain in whatever way was necessary. I admire her courage. I admire her fighting spirit. I admire her ability to speak her mind regardless of what people think of her. And I admire her compassion and empathy," Drew added. "April’s faith journey has been especially important to me. It’s been my great joy to tell an honest story about an authentic, multi-faceted, complicated person of faith with a deeply felt faith journey."

"April’s journey has made an impact on so many, and it’s been my great privilege to hear their stories and know that through her, I’ve been able to meet people in their own suffering and to offer some comfort to them… to take away 1/60th of their pain (did you catch that reference?). This is truly why I love being an actor. To remind people that they are not alone," she wrote. "I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes and our incredible team of writers for giving me the opportunity not only to tell this story, but also to participate intimately in the development of her journey."

Thank you @ouafae_japril for putting together this beautiful April collage.☺️☺️ It’s hard to say goodbye to characters I’ve played. It always feels like a little death, but this is different. I’ve lived with April nine months out of the year every year for nine years. She’s a part of me. I’m a part of her. Saying goodbye to her is big and deep and sad and beautiful and joyous. Its all the feelings mashed up into one. Because I’ve spent so much time with her, advocating for her, investing in her journey, she feels like a real person to me. She’s been through a lot of joy and a lot of pain, and I’ve felt that joy and that pain while playing those scenes. Her stories have made their way deep into my soul. So it is hard to let her go. She has taught me about courage, about taking a leap no matter what anyone else says. She has taught me about resilience. She was fired twice and then came back twice with her whole heart ready to throw herself into whatever was put in front of her with no resentment or anger. She lived through unspeakable pain and fought to heal not only herself but her marriage as well. She was beautifully flawed and unapologetic about needing to work through her pain in whatever way was necessary. I admire her courage. I admire her fighting spirit. I admire her ability to speak her mind regardless of what people think of her. And I admire her compassion and empathy. April’s faith journey has been especially important to me. It’s been my great joy to tell an honest story about an authentic, multi-faceted, complicated person of faith with a deeply felt faith journey. April’s journey has made an impact on so many, and it’s been my great privilege to hear their stories and know that through her, I’ve been able to meet people in their own suffering and to offer some comfort to them… to take away 1/60th of their pain (did you catch that reference?). This is truly why I love being an actor. To remind people that they are not alone. I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes and our incredible team of writers for giving me the opportunity not only to tell this story, but also to participate intimately in the development of her journey.

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 7:01pm PDT

Having the opportunity to play the same character for nine seasons wasn't lost on Drew, who reflected on her personal growth over this period. "My nine years on Grey’s Anatomy has forever shaped and changed me. I grew as an actor and as a human. I developed beautiful life long friendships," she reminisced opposite side-by-side photos of April in season six and season 14. "This past year, I began my journey as a director and had the privilege of being taught by Chandra Wilson, Kevin McKidd and Debbie Allen."

"I was able to grow my family and have my two beautiful children while working in an environment that took great care of me thanks to Shonda Rhimes and the precedent she set," Drew singled out. "And I got to be a part of a show that continues to push boundaries, inspire people to pursue their dreams, find strength in hardship, and fight for what they believe in. What an honor and a privilege to have had the chance to be a part of this extraordinary family."

My nine years on Grey’s Anatomy has forever shaped and changed me. I grew as an actor and as a human. I developed beautiful life long friendships. I found my voice and learned how to collaborate creatively with our incredibly talented group of writers and with our leadership. Our writers are simply extraordinary. This past year, I began my journey as a director and had the privilege of being taught by Chandra Wilson, Kevin McKidd and Debbie Allen. I was able to grow my family and have my two beautiful children while working in an environment that took great care of me thanks to Shonda Rhimes and the precedent she set. And I got to be a part of a show that continues to push boundaries, inspire people to pursue their dreams, find strength in hardship, and fight for what they believe in. What an honor and a privilege to have had the chance to be a part of this extraordinary family.

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 7:02pm PDT

Drew gave the longtime Grey's fans their just due, as well, thanking them for supporting her and her character through thick and thin. "I can’t sign off without thanking all of YOU guys! The Grey’s Anatomy fans are some of the most passionate people I’ve ever encountered," she wrote, with a GIF of April happily walking down the hallway of Grey Sloan as a new chapter awaits. "Thank you for the years of encouragement and engagement and love. You are a FORCE!!! I love you!"

And lastly... I can’t sign off without thanking all of YOU guys! The Grey’s Anatomy fans are some of the most passionate people I’ve ever encountered. Thank you for the years of encouragement and engagement and love. You are a FORCE!!! I love you!

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 7:09pm PDT

In a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse of Drew's final days filming the finale, she posted a slew of Instagram photos and moving messages about her experience.

"It was such a joy to get to spend my final week on the show with almost everyone in the cast in a gorgeous location in Malibu. We laughed SO much, Goofed off WAY too much, and had our fare share of hugs and tears," she wrote alongside a candid shot of the Grey's cast during filming of the finale. Drew praised members of the ensemble, leading off the individual cast tributes with expressing her love and appreciation for "mama bear" Ellen Pompeo, who she said "offered so much wonderful advice and cared for me as I was entering working motherhood." 

It was such a joy to get to spend my final week on the show with almost everyone in the cast in a gorgeous location in Malibu. We laughed SO much, Goofed off WAY too much, and had our fare share of hugs and tears. I love this group!! Some of my sweetest moments with Ellen were during both of my pregnancies. She offered so much wonderful advice and cared for me as I was entering into working motherhood. She is a mama bear through and through. Giacomo is so wonderful. I love his desire to make the world a better place and his passion for the underserved in our country and around the world. It was also a joy to bond with him after we both produced projects for the first time last hiatus. And he absolutely KILLS it in this episode!

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:07pm PDT

The actress also called out departing cast member Jessica Capshaw, calling her "a bright and shining light."

"She sees the silver lining in every circumstance. She is a fiercely loyal friend who will help you navigate every twist and turn of life with intelligence, perspective, and real, practical, boots on the ground help," Drew said. "I’m so profoundly grateful that we got to walk through these 9 years and most especially these past two months together."

This one right here is a bright and shining light. She sees the silver lining in every circumstance. She is a fiercely loyal friend who will help you navigate every twist and turn of life with intelligence, perspective, and real, practical, boots on the ground help. I’m so profoundly grateful that we got to walk through these 9 years and most especially these past two months together. #kepzonaforever #sistersforlife (thank you to whomever made the kepzona compilation attached ❤️)

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:55pm PDT

See more of Drew's behind-the-scenes photos below, where she expresses her gratitude for co-stars Camilla Luddington, Kevin McKidd, Jesse Williams, Caterina Scorsone, Giacomo Gianniotti, Justin Chambers, James Pickens Jr. and Kelly McCreary.

❤️❤️❤️

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:10pm PDT

She brings joy with her everywhere she goes. She has kept me laughing with her brilliant wit since she arrived 6 years ago. She is hilarious, deep and soulful, and together, we have navigated this crazy career, womanhood and motherhood, and of course- let’s not forget- fashion! Thank you for helping me not look like an idiot on the red carpet! I love you Camilla!

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:18pm PDT

I will miss the other half of #teamtrauma . My #gingerbrother . I will never forget bonding with him in the rain during trauma training back in Season 7! We’ve walked through so much together over the years and I’m so grateful for his sweet friendship. I love my Kev!

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:24pm PDT

I adore these two. Caterina is all wisdom, joy and love. She has helped me to see beauty when it is hard to see, to show empathy when it is hard to love, and to laugh when all I want to do is cry. She is my sister and I’m so grateful to have found her. ❤️❤️❤️

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:30pm PDT

These two have both kept me laughing for 9 years straight. I’ve loved my deep talks with Justin, and have been enthralled by Jim’s stories of Hollywood and his enthusiasm for the world we have the privilege of working in. They both have huge hearts and are both true gentlemen. All grace and class. ❤️❤️❤️

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:33pm PDT

Kelly has expanded my heart in more ways than I can count. She is a true friend, a brilliant talent, and a loving truth-teller with wisdom beyond measure. She is my sister and I’m so grateful to have found her. Since Kelly grabbed a pic of me and Chandra hugging after my last scene with her, Chandra decided to grab these pics of me and Kelly hugging on my last day. ☺️☺️ Although we look sad here, we are really just feeling full to bursting with love and friendship. The good kind of tears :)

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:40pm PDT

This moment was extraordinary. After our final scene, our beautiful crew gathered around me and Jessica and presented us with gorgeous boxes full of pictures and letters from everyone. It was so heavy and I didn’t know how to open it and look through it while holding it, so Jesse came up and opened it for me. Thank you, Camilla for snapping this pic!! Jessica and I got to share with our crew how much they’ve meant to us. It was so sweet. This season, the experience of shadowing Chandra and Kevin gave me a new perspective and an incredibly profound respect for our crew. Spending every moment on set for a full episode allowed me to see their tireless dedication, and their extraordinary talent in a new way. Every single crew member is absolutely essential to the creative process and though they all work tirelessly, they rarely get celebrated or recognized for their amazing contribution. Despite the incredibly long hours that our crew dedicates to Grey’s every week for nine months out of the year, they still somehow manage to show up every day with enthusiasm, commitment and positivity. It’s been truly humbling to witness. We have the best crew.

A post shared by Sarah Drew (@thesarahdrew) on May 17, 2018 at 6:59pm PDT

Earlier this month, Pompeo hinted to ET that Capshaw and Drew would not have tragic endings in their farewell episode. "You only get killed off when your behavior is bad. If you're a nice actor, you die nice," she said, adding, "But yeah, these endings aren't tragic."

Pompeo also shared her personal reaction when she learned that Capshaw and Drew would be leaving after the 14th season, seemingly reiterating that she wasn't part of the decision. 

"My first reaction was, 'What? What do you mean? Why?' And then you go through levels and stages of grief. It's hard for them, it's hard for us, it's hard for the writer who had to make the choice, [who] had to make the creative decision," Pompeo said, adding, "You have to try to support the girls. It's just not easy for anyone, but I don't want to make it about me. It's about them and I just tried to be just as supportive as I could be to everyone involved."

RELATED CONTENT:

How 'Grey's Anatomy' Said Goodbye to Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw

Jessica Capshaw Reflects on 10-Year 'Grey's Anatomy' Run Before Her Final Episode

Sarah Drew Shares Emotional Behind-the-Scenes Photos From 'Grey's Anatomy' Episode

[trotsky-is-hotsky-blog]

Final Paper: Rousseau for Contemporary Contexts

"Dissertation on the Origin and Foundation of the Inequality of Mankind" by Jean Jacques Rousseau essentially concerns the course of human history from before pre-history in an attempt to find the origin of inequality as we know it today. This text has influenced much of modern thought, and the way we think about inequality is largely the same as depicted by Rousseau. This paper serves to demonstrate how his dissertation remains relevant to contemporary contexts, yet fails to inspire hope in any meaningful way. This paper will explore this topic through extensive analysis of the text in addition to comparison and analysis of two films (Yung Chang's Up the Yangtze and Luis Buñuel's Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan) and two other writings (Engels' Condition of the Working Class in England and Stiglitz's The Great Divide). First, the paper will provide necessary exposition of Rousseau's ideas.

 Rousseau poses his dissertation as an answer to a single question: when did inequality between humans become a "moral inequality" rather than the pre-existing "natural inequality"? Rousseau elaborates each of these terms. Moral inequality (or political inequality), he postulates, embodies all of the disparities between humans that exist in institutions and in society as a result of laws and property ownership. Natural inequality (or physical inequality) represents the physiological disparities between humans that once governed the species before the advent of property and institutions. In order to answer his own question, he sets forth on an investigation into the original, natural state of humans. He first rejects all previous theorizations by other philosophers who consider the true nature of humans; he claims that they do not go far enough back in time and are unwilling to forgo ideas of divine creation or morality in the original human. Rousseau reasons that humans once existed just as all other animals, motivated chiefly by their physiological needs and their tendency towards self-preservation. He refers to humans of the natural state as "savage." According to him, humans had no sense of good or evil, no means of effective communication, and had no desires outside of their immediate physiological needs. Eventually, they began to develop a more intricate ability to understand from their engagement with their "passions," the objects and activities which bring pleasure and enjoyment. A developing understanding then permitted humans to entertain free-agency and resist the will of nature to which all other animals submit.

 As humanity grew more populous and more humans encountered one another and lived together, their perceptions necessarily changed to incorporate others. From this development, they began to compare themselves based on perceived relations and differences. Some humans run faster than others, some can fish while others can climb. As humans continually innovated ways to fulfill their wants and needs from nature by sharpening weapons and tools, the individuals who made such innovations felt pride in their accomplishments and considered their ideas original. As many other humans would pursue similar courses of actions in similar circumstances, the one who felt itself the original would look upon the others as conformists. As humans arranged themselves in families, the strong crafted huts and shelters and the weak imitated their designs. This is what Rousseau refers to as the realization of natural inequality. Families grew, collectives formed, and languages became more ingrained and significant. Comparison and merit were applied to objects and then to other humans. With the growing multiplicity of persons, public esteem became a point of interest for individuals and intrinsic value became part of the human's conscience. Consequently, transgressions against a person's value demanded retribution and humans engaged in conflict. From here, the concept of morality and goodness were born.

 When tools that could manipulate the Earth became commonplace in human collectives as did knowledge of cultivation and husbandry, the idea of property and ownership became pertinent. Now everyone who had property had something to lose. Strong humans did manual labor and brilliant ones devised ways for the strong to labor less. As they developed the concepts of merit and rank, a dichotomy grew within the human: the qualities of being and those of seeming. To seem meritorious and respectable was now in the interest of the individual and so was gaining the interest of others. Here Rousseau argues that accumulation of property incited individuals to profit at the expense of others, even by means of deceit or brute force. He likewise states that by this point the human conscience nearly resembles ours today with ego, creativity, and notions of beauty. The desire to profit at the expense of others invited war between humans and collectives over property. As individuals accumulated more and more property by dubious means, they realized that they had more to lose than the poor (those with less property), but were susceptible to the same dangers of banditry. To protect against this, Rousseau imagines, the wealthy invent a basic design for society and law whereby individuals live harmoniously on principles of security and mutual obligations. From this, the weak and poor gained protection from oppression and the wealthy gained protection from usurpation. This society, while appearing advantageous to the poor, simply, secured their position as beneath the wealthy.

 Rousseau proposes the idea that inequality developed from here in three stages. In the first stage, inequality was instituted by laws and property rights. Following that, it was instituted by civil officials who interpreted and applied the law. Finally, when legitimate power becomes arbitrary power, inequality has reached its present form. He claims that along these stages of evolution, inequality manifested certain conditions: "the condition of rich and poor was authorised by the first period; that of powerful and weak by the second; and only by the third that of master and slave, which is the last degree of inequality." (Rousseau 35) From our present state  of inequality, he envisions the extreme likelihood of humanity to progress towards despotism, and thus an ultimate return to a state of nature; all will be morally equal under the rule of one, and natural physical inequality will prevail again.

 Rousseau's dissertation reflects much about the time at which he writes it. Throughout he refers to the natives of the Caribbean as humans "who have as yet least of all deviated from the state of nature." (Rousseau 21) This attitude demonstrates the inequalities perceived by colonial European statesmen to exist between them and the rest of humanity. At a few points he extrapolates from the model of the Caribbean natives to make claims about disparate intellects based on race. He states outright that "the people of the North are more industrious than those of the South, because they cannot get on so well without being so: as if nature wanted to equalise matters by giving their understandings the fertility she had refused to their soil." (Rousseau 14) This problematic supremacist view appears as one major flaw in his reasoning. He also writes about shipwrecks, scurvy, piracy, famine, abortions, and hazardous labor as sinister detriments to well-being created by private property, some of which are hallmarks of centuries since past.

 Rousseau's ideas about institutionalized inequality have been taken up by many thinkers and philosophers since. Nearly one hundred years after Rousseau wrote his discourse, Friedrich Engels published Condition of the Working Class in England, describing what Rousseau identified as the third condition of inequality, the condition of master and slave reinforced by arbitrary power. Engels explains that by a process of human commodification under capitalism, "the worker is, in law and in fact, the slave of the property-holding class." (Engels 114) Engels' critique of English industrial society applies Rousseau's ideas about property as the root of inequality to actual institutions of oppression, thereby affirming them.

 Up the Yangtze, directed by Yung Chang, demonstrates on a grand scale the inequality that Rousseau and Engels theorize about. The documentary follows a young girl named Yu Shui who lives in poverty along the Yangtze River in Fengdu, China. Her family resides in a small, hand-built hut and cultivates all of their own food. At the time of the film, her family confronts the fact that their abode will soon be flooded by the rising level of the Yangtze River caused by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam downriver. Yu Shui wants to study and become a doctor, but her family needs her to work on a cruise ship for wealthy guests who want to see the river and river-side communities before the dam is completed and they are flooded. Chang captures the hardships that Yu Shui faces as a member of the working class at such a young age, as she and her family also grapple with the oppression of poverty. He heavily employs juxtaposition in his direction, laying traditional Chinese music over scenes of industrialization along the river, most often shots of the demarcation of where the water will rise to.

 The story of Yu Shui represents inequality on two scales: inequality between her and the western patrons of the cruise, and inequality between her family and the Chinese state. Concerning the former, Chang illustrates the inequality brilliantly by making the scenes where Americans interact with working-class Chinese employees as awkward and cringe-worthy as possible. By interspersing shots of insincere white faces with the faces of Chinese employees who have been humanized by the director, the employees come across as more relatable and the wealthy tourists seem more flat and laughable. Chang also captures the notion of merit and inequality as they relate to property. One of the employees, Chen Bo Yu, a middle-class only child, is selected by the cruise company because he is handsome and pronounces English well. Because of these traits he is deemed more meritorious by the property-owners and works serving customers above deck. Yu Shui, who's family is impoverished, has not been able to learn English and consequently has less value to the property-owner so she must work below deck cleaning dishes. Both Chen Bo Yu and Yu Shui are oppressed by the power structure of the tourists and they work as wage slaves aboard the ship to serve them.

 The other dimension of inequality that Chang explores in the documentary exists between Yu Shui's family and the Chinese state. The family, along with millions of other citizens, are forced to relocate due to the flooding from the government hydroelectric project. The state, composed of highly-powerful individuals, oppresses the poor to an extreme degree. Yu Shui's father works in a quarry, and then is not compensated for his labor. He laments his situation: "Nobody cares about me. Like people say, 'I'm like an illegal citizen.'" (Up the Yangtze) Despite this injustice, he knows he cannot challenge the state as an individual, thus affirming Rousseau's master and slave institution of political inequality. In another city, citizens are forced to relocate by the state, and when officials supposedly come to address grievances, they instead beat civilians and forcibly remove them from their buildings. As one shopkeeper in the city bemoans through tears and sobs: "It's hard being a human but being a common person in China is even more difficult." (Up the Yangtze) The extent of inequality imposed by the state is so great that the oppressed separate themselves from humanity because of the manners in which they suffer. The situation for these people resembles a society growing closer to the extreme concentration of wealth and power, the despotism, that Rousseau imagines. To illustrate this scale of inequality, Chang creates scenes where Yu Shui's family struggles against the immense force of the dam project. In one scene, as the water slowly encroaches on their house, her father carries a bureau on his back up the side of gorge covered in cement blocks up to the point where the river will rise. A number of other peasants greet him at the top. One of them says "Our country is really strong and prosperous now. So strong and prosperous that it can actually stop the gigantic river." (Up the Yangtze) His cinematography further visualizes inequality by portraying the monolithic immensity of the Three Gorges Dam. The final shot in the documentary fills the screen with the vast cement walls of the dam bathed in a foreboding red glow as the lock slowly opens.

 Up the Yangtze does an excellent job of demonstrating the extent of inequality and power as it relates to property and ownership, just as imagined by a literal reading of Rousseau's dissertation. However, his dissertation lends itself to more than one reading. Throughout the piece he states that all of his claims about humans' natural states are mere conjecture and must not be taken as fact. His argument exists after "laying facts aside," as he claims that "they do not affect the question." His pontification "must not be considered as historical truths, but only as mere conditional and hypothetical reasonings, rather calculated to explain the nature of things, than to ascertain their actual origin." (Rousseau 9) In other words, the origin of inequality that he imagines serves chiefly to support his end argument that the invention of private property created moral inequality. Rousseau is aware, then, that his dissertation cannot be accepted as based in fact. His awareness raises the question of whether or not he believes literally what he writes. This puts him in a position where he engages in ironic discourse by having his audience read what amounts to a highly subjective rant about anthropology and linguistics. Rousseau's deceptive irony is also clear in his dedication at the beginning of the discourse wherein he lauds the Republic of Geneva as a near-perfect society due to its strong rule of law and order (a principle which he attributes to the perpetuation of political inequality in the Second Part). In this sense, Rousseau's gross simplification of Caribbean natives as "savage" appears to be just a subversive parody to bolster his ironic argumentation.

 This is not to say that he does not believe in a foundation of inequality in humanity. On the contrary, when one reads the dissertation ironically it serves to underscore the visceral and brutal reality of inequality and oppression by parodying the previous philosophers who spend time pondering completely hypothetical human origins rather than fixing a broken society. This method of ironic discourse on inequality is employed two centuries later by film maker Luis Buñuel in his film Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan. Buñuel's documentary at first seems like a problematic and slightly unethical portrayal of impoverished life in rural Spain. However, given the context of the early nineteenth century, the film appears instead as a scathing parody of contemporary documentarians. As films like Crossing the Great Sahara painted foreign lands as exotic and savage, Buñuel turned his camera inward on the European continent and documented a small society living in Las Hurdes mountains. He portrays the society as extremely backwards and pitiful, much the same way that colonial travel documentaries would portray people of the African or Indian continents. Buñuel's purpose in this, he says, is to demonstrate that savages exist within the borders of Spain not just without. However, his excessive hyperbole and melodramatic shots of poverty combined with his monotonous narration make it apparent that he hopes to draw attention to the extreme inequality experienced by these people who have almost no personal property. Their main source of income comes from the government as compensation for adopting orphans from a nearby township. Thus, institutional inequality dictates the livelihood of these people. Buñuel's message in ironically portraying these people as pitiful savages is to show the extent of inequality in Spain and also to critique the travel documentaries of the time. This rhetoric resembles that used by Rousseau in his dissertation.

 Bear in mind that an ironic reading of Rousseau is not the only method for analyzing it; a literal interpretation is just as valid. In either case, one should recognize that he sees inequality as a problem. Parody or not, he ruminates on what he thinks must be done to alleviate growing inequality. Ultimately, he comes up with no suggestions other than that one must exist with knowledge of the institutional inequality and appreciation for its necessity in maintaining order. Rightfully dissatisfied by this conclusion, 19th century thinkers Engels and Marx drew from Rousseau's ideas and proposed a communist system to engender mutualism and greater equality in society. When this system largely dissipated after being applied in the Soviet Union, the international system continued to default to variations on free-market capitalism, generally referred to as neoliberalism. As political inequality is inherent to the success of neoliberal economies, Rousseau's woes of inevitable despotism persist. In his book The Great Divide, Joseph Stiglitz recognizes the relationship between monetization, economic inequality, and political inequality that Rousseau laments. In the context of the United States, Stiglitz points to unequal policies created by political inequality that allow for the wealthy to exploit the taxation system, legal system, and justice system to keep themselves wealthy and the lower classes stifled. In searching for a solution, he claims that inequality is not inevitable and that changes in policy can remedy the rampant inequality. "The problem of inequality is not so much a matter of technical economics. It's really a problem of practical politics. Ensuring that those at the top pay their fair share of taxes--ending the special privileges of speculators, corporations, and the rich--is both pragmatic and fair." (Stiglitz 304) He advocates also for investment in education, health, and infrastructure as key measures in bringing up the lower tiers of society to a more equitable position. However, while Stiglitz offers answers to institutional inequality as seen by the United States, ultimately what he offers are band-aids to the problem of moral inequality as envisioned by Rousseau.

 Rousseau's "Dissertation on the Origin and Foundation of Inequality of Mankind" stands as a foundational text of political philosophy for modernity, influencing the likes of Hegel, Marx, and Kant as well as the French Revolution. His conclusion that private property was the origin of moral inequality rang true for many societies throughout the continent. His assessment of inequality seems to be accurate in the example of Yung Chang's Up the Yangtze, which shows the oppression faced by those living under multiple strata of inequality. If one reads his dissertation more critically, he uses ironic discourse to criticize the negligence of societies to address inequality in any substantive way and to emphasize the dangers of letting inequality persist towards despotism. His methods of discourse resemble those used by artist Luis Buñuel, who likewise criticizes the idleness of Europeans in working to solve real inequality. Rousseau's problem persists all the way to the current situation in the United States, where Joseph Stiglitz claims it can be remedied by institutional reforms to bring the wealthy to justice and bring up the poor, but offers no means of eliminating inequality completely. As pervasive as Rousseau's dissertation has been in the discourse of inequality over the past centuries, the question of how to actually challenge inequality remains. This proves Rousseau to be profoundly insightful to recognize such a problem, but just as useless in his inability to paint it as anything other than inevitable.

 Works Cited

Engels, Friedrich. The Condition of the Working Class in England. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987.

Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan. Dir. Luis Buñuel. Perf. Abel Jacquin and Alexandre O'Neill. 1933.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "Discourse on Inequality." American University of Beirut. Trans. G. D. H. Cole. https://www.aub.edu.lb/fas/cvsp/Documents/DiscourseonInequality.pdf879500092.pdf

Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Great Divide. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.

Up the Yangtze. Dir. Yung Chang. Perf. Jerry Bo Yu Chen and Campbell Ping He. Zeitgeist Films, 2008.