Call for Yourself
ROGER-POL DROIT January 2001
Solo Activity
from 101 Expériences de Philosophie Quotidienne | Translated from French
Find a quiet room, preferably minimally furnished, and sit in the center. First, take in the silence, thinking about how you will soon disrupt it. Consider the minute sounds and the peacefulness. Prepare for the introduction of speech.
Say your first name out loud, articulating clearly. Begin to repeat it insistently, as if you were calling to someone you know from a distance, who cannot see you.
At first, it will feel as though you are calling no one, or someone who isn’t there, but after the first fifteen minutes or so you will start to get the feeling of being called.
The feeling will be subtle at first, almost imperceptible. At this point it is important to pay close attention to this feeling. Keep calling yourself, mechanically and without conscious thought, but listen to the voice from afar that is calling to you.
You will start to dissociate, as if you have doubled. Neither your body, nor your voice has doubled, and yet you will feel as though the one who is calling and the one who is being called are not the same and the same simultaneously. You know that both people are one and the same and yet this is a truth you can no longer hold with full confidence.
Continue this experiment for some minuets, taking in as many aspects of the experience as you can. Cultivate the feeling of unease and dizziness as you become slightly freed from yourself.
To end the experience simply call out “I’m coming!” as clearly and naturally as possible.