The Pain of Becoming
This video explores the idea that becoming yourself is not about control or independence, but about learning to live within the tension between choice and dependence. Through literature, philosophy, and art, I look at how who we are is shaped not just by what we choose, but by the situations, relationships, and conditions we don’t.
Beginning with Karl Ove Knausgaard’s writing process: where identity unfolds in real time rather than being planned in advance
We move through Hans Jonas’ philosophy of biological life, and Vincent Delecroix’s Small Boat, which challenges how we judge others under pressure.
Along the way, I explore how media and spectacle shape our distance from real events, and how everyday images can obscure the conditions that make life and identity possible.
This isn’t an argument against responsibility. It’s an attempt to understand what responsibility really means in a world where we are never fully in control.
00:00 Intro to Knausgaard
03:00 Hypothesis - If we are dependant are we also free?
04:13 Action towards becoming
07:50 Freedom vs dependancy
11:07 Choices in a harsh world
15:00 The Spectacle
16:30 Colonialism as an invisible dependancy
19:50 Personal tips in a context
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If you know any of the artists please let me know so I can reference them too
References & Works Mentioned
Books & Essays
Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Morning Star
Hans Jonas, The Phenomenon of Life
Vincent Delecroix, Small Boat
Kristin Ross, The Politics and Poetics of Everyday Life
Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle
Talks & Interviews
Karl Ove Knausgaard Interview
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My Substack and personal essays - [https://writesjosephine.substack.com](https://writesjosephine.substack.com/) 💌
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