Maisa Lampinen: Talking To Myself

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An understanding of the sum of our parts crept upon me little by little. We are both here and gone in such loud similarity that coexistence is near impossible. With you I am autological as well as not an I at all, and so the ‘myself’ within me appears as an ostensible self-contradiction. Today your hand fits in mine but I cannot quite reach the back of your mind. Is that where I reside?

Space, space, space. “I need space”. I open the door to our french balcony and step into a star-lit unknown. I read intergalactic law and pass various celestial bodies before I decide on my new home. There’s no water on this planet but I don’t really need it. I can feed off of emotions, those undeniably fickle sensations.

My extraterrestrial velocity has brought me light-years away from you and this distance resembles death. Aloneness becomes infinite in extent; in this way the universe and I are alike. Despite the earthen demise I carry the burden of life, and with the dark (matter) comes no release.

I heard everything Radiohead told me and said the same things to you. But I don’t think you really listened, you’re more of a Belle & Sebastian kind of guy now. You fold your hands and look away while I go deep with weird fishes.

I am the most powerful I have ever been.

I’m waking into the healthiest and wealthiest

version of myself.

Conversations with past selves are present.

‘Talking To Myself’ tarkastelee useiden minuuksien rinnakkaiseloa. “Minä” ei ole pysyvä tai muuttumaton, vaan jatkuvassa vuoropuhelussa menneen ja tulevan kanssa. Itseksi tuleminen ei ole lineaarista. Toipuminen ja hajoaminen voi tapahtua samanaikaisesti. Hyvyys ja karkeus elävät sisälläsi molemmat.

Maisa Lampinen, 29, on helsinkiläinen sosiologi, kirjoittaja ja stylisti. Töissään Maisa tarkastelee kutakin aihetta intuitiivisesti ja armolla. Hän ymmärtää maailmaa tarinoiden kautta ja toivoo omiensa auttavan myös muita oivaltamaan jotain omasta todellisuudestaan.

‘Talking To Myself’ examines the coexistence of multiple I’s that aren’t fixed, but in constant dialogue with the past and future. Becoming oneself is not linear. Healing and falling apart might overlap. Both the good and ugly live within you.

Maisa Lampinen, 29, is a sociologist, writer, and stylist based in Helsinki. In her work, Maisa looks at each subject intuitively and with grace. She understands the world through stories and hopes her’s help other people make sense of their reality, too.