Favorites – freestyle

Purple Orchids by:
Alfonso Alberto Ramírez Alvarez

Favorites |
Saturday – April 18, 2026

Favorites... Why do people have favorites: favorite foods, favorite music, favorite literature, favorite animals, favorite politics, favorite people, etc, etc, the list can be made very long? Do I have favorites? Well, allow me to return to myself later, as this is a part of my "Personal Notes series".

    First of all, it would do you good if you understand the concept of favorites as an extension of preferences, a topic I often return to, and in turn an extension of some kind of individualism, and really it must also be said: favorites always describe the substantial in the object, never the essential. Secondly, I actually struggle quite often to understand the whole concept of having a favorite, mostly because the world is such a large place, and even the material world is really too large for me to just narrow in on some substantialism, if you will. I can admit that there are times when I am more in tune with the essential side of something quite corporeal, and I should admit as well that it is hard to separate the substantial from the essential, especially when it comes to object or even other people, but still I can sense something essential about the orchid for instance, or about the Catholic and Orthodox churches in comparison to most of Protestantism, although it is also not quite the case that these things have to stand in some kind of contrast, and more often than not quality and quantity complement each other, and really it is only something quite modern in origin that quantity has come to overshadow quality so severely that the light has almost been pushed out of the world. But perhaps from a less metaphysical aspect, is it not quite strange that people in these times of addiction and great indulgence should be kept somewhat happy with their individualism? Well, yes this is actually the case and we are just not going to be able to understand this by leaving the domain of metaphysics behind: what is referred to as some kind of preference, which is the major and overriding pseudo-principle governing the concept of favorite, is actually somewhat grounded in the completeness of each individual's place in the cosmological order, read "Hierarchies" and this is why it can be an indication of the persons general abilities and qualifications, but only in a strictly corporeal and material sense; it is true that people who possess certain abilities, often beyond their understanding, will be somewhat attracted to qualities faintly associated with these abilities, but again this interaction can only occur on a very limited and shallow level, and if you wish to understand this interpersonal dynamic as individualism you would be on the right path, but still only lightly so. So, essentially: favorites as a conceptualization is deeply entrenched in modernity, and it would not be possible to separate the two, and it is also the case that having favorites is something that is in keeping with the modern tendency of narrowing the horizon. Is it really the case that modern people can claim intellectual freedom when they have limited their own outlook and conception of the world to such an extent, read "Freedom"?

    For now though, let us put the metaphysical aspect of the concept of favorite aside: do I have any favorites? Again, I am quite unable to even begin to understand this concept, and really it reminds me somewhat of the idea that once a man has lived a full life, he should preferably not be full of regret. First of all, what is the purpose of life if a man is unable to admit to himself where he went wrong? How would it even be possible to live without regret? As far as I can tell, the entire substance of life is that space between action, moving forward, and the past, and without regrets filling that space, the world and your life can only exist in complete solidification, and time must necessarily have been compressed into a single point, into a single moment of utopia. Indeed, perhaps the Utopians lack regret? Really people without roots, without history, and without a proper place would probably lack regret, but they would also lack identity. What do you need to lack when you allow yourself to confidently boast about favorites? Well, if anything you probably lack integrity, something that appears to be a prerequisite in the modern world.

    Of course, another thing is also true when it comes to the concept of favorites, because when people hold something in regret, this should give you a fairly strong indication of their inclinations and thus their favorites: would a man unable to truly regret something be able to hold the world of that thing in awe? Probably not, and it is quite impossible to separate regret from favorites, just as it is quite hard to separate hatred from love; these complement each other, and just as it would be absurd to assert hate as the opposite of love, it would be absurd to assert regret as the opposite of ambition; and ambition is precisely that, love for the substantial, which would be a good definition of favorites. Of course, another thing about having favorites is also the political dimension of it: when someone holds the substantial in favor, it is not far fledged that this person as well is likely to hold people whose identity is somehow connected to that particular substance in favor as well, and really the core principle of politics is identity swept up in something substantial and immediate, almost something quite existential, and this is something that politicians are aware of, at least on a subtle level, read the "Collectivism & Individualism series". So yes, the political object is born out of the conceptual necessity of proximity, and this is perhaps the entire story of the previous century. There is also something quite anonymous about having favorites, but only a very low kind of anonymity—really the anonymity in great numbers, the anonymity of the horde—and whence the horde grows its own apatite political mass mobilization has been established; again, these things are quite inseparable, even though the sensible mentality prefers to keep everything as separate as possible, which is incidentally another aspect of keeping favorites.

    Favorites are kept in good company when they are numerous and evermore separated; that way the world can be understood on a very corporeal and limited level. Do with this as you wish, but remember that you always limit yourself when you keep favorites. This is not to suggest that you should avoid your proclivities, but do not allow the substantive authority over destiny; this can only belong to the essential.

Reginald Drax – April 18, 2026.