What is Desire?

“The body is an instrument which I am.”

“That my eye should see itself is by nature impossible”

Imagine you are seated at a coffee shop. You came here alone. You told yourself you were thirsty, but you weren’t actually thirsty, were you?

Now, here seated alone in the midst of the world, you are not so sure that coming here was the right choice.

You sip your coffee. You watch as people walk by. You feel uneasy. You spy bodies, but they do not spy you. They do not look at you. Do you even exist?

Just then, one particular body manifests out of the sea of others. It appeals to you. Their form conjures images - a dream of the sensation of skin, the taste of lips. You desire them.

You move your knee and swirl your coffee. You wish to be seen. Your desire to be seen ripples between you and them. They turn, with coffee-to-go in hand. And just then as you lower your shoulder, their eyes shift towards you. They look at you. You pretend to just happen to notice. You smile, and for a moment you wait.

Their eyes gaze upon you. They smile back at you. This look manifests your self into the world. Yes, you do exist. “(you) exist for (your)self as a body known by the Other.”  They take a sip of their coffee-to-go, and they leave. In their absence you continue to smile with a sense of satisfaction.

The sea of bodies returns. You swirl your coffee. It’s almost empty. You are alone. Nobody is looking at you. You feel uneasy. Do you even exist? You begin to forget.

“Desire is a lack of being. It is haunted …by the being of which it is desire. Thus, it bears witness to the existence of lack in the being of human reality.”

Inspired by Jean-Paul Sartre

Written by Catherine Grace

With research by Victoria Venturella and Anthony Greenaway