There are times when we are engulfed by what could be called a “swerve of passion”: a sudden surge of passion that disrupts our normal existential rhythm, jolts us out of complacency, and transports us into a less organized state of being. Such experiences make us feel as if we were lifted above the mundane. We let ourselves be transported “beyond thinking.” Rather than evaluating the conversation we are having, we simply converse. Rather than dissecting the erotic encounter we are enjoying, we simply enjoy. During such moments, we become so spellbound by the world’s offerings that the normal distinction between self and other becomes permeable. Listening to the swerve of passions is one way to ensure that we do not fall pray to the repetition compulsion of our cultural order. There is something inherently countercultural about passion. The more we hold on to our idiosyncratic desires, the less permeable we become to what the political and economic establishment demands of us, the harder we are to dominate, carving room for new ideals, values, and ambitions to enter the world.
