P.S. !!
Jes
Delving into the ways individual beings-for-itself relate to one another, Sartre argues that we, as human beings, can become aware of ourselves only when confronted with the gaze of another. Not until we are aware of being watched do we become aware of our own presence. The gaze of the other is objectifying in the sense that when one views another person building a house, he or she sees that person as simply a house builder. Sartre writes that we perceive ourselves being perceived and come to objectify ourselves in the same way we are being objectified. Thus, the gaze of the other robs us of our inherent freedomand causes us to deprive ourselves of our existence as a being-for-itself and instead learn to falsely self-identify as a being-in-itself. (sparknotes.com)
i instantly remembered a poem i wrote a year ago...and when i re-read it, i became so happy that it came back into my life. it's almost as if i can't believe i wrote it so long ago. i'm not sure i recoginized all that truth back then, but.... my instinct is strong i guess. maybe i was an existentialist even before i met Sartre. anyway. enjoy.
30-second Commercial
[black screen]
Voice Over: first, You are born.
[fade in: loud, messy noises; speedy microcosms, slightly blurred; pure sensory]
VO: You experience.
and then
You realize
others are experiencing too.
[montage: "reality"]
VO: eventually
over time
You become aware
that You exist.
You = not something else
then You spend
the rest of the time
trying to process, understand, learn.
(cause/effect-this has an infinite number of possibilities)
You fall in love.
[montage: "love"].
VO: You fall in what You think is love.
You try to understand that.
You laugh, You fear,
You try, You succeed, You fail.
You manipulate.
You grow, You shrink.
You try, inevitably, to understand the contradictions.
You think about death-
the meaning of life,
You die.
[fade out: black screen]
VO: You.
all You have
is Your experience
on the way through.
if,
by the end,
You're still wondering,
what was the significance?
[pause]
then You missed the point.
[text: "brought to you by the Meaning of Life ©]
Access: Public
commercial
July 2008 
“…we perceive ourselves being perceived and come to objectify ourselves in the same way we are being objectified. Thus, the gaze of the other robs us of our inherent freedom and causes us to deprive ourselves of our existence as a being-for-itself and instead learn to falsely self-identify as a being-in-itself.”
Love Sartre. And this observation is spot-on. I could attest to this experience, especially living here in LA. Not anywhere else in the world can what you “do” come to define who you “are”, as when the inevitable LA question is asked:
“So…what do you do?”
Which essentially means, “Who are you? And how can your answer: a) help me communicate with you in a manner in which I assume you'll respond, and b) judge my own actions/thoughts/life by the bar your answer has indubitably created.”
Unfortunate, isn't it?
But let's not stop there. How can this be remedied?
Post your answers to the Comments section. Let's talk.