Hi Kathryn, I'm wishing you so much luck for this important year in your studies. The honesty and humanity in your writing make it beautiful. To be able to see beauty in the ugly is what makes life meaningful to me. I have become very interested in the beauty of caring and I've really enjoyed a book called Aesthetics of Care by Yuriko Saito. Beautiful writing is a way of caring for your readers. Thank you:)
Dear Alison - thank you so much for your generous comment here. I hadn't heard of Aesthetics of Care though I have Saito's Everyday Aesthetics. In reading in the area of aesthetics, I've noticed how situated I am in Western aesthetics, so it's been quite a discovery and a relief to read and learn that cultures outside the Western tradition place such an emphasis on the aesthetics of everyday life. Saito's work is illuminating!
I love what you say about beautiful writing as a way of caring for your readers.
Thank you for your encouragement and lucky wishes here! I'm looking forward to some deeper chats right here in the comments. 💙
Thank you so much for sharing this, Kathryn! It’s a beautiful topic to explore. I think literature, story is the most soul nourishing experience. It’s the time when one seeks for answers, learns and heals. Or even gains a clear view on his/her own shortcomings. Time to grow. For me beauty in writing is about harmony, about truth, love and effort. When you find a point of calm and stability and that beautiful wave which carries your hand. And all you do in this moment is giving this vibe to others. On ugly days I feel it is challenge for me. Something I need to do, to overcome before I continue.
Dear Natasha, thank you so much for stopping by and pausing to share your thoughts here. I appreciate your time and insights.
I love that you mention harmony, truth, love and effort. Yes, there really is an effort to writing beautifully. I'd like to think about this and explore this more. It seems obvious and yet I haven't really thought about the importance of effort as part of the creative pursuit and not as an obstacle or impediment to overcome.
Thank you always for your insights which always inspire me! 💙
Hi K.K.! I think back to my own time as a doctoral candidate and the writing up. It felt like I was writing a dictionary! That said, I would wonder how aesthetics will be defined by you. Aesthetics is a significant field. For me, as a person of color, I think about aesthetics and how beauty functions to create a universal or "normative" for one group over the other. (In order to have the beautiful we must also know and understand the ugly.) But, what if the binary wasn't beautiful versus ugly? What if beauty is defined as an abundance of internal light or an aura, whereas "ugly" was not so much ugly but simply existence with the loss of an inner aura or light. Anyway, it sounds absolutely lovely! I hope to have the privilege of checking back in from time to time. It's always great to hear about your journey! Nash
Dear Nash -- thank you so much for stopping by! Interestingly, I was in a charity store today and picked up a copy of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I picked up the book, which I didn't know, and opened the pages to see the word beauty. Curious to learn how Morrison interrogates white cultural standards of beauty.
I love your idea of going beyond the binary of beautiful versus ugly. I am trying to resist defining beauty or aesthetics. I'm diving in with a heuristic inquiry approach, as open and curious as I can be.
Please do check in from time to time. I love these glimpses into the way you think. 💙
Hi KK! You are so lovely! I'm delighted to hear that Morrison beckoned to you and invited you in for a chat. I think her work helps us understand the way aesthetics is not benign, but functions to create a system of values and priorities. In her book, the little girl's mutilating self hatred allows us to see the weight of aesthetics as a structural power within a racialized hierarchy.
The heuristic approach may allow you to narrow down options within your inquiry if you are addressing minor issues within aesthetics. I'd be interested in what led you to explore aesthetics more.
I have wanted to explore aesthetics but haven't been able to spend time conducting research and writing in this field as I would like. But I am interested in how we can interrogate the way aesthetics can function as a "benign" value (i.e., "beauty is only skin deep"). I have questions like, "If beauty is 'skin deep,' then whose skin holds this value?" and "how do we better examine the way power is weilded based on everyday aesthetics of who looks like a threat, or who looks like a productive citizen, or who looks like a trustworthy neighbor. Are aesthetics only visual? What about the aesthetics of sound - like the aesthetics of Kamala Harris and her laughter?
Anyway, that's my thinking - such that it is. I hope you'll share some of your thoughts along the way. May you continue to walk in the light of your discoveries.
Oh, Brian, hi!!! I'm so happy to see your name -- thank you for stopping by and letting me know you'll be accompanying me on this journey too! Hope you are excellent and curious as ever! 💙
I’ve missed reading your work. Congratulations on your new journey. I now feel drawn to write more - to write about different things.?I have recently written and published a book for teachers. Overall it was a beautiful experience to shape it into a philosophy of teaching and learning with practical applications. You have reminded me that I also love to write to know how I feel and to uncover what I love. Delighted to be on your journey Kathryn.
Hi Theresa - so good to see your name here! I've missed writing. Thank you for being here. I love that you wrote your book and gathered in it your philosophy of teaching. I think we all need to compose a book of our philosophy! Let's keep writing alongside each other as we seek to learn and understand and illuminate! So pleased you'll be here on this journey! 💙
I miss the writing a dissertation years, so love this journey. There are organizations here (and in our program) that introduce writing as healing and more. I'm interested in what you find.
Hi Kathryn, I'm wishing you so much luck for this important year in your studies. The honesty and humanity in your writing make it beautiful. To be able to see beauty in the ugly is what makes life meaningful to me. I have become very interested in the beauty of caring and I've really enjoyed a book called Aesthetics of Care by Yuriko Saito. Beautiful writing is a way of caring for your readers. Thank you:)
Dear Alison - thank you so much for your generous comment here. I hadn't heard of Aesthetics of Care though I have Saito's Everyday Aesthetics. In reading in the area of aesthetics, I've noticed how situated I am in Western aesthetics, so it's been quite a discovery and a relief to read and learn that cultures outside the Western tradition place such an emphasis on the aesthetics of everyday life. Saito's work is illuminating!
I love what you say about beautiful writing as a way of caring for your readers.
Thank you for your encouragement and lucky wishes here! I'm looking forward to some deeper chats right here in the comments. 💙
Thank you so much for sharing this, Kathryn! It’s a beautiful topic to explore. I think literature, story is the most soul nourishing experience. It’s the time when one seeks for answers, learns and heals. Or even gains a clear view on his/her own shortcomings. Time to grow. For me beauty in writing is about harmony, about truth, love and effort. When you find a point of calm and stability and that beautiful wave which carries your hand. And all you do in this moment is giving this vibe to others. On ugly days I feel it is challenge for me. Something I need to do, to overcome before I continue.
Dear Natasha, thank you so much for stopping by and pausing to share your thoughts here. I appreciate your time and insights.
I love that you mention harmony, truth, love and effort. Yes, there really is an effort to writing beautifully. I'd like to think about this and explore this more. It seems obvious and yet I haven't really thought about the importance of effort as part of the creative pursuit and not as an obstacle or impediment to overcome.
Thank you always for your insights which always inspire me! 💙
Hi K.K.! I think back to my own time as a doctoral candidate and the writing up. It felt like I was writing a dictionary! That said, I would wonder how aesthetics will be defined by you. Aesthetics is a significant field. For me, as a person of color, I think about aesthetics and how beauty functions to create a universal or "normative" for one group over the other. (In order to have the beautiful we must also know and understand the ugly.) But, what if the binary wasn't beautiful versus ugly? What if beauty is defined as an abundance of internal light or an aura, whereas "ugly" was not so much ugly but simply existence with the loss of an inner aura or light. Anyway, it sounds absolutely lovely! I hope to have the privilege of checking back in from time to time. It's always great to hear about your journey! Nash
Dear Nash -- thank you so much for stopping by! Interestingly, I was in a charity store today and picked up a copy of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I picked up the book, which I didn't know, and opened the pages to see the word beauty. Curious to learn how Morrison interrogates white cultural standards of beauty.
I love your idea of going beyond the binary of beautiful versus ugly. I am trying to resist defining beauty or aesthetics. I'm diving in with a heuristic inquiry approach, as open and curious as I can be.
Please do check in from time to time. I love these glimpses into the way you think. 💙
Hi KK! You are so lovely! I'm delighted to hear that Morrison beckoned to you and invited you in for a chat. I think her work helps us understand the way aesthetics is not benign, but functions to create a system of values and priorities. In her book, the little girl's mutilating self hatred allows us to see the weight of aesthetics as a structural power within a racialized hierarchy.
The heuristic approach may allow you to narrow down options within your inquiry if you are addressing minor issues within aesthetics. I'd be interested in what led you to explore aesthetics more.
I have wanted to explore aesthetics but haven't been able to spend time conducting research and writing in this field as I would like. But I am interested in how we can interrogate the way aesthetics can function as a "benign" value (i.e., "beauty is only skin deep"). I have questions like, "If beauty is 'skin deep,' then whose skin holds this value?" and "how do we better examine the way power is weilded based on everyday aesthetics of who looks like a threat, or who looks like a productive citizen, or who looks like a trustworthy neighbor. Are aesthetics only visual? What about the aesthetics of sound - like the aesthetics of Kamala Harris and her laughter?
Anyway, that's my thinking - such that it is. I hope you'll share some of your thoughts along the way. May you continue to walk in the light of your discoveries.
Echo the above comments, it’s seems a while since I have been enabled to accompany you on a journey. Looking forward to be thrilled all over again.
Oh, Brian, hi!!! I'm so happy to see your name -- thank you for stopping by and letting me know you'll be accompanying me on this journey too! Hope you are excellent and curious as ever! 💙
I’m excited to follow along with you!
Carolyn - I'm so excited you'll be there along the way! Thank you! 💙
I’ve missed reading your work. Congratulations on your new journey. I now feel drawn to write more - to write about different things.?I have recently written and published a book for teachers. Overall it was a beautiful experience to shape it into a philosophy of teaching and learning with practical applications. You have reminded me that I also love to write to know how I feel and to uncover what I love. Delighted to be on your journey Kathryn.
Hi Theresa - so good to see your name here! I've missed writing. Thank you for being here. I love that you wrote your book and gathered in it your philosophy of teaching. I think we all need to compose a book of our philosophy! Let's keep writing alongside each other as we seek to learn and understand and illuminate! So pleased you'll be here on this journey! 💙
I miss the writing a dissertation years, so love this journey. There are organizations here (and in our program) that introduce writing as healing and more. I'm interested in what you find.