Hi everyone,
Happy Friday!
I’ve been on a road trip with my parents for the past three days. There’s a certain emptiness that comes with being on the road.
This emptiness is, at least, twofold.
The first represents openness and possibility. The second represents absence and lack.
These two are clear to me. I’m certain there are more dimensions to it but these are most readily apparent.
These are amplified by the present conditions. COVID. Quarantine. Political unrest. Unstable social structures.
Marfa, TX, where I have been with my parents for the past two days, shows signs of this, of having felt the impact of the instability.
The streets are mostly empty. There are storefronts, many with signs that say Closed, for now, taking a little siesta like the ones I’m told the locals are fond of taking. Other businesses are closed indefinitely.
Then there is the sign hung at all the businesses that are open:
Wear your masks. There is no hospital.
In other words, it’s on us.
One gets the sense that there was a thriving culture here, both long ago and in a more recent past. But, for now, many of the stores are closed.
Many things are like this now.
Betwixt and between, as anthropologist Victor Turner would say. He used these terms to describe rites of passage.
The place within which the transition unfolds is an “in-between” place that bridges “what is” and “what can or will be” (1981:159)—a “symbolic domain that has few or none of the attributes of [the initiand’s] past or coming state” (1974:232). The state in which the initiand finds himself during this transition is “ambiguous, neither here nor there, betwixt and between all fixed points of classification” (1974:232); he is neither what he was nor what he will become.
Neither here nor there. In-between what is and what can or will be.
This feels perfect for describing the moment we are in, pregnant with uncertainty.
I’m still figuring out what will come next, for myself as an individual and for the collective.
Here’s what I have for you this week.
Potent Quotables
Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
- Dr. Seuss
In the first place, even though virtue may afford us pleasure, still we do not seek after her on that account: for she does not bestow this, but bestows this to boot, nor is this the end for which she labours, but her labour wins this also.
- Seneca
Thought-Provoking Finds
How to Deal with the Fear of Having an Online Presence - Posting content on the Internet is daunting. It feels like you are opening yourself to judgment from the entire world. This essay addresses ways we can deal with that fear. It also contains lessons that apply in other areas of life like how helping just one person is a useful metric for determining if a thing is valuable and worth doing.
The Politician (Netflix) - The Politician is Ryan Murphy’s (Glee, Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story) Netflix debut. It stars Ben Platt (you might recognize him from Pitch Perfect), Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jessica Lange. The show follows a campaign for student body president. It touches on themes of mental illness, sexuality, gender, gun violence, race, privilege, ageism, morality, and the environment. There is a subplot of Munchausen by proxy and there’s murder, suicide, and kidnapping. It is a lot. Still, the show has its moments. Ultimately, it’s not a show about politics. It’s about fitting in, identity, and erasure. The soundtrack is also stellar.
Top Tweet
Day 20
Pandemic Boston (link here) explores the pandemic in Boston through the lens of six photographers. The tagline is: “One Moment in Time. Six Photographers.” This image, titled Pandemic Day 20, is from Edward Boches’ series, Somewhere Along the Curve.
Also, sports are back! The fake crowd noise in the Premier League takes some getting used to but I’m glad they’re back.
That’s it for this week.
Be good to each other.
Until next time,
KB