Abuses, Excesses and Dangerous Emotions

So I maybe have a little bit of an intellectual / writing-type enthusiasm for the work of Alphonso Lingis. This much I have certainly not been able to hide, or even attempted to.

But when I ran the Postgraduate Masterclass which he guest-starred in, the other week, and actually got to meet the man, a few things started to happen in my head.

I love how some events or decisions seem minute - like the day in high school I decided I would only do my own work, instead of the frantic morning copying routine that had become de rigeur in my classroom, and own up to not having time or focus to complete work. Or perhaps the day I decided that people who did not inspire or challenge me had no purpose in my life, no matter how much I loved them.

Something has shifted just a little. The world today feels a tiny fraction - or was that a gigantic leap? - smaller and more possible and approachable than it did the week before.

I'm back on the train of being challenged, and have learned that staying open at times of crisis can be equally damaging and rewarding in spades. But of late - rewarding - is the only reply from the world around me.

Perhaps enfolding the academic into the everyday, the experiential into the intellectual is where my path lies.

There's only one way to find out.