In summer, one day is the equivalent of about 7 days of an academic term., so we are completing the first three weeks of the term. I still need Blog Addresses from some, and genuine regular entries from others.
Don't feel that you have to wait posting until you start reading the texts. You can be responding to the moment. Let the language help you discover what you are thinking. I was attracted to Mina's opening, it is a narrative... it could go anywhere... Julie captured the essence of a day in IMPACT though images and text...
We are starting a dialogue, but tomorrow is week 4 of our term... and let's begin the dialectic process of responding to each other while we notice our experiences of our day to day encounters. Learn to value the personal and subjective condition of existing.
Try to post something everyday. Include your documentation of events and happenings. Documenting an event changes it. Why?
I am so sad that no one has entered into a dialogue....
ReplyDeleteDear Professor, I just noticed all the blog links on the right corner of your blog!! Will start conversations now (y)
ReplyDeleteYes... I noticed you noticed :)
DeleteHi Dr. Gilbert, I have been thinking about your asking us to consider how documenting an event changes it. In considering this, I found that I was asking myself what leads me to document an event. In other words, why do I choose to document certain events over others? One method of documentation I have always relied on heavily is journaling. When I think about times when I've journaled the most, I find that it is most often during times that have been personally challenging. I think I choose to journal the most during these times because it allows me a period to self-reflect and reflect on the situation and perhaps bring myself to a new understanding of it. Documenting a situation can give one the ability to find new insight about it. And once the event is documented, it lives somewhere where it is less erasable. Going back to journal entries from years ago, I am always surprised by what I find and how my revisiting brings me to notice or consider things I hadn't before. Probably because in some way, I am experiencing the event again, and not as I did originally, but as the person I am now. This person has had new experiences and has unavoidably changed in some way. Documenting something allows us to experience something repeatedly, and each experience is different. That is probably why I can listen to music again and again and take new things from it each time, or read a book over and over and come to new findings about it each time. I primarily turn to writing as my means of documenting, but I would be interested to hear from someone who uses other mediums to document experiences and how they feel about the experience of revisiting their work.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate what Briana wrote about documentation allowing us to experience something over and over, but as a new and evolved version of our selves.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is this phenomenon that drives people to revisit old favorite books. I have had the experience of continuing to appreciate different elements of books as I return to them, although upon new experiences, I find myself reminiscing about past readings. I am particularly interested about this in relation to "Consilience." Right now, my reaction is mainly excitement and wonder, as fascinating ideas are articulated beautifully. I'm curious to experience the book again in a year and see what my new thoughts are.
I typically document using my phone, taking pictures, video, and sound recordings. As I consider my paper for independent study at the end of this class, I both realize the value and detrimental nature of documentation in the moment. It hit me when I was wanting to document the sharing that took place Friday afternoon, and found myself distracted by my act of documentation. The process of documenting in the moment changes the experience of the moment. However documenting after the fact, as Briana does through journaling, records the event through a subjective lens, reliant on memory and personal experience. It tempts me to walk around with a camera on my head and record my whole day. Although, as we discussed at lunch on Thursday, the process of noticing inherently changes the thing being noticed.