Up, Up, and Away!

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship”  -Brene´ Brown

The first day of class was hard to get through; there was an overflow of information that sounded very much like a persistent chainsaw in my right ear. This past week, though, didn’t feel like that at all. I now unsurprisingly find my mind preoccupied and anxious about the next daily digital alchemy, as well as having to answer questions of whether I am okay or not. Of course, I respectively answer this question while lying on the floor of the writing center catching life outside at weird angles, or roaming around wide eyed with an irregular jolt to my step.

Speaking of the daily digital alchemy tasks, Kelli’s book spine alchemy spell made me want to create a poem with the words of her own spine poetry, and I couldn’t help but reflect on transparency in my life and as a being as I examined the nuances of Laura’s “black & light” daily alchemy. I am always ready to think about ideas and concepts in ways that I may have never thought to before, and I have had so much fun coming up with ideas for my own daily digital alchemy posts. Poof! (That was me making my images pop up below this paragraph).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’d like to transition now into my experience with the four elements media project for this week, which was both fun and challenging. I knew that literal representations of the elements wouldn’t be as arduous to come by as less literal ones, so the first half of the project was fairly easy. I did not end up getting all of my photos because I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out what I wanted to do/could do for a less literal interpretation of “earth”. However, I am very pleased with what I came up with in general. I don’t get to walk outside of my house everyday after it has finished snowing and just dig my hands into the ground, or spin around in circles with my phone in the air until I can capture that close-to-perfect picture of… well… air. I wracked my brain thinking about each element for a few days until I came up with this:

&

Finally, these last two tasks/events of the week really put the world of this course into perspective for me (in a positive way, of course). The twitter chat and the live webinar with Dr. Leonardo Flores were two very enlightening experiences. The very obvious fascination, which correlates with an aspect that has  been emphasized since I entered graduate school, is the very real fact and opportunity that we conversed with people from all around the world. This concept can seem like a small one because most people already know that this is possible, but on a much smaller scale when one is in a classroom setting delving with immense passion into works that were made/collected/curated/taught by the individual on the other side of that screen, it starts to become a big deal.

Dr. Flores said something in his TEDxtalk that really resonated with me. As he was giving his closing remarks, he stated that we as a people in this technological age with an interest in electronic literature (studying and making) are changing the world, but we should also “dare to change the word”. This phrase was so simple and so beautiful; it tore at my heart immediately. I find myself to be incredibly lucky to be a part of this course. There is nothing more that I want for my life (in a professional and career sense) than to inspire people, and have them find value in language and art because of something that I was able to share.

As I gain the urge to now shuffle out of this post, I would like to revert all attention back to the quote that I began this post with. If it is not clear yet, I chose this quote to accurately depict what I believe my relationship with this course will be like. I am amongst some very amazing people with vast minds, and I know that it can only go up from here. To net narratives and beyond.