January 2012
1 post
December 2011
2 posts
Philosophical Improvisations
lareviewofbooks:
JON COTNER on Misha Glouberman and Sheila Heti’s The Chairs Are Where the People Go. Black Whole Conference © Michel de Broin, 2006 (72 chairs)
Misha Glouberman and Sheila Heti The Chairs Are Where the People Go Faber & Faber, July 2011. 192 pp. At Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, New York, I teach a writing workshop called “Daily Life.” Students read poets, philosophers,...
October 2011
1 post
July 2011
5 posts
“A sense of calm acts as a magnet on all hearts.”
– Baltasar Gracian
June 2011
29 posts
“There’s this terrible idea that the things you do are like this manifesto...”
– page 128, The Chairs Are Where The People Go by Misha Glouberman with Sheila Heti.
The classification on the back of the book describes it as “philosophy,” which at first seemed wrong to me, because philosophy makes me think of a particular class in college that was dull. It clarified a few...
The Misleading Thermodynamic Theory of Being
“Modern psychology began to flourish at a time when the thermodynamics theory of heat and the theory of potential were finally put on a firm basis and clearly formulated by some of the most eminent scientists of that time. Thus, the idea that energy can neither be created nor destroyed became more or less common knowledge. Any educated person knew this, and it was quite natural to formulate...
Talking to three coins
Does this primal fear come from my mother’s inconsistency?
Yes.
Does it also come from the demons or the monsters?
No.
Is there anything to be done about it, to quell it?
No.
Even a deeper spirituality wouldn’t help?
YES.
Yes it would help or wouldn’t help? Would help?
Yes.
Because it’s not so frightening to be in relation to God or something like God, because God...
What sort of world are we living in?
Are we living in the best of all possible worlds?
[she shakes the coins, then throws them; two tails]
No.
The worst of all possible worlds?
[same]
No.
Somewhere in the middle?
[three tails turn up]
NO.
Are we living in many worlds simultaneously, not just one?
[three heads turn up]
YES.
And do these worlds vary in “bestness”?
[she shakes the coins; two...
“The behaviour of human beings is firmly based on the self-image they have made...”
– Moshe Feldenkrais
“The greatest leaders of men, such as Buddha, Confucius, Moses, and Christ,...”
– Moishe Feldenkrais, The Potent Self
How do we dispel the monsters of our psyche?
Do we just stand up and go?
Yes.
Do we look behind, at the monsters?
No.
Do we remember them, like we remember our own pasts?
No.
Do we speak about them to others?
No.
When we see them coming, do we recognize them?
No.
Are the monsters that follow us during the day the same that visit us in nightmares in the night?
Yes.
“Aggression is a form of behaviour, not an energy. There is no such thing as...”
– Moshe Feldenkrais, The Potent Self
“Grown-up people must not treat themselves as if they were children. One ought to...”
– Moshe Feldenkrais, The Potent Self
“Feelings are developed through the actions we take; therefore I cannot use them...”
– Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism (via distantheartbeats)