Month: January 2021
Psychologists have something they like to call “magical thinking” and they don’t mean that phrase in a fun whimsical way, but more of “hey dude, face reality” kind of way. The website Healthline says “Magical thinking refers to the idea that you can influence the outcome of specific events by doing something that has no bearing on the circumstances.” Let’s take a look at some examples I’ve come up with:
I completed the Canada Council for the Arts project of twelve videos based on my poetry collection Moving to Climate Change Hours at the end of October. Since then I’ve been thinking of how to create a longer form video including the 12 and to extend the project with linkages. The problem was how to link them in a way that was interesting to me and also worked with the videos. In other words how to create a cohesive whole from them.
Sara recently suggested to me that I listen to the audiobook version of the American poet Ross Gay’sThe Book of Delights, a book of short essays coming out of a daily practice Ross developed. They are quite amazing, Ross’ mind is fascinating and the delights range far and wide. His definition of delight being quite expansive sometimes including very dark topics, often important topics, but sometimes whimsical, material that makes you angry, sad or happy, I often laugh out loud while listening. His observations have inspired me to observe more as I go about the world.