things to make, people to see...
...places to go
I’m dividing this Good Enough into sections. A little like my mind feels right now.
Siloed but linkable!
(Links add value. They bridge seemingly disparate ideas and bring cohesion to the chaos of my mind).
In sharing with you a few things I’ve got on the go, I’m hoping that perhaps one or two will spark something in your own creative and relational efforts.
Something I’m writing:
Below is the abstract for a chapter I’m writing on creative precarious work — if you’re into that kind of thing. If not, feel free to skip on down to the next section
Sanson and Curtin (2016) describe the modern worker as needing to “ready themselves for iterative change and persistent contingency as standard employment and its associated entitlements become artefacts of a bygone industrial era” (p. 11). An “associated entitlement” in this digital era is the support of a collegial community. This chapter looks at the [im]possibility of finding collegial care in the liminal space of iterative change that defines the world of freelance writing and higher education. Inspired by the Bourdieusian concept of illusio, I look at how “precarious livelihoods are indicative of a new world order of social and economic instability” (Sanson & Curtin, 2016, p. 11). I ask if a deconstruction and rebuilding of collegial language can help to ground the creation of caring community in the midst of so much uncertainty. I go on to investigate how a reframed understanding of the collegium can scaffold an itinerant creative educator’s experience of community and support.
Another thing I wrote (with ) that we are getting ready to make…into a short film:
“The Assistant” is a short film about two women making their way in the film and television industry. The story looks closely at how little has actually changed for women in the field even as “progress” is touted. We play with all sorts of ideas, including the complicity inherent in being a part of a system that rewards the status quo. The result is us taking a hard look at our media-driven world and at ourselves.
A supporter of the venture is Dr. Jackie Kumar, a philosopher after my own heart. We had her on the Reframeables podcast a while back. (If you scroll down through the linked newsletter to the “reframing nugget” you can listen to her talk about empathy and yoga. You can thank me later!)
You can support the film at: theassistantfilm@yahoo.com
A place I’m going and some people I’m meeting for the first time:
I’m attending the Master of Education graduation for Yorkville University in Fredericton, New Brunswick in a couple of weeks. Not only will I sit in a room and celebrate with my students, I’ll be connecting with deans and teaching colleagues I haven’t had the chance to meet in person until now. And we’ll be doing it wearing robes and silly hats to boot!
Another thing I’m making:
Memories with my family as we have started playing baseball together. Nine of us, from the youngest to the grandparents, wearing newly purchased baseball gear courtesy of dad (who was a baseball star in high school and is now, 50ish years later, having to coach a motley crew of loved ones with big dreams and limited abilities). It’s its own feel-good movie in the making.
Writing words, making links and taking names.
xo Natalie