It can be argued that the Grecian dramatists endowed posterity the greatest contributions of Western Civilization: the tragedy. Tragedies speak to the special condition of the human soul. For millennia, prominent thinkers have underscored the importance of the tragic poem. Notably, in Aristotle’s Poetics, Aristotle extols the dramatic act of tragedy to be the paragon of poetry. He believed that through watching the tragedies, the masses would be purged of their emotions.  

The legacy of the purgative power of tragedy is demonstrated in the films of our era. Because of modern technology that substantially brings the emotionally rich stories to the visual forefront, today’s movies can achieve significantly more catharsis than the Greek plays.  

As a proponent of social justice, I believe that the systemic violence reaped upon the African American community is a great modern tragedy. I ironically believe that using fictional dramas that depict real scenarios to be the way to achieve constructive national discourse and catharsis.

Aristotle also was a philosopher who thought about communication, specifically the means of argumentation, thus giving rise to the Aristotelian appeals: logos, reason, pathos, emotion, and ethos, the speaker’s credibility. Aristotle believed that logos was the most necessary component of a persuasion.  

I believe the most effective way to captivate an audience is a dramatic and cathartic combination of logos and pathos. For my personal project, I will be writing a short film centered around nonviolence. In my short film, the protagonist must grapple with the aftermath of her family member fatally shooting an unarmed civilian while in the line of duty. In this film, the protagonist will grapple internally and externally with what nonviolence looks like to her, as well as the social implications of living in a Black Lives Matter world.  Included are my notes on the film.

            Today is my first day dedicated to being completely vegetarian. After thinking about my project ideas, I realized I have been disturbed by eating meat for a while, but usually I block out the hidden stories from my mind. I try not to think about the animals being raised in poor conditions just to be slaughtered. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about the way animals are treated so that I can share the information with others and possibly create some change. I will be working on avoiding meat at all meals, reading articles about being vegetarian and connecting with people on campus and other places to discuss the lifestyle . I will be spreading the word about being vegetarian as a moral practice. Some people eat vegetarian because they believe it is good for their health, it is part of their religion, economically meat is more expensive, or they are influenced by their families (Harvard Health 2017). Although these are all fair reasons to be vegetarian, I am eating vegetarian because ethically I find it disturbing to raise animals in poor living conditions and then kill them in slaughterhouses.

             Currently, I am in the initiation stage of my project. I began my process of reaching out by sending an email to the president of VETS club which is a club that meets once a month to organize animal-oriented events including visits to the local animal shelter and guest speakers. Additionally, I began researching the treatment of animals in factory farms. I confirmed that many of the animals are packed into small spaces where they can not even turn around.  However, I also learned much about maltreatment including that often turkeys that are not fully killed by a slit to the neck are boiled alive in slaughterhouses (Haas 2001, 15). From what I gathered, researching the mistreatment of animals will make it much easier to stick to eating vegetarian.

Sources:

Harvard Health Publishing. “Becoming a Vegetarian – Harvard Health.” Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publishing, 4 Dec. 2017, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian.

Haas, Samantha J. “How We Mistreat the Animals We Eat.” Harvard Library Office for Scholarly Communication, 2001.

For my personal project I chose to create a sketch collage reflecting on John Horgan’s The End of War. The title of this collage is The Will of Us All, as it is specifically a reflection on Horgan’s theory that the end of war or the act of nonviolence is a matter of willpower on the part of mankind. In particular, I kept in mind one of Horgan’s most powerful quotes – “Choices, freely made, are what make life meaningful” (Horgan 2014, pg. 187).

I have been practicing stream of consciousness sketching for many years as a way to help battle my anxiety disorder, and I often like to choose a central idea or quote to base my sketch off of. I would consider stream of consciousness sketching a meditative form of art, as the artist is not bound by expectations of a specific product but rather creates for the purpose of self-healing. My personal art almost always involves flowers, as I see them as symbolic of a unifying life force. In this collage, I found myself associating flowers with images of violence, such as soldiers or weapons. I also entwined these flowers with images of protest and resistance, such as a kneeling man or a meditator. The symbols of life and energy flow throughout violence and nonviolence, complacency with the system and resistance against it. Although many of the images in this collage are in great conflict, they are still unified by the life force of the flower – I interpret these flowers as the free will to which Horgan refers. As Horgan suggests, free will is the one tool that unifies all humans, and yet it is also what allows us to so easily divide.

Vegetarianism is viewed in the United States as an alternative lifestyle that contradicts many of our societal norms and practices. This is largely based on the Judeo-Christian values that are deeply embedded in Western society. In Genesis 1:26, it says “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Despite numerous decades of advocacy by animal rights campaigns and for the fair treatment of the environment, these meat eating societal tendencies prevail due to the virtually unanimous understanding and acceptance that man is superior to all other beings.

Many Eastern cultures, such as that of Buddhism in South East Asia, or Hinduism in Central Asia teach that vegetarianism and veganism are integral practices in one’s spiritual  journey towards reaching enlightenment. Largely based on the respect for all other sentient beings, Eastern traditions suggest that pursuing a plant-based diet allows one to step out of their human-centric mindset, encouraging them to see the world and its other inhabitants as no lesser than one’s self. This is also related to the belief that all souls are of equal value, regardless of the bodily form that they possess.

This past summer, I adopted the practice of vegetarianism after wanting to have done so for the past several years. My personal motive for this choice stems from my deeply held belief that we humans have the moral obligation to treat all other animals with dignity and respect. This means not using animal products and a means to our end by justifying that we have the right to do whatever we please as a result of our evolutionary superiority. So far, I have found this practice to be spiritually fulfilling, and it has not drastically inconvenienced my daily life in a significant way. I believe that it will help me increase my mindfulness, and, furthermore, that this practice will help me to better understand my place as a human in relation to the world as a whole.

The origin of the nonviolent practice of mandala making comes from both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, in which the word, mandala, means “circle.” However, looking at a more expansive definition, the word signifies “universe” or “world.”

The practice of mandala making has been around for centuries and has been a way of reflecting one’s inner spirit through art. Each mandala created possesses one’s interpretation of how they view the universe and their connection between the world we all live in and themselves. Though mandalas hold this universal definition, the true meaning of each mandala is dependent upon the creator or artist, making every mandala unique to one another. While the task of mandala making is a form of mediation, the practice also encourages the creator to take time to explore their mind and inner thoughts.

I chose to invest my time in mandala making for my personal project because I am looking to experience both that feeling of relaxation and self exploration. In the past, I have found myself frequently tapping into my artistic side for enjoyment, however as time has passed I have had less opportunities to allot time to do such artistic activities. Though I have never created a mandala before, being a practice of art, I am hoping that this project will allow me to take time out of my day to focus on something that I truly enjoy. I hope to experiment with the art of mandala making through incorporating my own personal spin on the practice, while also exploring the traditional aspects of the art. I am excited to actively devote my time to practice non-violence and hope to gain a positive experience from mandala making.

Buddha once said, “Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.” With this in mind, I chose to practice yoga throughout the rest of the semester. Yoga is a practice that I have been interested in for a very long time, but never fully committed to the process. It seemed that I never had enough time in the day between going to school and soccer practice to set aside time for myself and try something new.

Yoga is a practice that has been around since ancient times. Its original meaning is derived from the  Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’, meaning ‘to join’ or ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite’. It’s aim is to create a balance between your mind and your body.

The physical benefits of yoga are large in number, and practicing yoga can greatly affect your physical health. Adding on, the psychological benefits of yoga are very promising as well. Yoga helps relive stress, increase body awareness, calms and centers the nervous system, as well as many other benefits. I used these factors as incentives to take up the practice of yoga with my goal being to achieve a greater balance of peace within my body. In other words, I hope to improve my physical and emotional health by practicing yoga. In doing so, I will try at least once a week to set aside time for myself to connect my mind to my body and find inner peace and harmony through the practice of yoga.

Fossils found in the Indus Saraswati valley civilization which indicate the presence of yoga in India during prehistoric times.

The term mandala derives from the Sanskrit word for “circle” or discoid object and is used in various cultures primarily for spiritual practice, internal reflection, and meditation among others. The mandala is an extremely personal device, as it can be as abstract or as organized as one desires to make it.  I chose to undertake the mandala as the topic for my personal project for multiple reasons. One of which is my interest in Buddhism, whose followers are the original architects of the mandala. Coincidentally, I have had a connection to the mandala symbol for a large portion of my life due to my Irish ancestry.

The earliest evidence of mandala art derives from Buddhism in Tibet. Devout followers of Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha, created the mandala as a meditation exercise, a symbol, and a prayer form. In general, the mandala is a circle divided into four quadrants, all consisting of repeating geometric patterns. Its center point is usually the focus of the symbol, which can be a representation of virtue, a deity, a prayer, etc. Mandalas serve as a symbol of the universe, unity, and enlightenment as well as suffering. The creation of the mandala is meditation in itself, and once completed, it can be used as the focal point for deeper meditation still. Those who sought to extend Buddhism throughout Asia and beyond brought mandalas with them as a symbol of their faith and as a blessing during their journey. Thus, the mandala spread to be used in various cultures and religions.

Only through my research of the mandala did I realize that I had worn the ancient symbol for many years of my life. As a gift over birthdays or other celebrations, I had received multiple necklaces in the form of a Celtic cross. This was a sign of my Irish/Scottish background. The design on the cross is a variation of the mandala sign, as the symbol appears in some Christian art. Is the mandala’s reoccurrence in my life just a coincidence? Most likely, however, I do intend to practice more meditation using mandalas and hopefully, have a positive outcome as a result of this personal project.

This is a common mandala design.

Image of a Celtic cross

This is an image of my first mandala sketch