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Neitzsche, Attic Tragedy & the Drive Towards Artistic Creation

During week 5, Dr. Reddick was explaining the origin of the theatre, stating that the Greek tragedy originated from the Dionysia, a festival in worship of the Greek god of wine. In the woods, drunken Maenad women ate an effigy of Dionysus near a central fire. The entire village would then dance around the fire in a circle referred to as an orchestra or dancing place, in order to enter an ecstatic state. As the ritual continued to change over time, they made a backdrop, called a scenae , from which we inherit the word scene. Then, part of the village split off from the ritual to become audience members rather than dancing themselves, and they would sit in an area called a theatron , or the place from which you see. The smaller group who engage in dancing were referred to as a chorus . Next, the ritual evolved so that one of the members of the chorus stands aside and became a narrator; the narrator then became two, the protagonist and antagonist; and finally, the chorus was transformed i...
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Substitution in Relation to the Collective Unconscious - Carter Jobe

 In relation to reading Levinas's Substitution. The idea of substitution in our code of ethics is that we feel responsible for other human's wellbeing even if it does not directly affect ourselves. It come's before our own freedom that we are needed to help another. If the human operated solely to survive upon natural instinct, then why would they waste their time, resources, and energy helping out someone else?  This especially comes into play when it could actually put the individual in danger in some situations. Dr. Redick shared a story recently where a sniper was taking fire at him along a trek through the dessert. He made a break for it, and almost escaped the madman, but could not flee into the distance consciously without ensuring his hiking partner was able to as well. This effect in our minds is completely involuntary. I believe this phenomenom is deeply intertwined within the collective unconscious. We are all born with the imprint that we must help eachother out...
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Pilgrimage vs. Tourism - Carter Jobe

While reading Interpreting Contemporary Pilgrimage as Spiritual Journey or Aesthetic Tourism Along the Appalachian Trail from Kip Redick, I understood the differences between two phrases commonly used interchangeably.  In tourism, the traveler observes the sights and landmarks through a secular perspective, wherein the tourist comes in with fixed ideas of what they want to achieve and experience. It is a journey that teakes place in the least abstract rendition of oursleves, it is an outer journey. The meaning is predetermined, and comes from a place of human desire and the want for leisure. There is nothing bad about tourism inherently, to bask in the cultures of foreign people is an enriching activity.  However, it is very different from pilgrimage. In pilgrimage, the goal is not fixed, but rather the goal in the journey is actually the journey itself. To experience the travels and let the spiritual meaning find the voyager is the devotion of a pilgrimage. Self emptying is a...
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The Journey of Getting Older - Kendal Chang

Graduating high school and starting college was a journey filled with both excitement and uncertainty. High school was a time of comfort and familiarity for me. I had stable friendships, and my day-to-day life was pretty predictable. However, after graduating, I had that fear of the unknown because I didn’t know how life in college would be. I wondered if I was even going to like CNU or find a group of friends where I could be myself with. Since being at CNU, I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone, met new people, and learned how to rely on myself. I discovered strengths I didn’t even know I had. Every moment at CNU has taught me lessons that I am forever grateful for. I realized that uncertainty and discomfort were opportunities for growth. I have valued everything I have learned so far because it has led me to where I am right now. There is always going to be change, but that is how we can find meaning. The beauty of a journey is that we have to navigate through these changes to...
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Making Meaning Through Music - Kendal Chang

Music is very important to me and to many people. Songs have the power to take us through different emotions, whether it is joy, sadness, anger, or hope. Different songs can reflect the stages we are going through in life. For example, there are certain songs that give us the feeling of nostalgia and bring us back to our childhood. Music allows us to process emotions and experiences, turning our feelings into something meaningful. When there is a song that plays during an important moment in our lives, we don’t think of that song in the same way. A song that can seem ordinary at first can take on a deeper meaning when it connects to an emotion we are experiencing. That is the beauty of music and the part of the journey that it takes us on. Songs can mark milestones and moments in life, helping to reflect on where we have been and what we have learned. Music allows us to express our feelings when it is hard to put into words, which is what it does for musicians. Composing or performing ...
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Abstraction, Art - Carter Jobe

 In reading Following the Uncharted Way: Aesthetic Journeys on Land, Sea, and Within from Kip Redick, the ending passage was of note to me, Or, in the enjoyment of a great work of art, aesthetic experience is mediated so that we come near but are still removed from the primal encounter. The primal aesthetic encounter as immediate remains a personal experience, a memory until it is communicated. Communication mediates the experience, abstracting from the primal occurrence. Through each of the various approaches in creating a work of art, the artist communicates and mediates, which might be following a well-established course, a charted way. Redick describes the fashion through which art is formed as a method to attempt to comunicate the primal aesthetic encounter that the artist undergos. This inspiration cannot reconstruct the occurence in it's most purest form, there is a level of abstraction that is created in the work of art. In simpler terms, the artist can never fully capture ...
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Paper Reflection - Paige Kelly

 Being able to work on this paper throughout this semester has been really beneficial for me because it has allowed me to look at my major and future career in a different light from my other classes. As a psychology major, I am in a variety of different classes relating the therapy, therapeutic relationships, and classifying a variety of different mental disorders. However, writing this paper allowed me to identify how many different ways therapy can work, instead of just traditional therapy sessions. I think this will be beneficial for my future career, so that I can use some of the ideas and theories discussed in my paper to be able to help my clients find meaning in all the positive and negative moments they may have to discuss during their sessions. This paper has also been beneficial to me because it has shown me that I need to spend more time in nature and find a 'holding space' to be able to prioritize my mental health and figure out how to deal with thoughts I would ra...
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