Hi, friends! We're getting close to Election Day...Have you voted? I hope you did!
Anyways, do you have anything fun planned for Halloween weekend? My sisters and I will dress up and just chill at home. We're going to eat nachos for dinner and then maybe watch a spooky film! I hope you are all keeping well and here are some fun things for you to muse on this weekend:
This essay about Chekhov by Gary Saul Morson gave me a greater appreciation for the richness of the Russian language. Sometimes a conversation about Russian vocabulary comes up with my brother-in-law and it's always fun explaining just how many Russian words can represent one feeling or thing...Often times, many words are untranslatable. This essay in particular discusses how Chekhov, one of the most well-known Russian writers has a unique and eloquent way of describing feelings, especially loneliness.
And this loneliness is quite complicated. In the Russian language, it's close to toska, which Morson says:
"has no exact English equivalent, but it is the emotion
that characterizes much of human life as Chekhov
saw it. The story itself could stand as an extended
definition of the word. Constance Garnett translates
it as “misery,” Pevear and Volokhonsky turn up the
volume to “anguish,” but the sense is closer to “longing.”
In Russian, when you miss someone, you toska (toskovat’)
for him. We live missing something, longing for something,
though we do not always know what...
What differentiates Chekhov from other story writers
is his fineness of perception, his ability to discern the
subtlest emotional shades, and his appreciation of “the
elusive beauty” of human experience."
It baffles me how Chekhov marvelously pieces together words into puzzles that reveal feelings we never thought could be expressed. Furthermore, I'm baffled by the intricacies the Russian language contains.
This essay by Hettie O'Brien discusses society's obsession with Stoicism. Many self-help books prescribe Stoic practices as a form of healing and growth and say we need to turn inwards to fix the instabilities we face. O'Brien writes, "Rather than questioning your material conditions, the merchants of modern Stoicism want you to change what’s in your head." She critiques leading neo-Stoics, like entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek for avoiding the idea that we are social and political beings. How can today's individuals in a capitalistic society remain resilient, rational, brave, and calm when today's circumstances cause anger and seemingly perpetuate negative emotions that we need to "fix"? Will wellness and self-care, pillars of Stoicism and self-discipline actually heal the emotions we're feeling and more importantly fix the root cause of these uncomfortable emotions, like anger? O'Brien argues:
"That anger can be productive, however, is something Black
and feminist philosophers have long understood, formulating
their own reading of emotion in opposition to this liberal Stoic
tradition. Feelings can be generative and have material effects.
When “focused with precision,” Audre Lorde said, anger can
become “a powerful source of energy serving progress and
change” and a “liberating and strengthening act of clarification.”
Framing difficult emotions as instances of cognitive distortion
best corrected through self-discipline leaves little space to consider
the way affective social movements might legitimately change existing
institutions, or that those institutions may be to blame for the
persistence of negative emotions in the first place. Anger is not
only a source of energy, but a potentially elucidating force that
allows its bearer to see clearly what is wrong with the world, and
to act upon it."
My recent obsession with graphic design and typography is justifying my need for this cute coffee mug.
Pac Sun is having a sale and this tie-dye sweat suit (sweatpants + sweatshirt) is catching my eye.
These journal prompts are excellent if you're looking to discover yourself and your values.
This perfume called "By the Fireplace" sounds like a fall and early winter dream.
xoxo
Tori
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