Ghosts

Driving home yesterday, from my writing hours, I heard a gentleman on the radio talking about Western New York ghost tours. This peaked my interest less because of a desire to attend a tour (of which I have zero interest) and more about my previous writing on the subject of ghosts. When I was in the Sociology program, one of my professors had published a book (and has since published a second book) on the subject of memory landscapes and ghosts. He wrote about the things that lurk just under the surface in all of our lives and he encouraged us to write in a similar fashion. During my time in his classes I wrote several pieces about my own encounters with ghosts of the past. The pieces revolved around the people in the spaces, but also about the “marks” those people left behind. My professor was especially interested in these “marks” and how we incorporate them into our own lives.

It seems like forever since I thought about these concepts, but since I graduated (in 2011) I feel like the dots have connected much more often than they did while I was in the classroom. When writing for class, I would often have large lapses of understanding. Completing the readings (or as much of the 200-300 pages per week we were assigned) often left me with a void. My thoughts would wander and I would pull my material from my own surroundings. My writing was riddled with personal memories and less connections were truly being made. Even when I did make a connection, I did not always see the bigger picture of what my writing was revealing.

Now, I am hoping to restart this journey of making connections. Through intentional writing and researching, I hope to be able to continue what I started 8 years ago. My research has languished on a thumb drive and it is ready to be revitalized. I hope that my updates here will serve to push me toward greater output and I also hope that you will join me in my quest to uncover the greater truths in my work. Your responses and criticisms are always welcome and I will receive them with an open mind and heart. As I begin my research again, my posts may be spotty, but I hope to get into a rhythm of posting at least 3 (or more) times per week. This is my goal. Thank you for following along with me.

Peace,

Chantale (aka hippiegrrl)

 

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Relevant links:

Soft Arcades

Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt, Karl Marx, Judith LorberMax WeberGeorg SimmelSimone de Beauvoir

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