[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: De Animus #735

Wow, Sean. Thank you for this brief tour of Aristotle’s resonances with Gene. I know Gene ‘knows’ western philosophy and has been a life-long reader and teacher of the philosophic tradition (from Aristotle to Heidegger and then some), but I would have to pause and linger here for a long time before I could address any of this myself. All fascinating, especially your google trail and where it has led you.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Nolan's Response to TAE #734

In my humble opinion, I think Gene would say, “Of course,” as he does when he nods to the advances in science that help pilots fly planes or doctors make diagnoses. He tends not to disparage what helps as much as attempt to offer something that can get lost or remain out of sight when we only use what’s already known. Does this make sense to you?

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Hilarie's TAE Response #733

I am glad that you highlight the ‘heartening’ aspects of Gene’s theory — an interesting and apt word if we want to open it to various meanings as in (my formulations) Gene’s work comes from the heart, Gene’s work heartens us in its optimism about human creativity, Gene’s work can be seen as uplifting, as a theory of the possibilities inherent in language, and so on. Interestingly, here I can pause and ask, What do I want ‘heartening’ to mean in relation to Gene’s work and begin to do TAE right here.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Shona's Response to "Thinking At the Edge" #732

This has become a wonderful and thoughtful dialogue. Thanks to the three of you for such an interesting perspective on second language learning and what it would mean to wait for words to come if one doesn’t have a rich and full sense of the language (vocabulary). It brings to mind the notion of ‘mother tongue.’ What an evocative phrase to link language to the body. I would think that our deepest thinking comes from the language that surrounded us and inhabited us and our situations from birth — until, perhaps, we become fluent in a second or third language — but also, as you say, a classroom with ELL students would offer a fascinating way to study these ideas in action (perhaps both more anxiety and more willingness to wait….). But, basically, if I were to offer the Guidelines to ELL/ESL students, I think I’d encourage them to compose in their native language.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Alexis' Response to TAE (sorry only one quote) #731

Alexis: I really appreciate the fine thinking you are doing here both in relation to mindfulness practices and how they differ from and are similar to focusing and what our task is in the seminar. Your first two paragraphs are excellent restatements of Gendlin’s thinking (and deserve rereading) and your last part points us to where the seminar is attempting to go:

“This is where I had to go in my thoughts in order to begin thinking up a connection between the themes of this class: experiential phenomenology, composition, and new media. If we have always already been thinking within a system, that is, if our bodies, language, and situations have been the system out of which new meanings emerge and bring us forward—what changes when that situation includes the expansive digital cyberscape?”

What does change when the situation includes ‘the expansive digital cyberspace’? How then do we experience body, language and situation in a complex whole?

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Sarah's Response #707

Very nice connections, especially about composing and becoming quieter — which, in the end, is our agenda as writers and writing teachers (more than defining such words as intuition or hunch).

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Robert's Respnse #706

For Gendlin, I think it’s about turning toward what we sense in our bodies….what could be labeled anxiety or not…and letting it speak to us and through us. I think he’d say that this is ‘information’ similar to the kind of information plants have or get from the environment.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Nolan's Response #705

Hopefully the Guidelines for Composing make the silence less uncomfortable — or more bearable. It goes along with cultivating patience and attentive listening.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Alexis' Response #704

I have always found that form suggests itself to me as I compose using felt sense….and the other way around — choosing a form to write it — is less organic. Doable, for sure, just imposed from without.
The surveillance aspects of composing with tools that are ‘given’ to us from companies raises other kinds of important questions.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Shona's Response to "Three Assertions" #703

Yes, a lovely reiteration of Gene’s points…especially in regard to rhythm.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Hilarie\'s Response to "Three Assertions" #702

Lovely and thoughtful responses, Hilarie. Much here to ponder. Gene would say, in response to your last question, that all people have access to this realm — some may need more practice than others — but it’s available to all. Perhaps it’s like meditation in that you can get on fine without practicing it, but when you do turn attention to other realms (of quiet, of non-languaging), other ways of knowing can come to you.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Ryan's Response #678

Yes…we carry others with-in us and all contribute to the implicit intricacy of our emerging thoughts and our being in the world.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Nolan's Response #677

Interesting question…she doesn’t elaborate but she’s experienced in active listening and can recognize when words ‘ring true’ to the person she is working with and she can also sense into those moments ‘with’ the person and ‘in’ herself: the sea of being that opens between them. She would offer back the words she hears to see if they take the person further into the intricacy of that lived situation.

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Shona's Response to Lavender and our Class Synthesis #676

Great synopsis. Thanks, Shona!

[Sondra Perl]

in reply to: Alexis' Response #675

wonderful response, Alexis! Two pieces stand out for me:
Both this: As we move “forward” in new media and new ways of collaborating in knowledge “communities”—it’s worth questioning, in a separate discussion, what we may legitimately call a community, knowledge or other–the concept of “interbeing” seems useful.
And this: Lavender doesn’t draw too heavy a connection between her earlier claims about “interbeing” and the anecdote that follows, but I gather that the mutual resonance of “manageable—unmanageable” enabled the therapist to share the burden, through language/meaning, of a physical-emotional weight—something that would be harder to describe and defend if she’d tried to found such a claim on a common subject/object duality. I wonder about neighborhood/mutual friend circle/work vocabularies in which shared terms deepen in mutually resonating meaning through shared experiences, affinities, and avoidances. I mean, I wonder what it would look like to do this, not through social science/linguistics (?), probably the typical researching discipline, but through this concept of “interbeing,” in which the present is being informed “freshly” by these resonances, experiences, meanings, and so on, all holistically shared.
I don’t know who or what school of thought, if any, actually studies these moments of experiencing. It is, as you suggest, phenomenological, and Gene’s followers may be working on this, but most who work with him are psychologists or philosophers. Anyway, fascinating connections.

[Author]

Posts