Askesis
During my University years, when I was a student of Political Theory, I had a fellow classmate who was writing his master's thesis on Nietzsche. His focus was mainly on Nietzsche's treatment of askesis. His approach was rather interesting: in addition to writing his actual thesis, he was also working on a flash based recreation of some of the most important chapters of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." His argument was that the written essay and the flash movie should be treated as one.
The day he defended his thesis, he played the movie to those of us who were present. When he concluded, one of the teachers that had been invited asked him if he thought the movie could have any pedagogical value. The answer, of course, was no: in a utilitarian sense, the movie was useless. The movie, my friend argued, was an exercise of askesis. The arduous process of creating the movie was meant to be a personal meditation through which he hoped to attain askesis. It was therefore an exercise that could only transform him, the creator of the movie.
While I thought his concept was interesting at the time, it was not until recently that I understood the significance of this exercise. This blog is in some way analogous to what he was doing: on the one hand, I post here some of my reflections on various subjects, which is an exercise that consist of conceptualizing some of my thoughts through writing; but on the other hand, there is a purely technical aspect to this blog that requires me to spend my time modifying html code in order for it to comply to the aesthetical expectations that I have of this webpage. In this sense, I believe this blog has become an exercise of askesis similar to the one my friend was performing.
I have come to enjoy a great deal the technical aspect of blogging. I spend quite a bit of time making little cosmetic changes to this blog, which has led me to learn about coding and other such aspects of working with templates. This, in one way or another, is a form of meditation, just like it was for my friend when he was programming his movie. For others, this is an exercise that can be performed by means of the most mundane things, such as doing the dishes, going for a walk, shaving, or other such activities that help us reflect upon ourselves.
Personally, of course, in addition to blogging, my predilect exercise of askesis will always consist of writing and producing my music.
The day he defended his thesis, he played the movie to those of us who were present. When he concluded, one of the teachers that had been invited asked him if he thought the movie could have any pedagogical value. The answer, of course, was no: in a utilitarian sense, the movie was useless. The movie, my friend argued, was an exercise of askesis. The arduous process of creating the movie was meant to be a personal meditation through which he hoped to attain askesis. It was therefore an exercise that could only transform him, the creator of the movie.
While I thought his concept was interesting at the time, it was not until recently that I understood the significance of this exercise. This blog is in some way analogous to what he was doing: on the one hand, I post here some of my reflections on various subjects, which is an exercise that consist of conceptualizing some of my thoughts through writing; but on the other hand, there is a purely technical aspect to this blog that requires me to spend my time modifying html code in order for it to comply to the aesthetical expectations that I have of this webpage. In this sense, I believe this blog has become an exercise of askesis similar to the one my friend was performing.
I have come to enjoy a great deal the technical aspect of blogging. I spend quite a bit of time making little cosmetic changes to this blog, which has led me to learn about coding and other such aspects of working with templates. This, in one way or another, is a form of meditation, just like it was for my friend when he was programming his movie. For others, this is an exercise that can be performed by means of the most mundane things, such as doing the dishes, going for a walk, shaving, or other such activities that help us reflect upon ourselves.
Personally, of course, in addition to blogging, my predilect exercise of askesis will always consist of writing and producing my music.
You are not a regular reader of my blog :o) (my daughter is mentioned on a regular basis). Perhaps I move in the wrong circles, when in the UK or other English-speaking countries, as I have never heard the word "pedagogical" used there - here in Denmark it is almost a part of every sentence. Blogging is to most of us completely personal, although it is nice to receive positive feedback.