beauty
Weekly newsletter 12.22.2020
Updates
“Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.”
Plato, Symposium
Plato knew what he was talking about, eh? His Symposium is a record of conversations about life and philosophy at a boozy banquet. Most folks don’t have the luxury of reclining and philosophizing over wine and nibbles, though, so you’re probably wondering - where can we go to explore ideas, cultivate our capacity for reflection, and connect with others in a casual and enjoyable environment? Well, in 2021, I’ll offer a series of symposia for small groups of people to explore topics from a few different angles. The objective isn’t expertise - there’s no need to master a skill, to acquire gobs of information, or to prove (or disprove) anything. The objective is making meaning.
Tentative topics and dates are below. Each symposium will begin at 5:00pm PST and last about 60-75 minutes. Registration is $65 per person for 4-week symposia and $95 per person for 6-week symposia. I hope to open registration before the new year. Check out my website for more details!
Symposia 2021 (tentative)
Good stuff: talking about listening, seeing, feeling, and other ings | 4-week symposia* beginning January 18 (Mondays), March (Mondays), April 5 (Mondays), May 3 (Mondays), June 2 (Wednesdays), July 14 (Wednesdays), August 11 (Wednesdays), and September 8 (Wednesdays)
And it’s a classic because…?: exploring the relevance of old movies | 4-week symposium on Tuesdays, beginning January 19
Religious literacy: how to talk about religion without pissing anyone off | 6-week symposium on Thursdays, beginning February 18
Good habits: understanding nuns through film | 4-week symposium on Tuesdays, beginning April 6
Religion in film: a case study in religion & pop culture | 4-week symposium on Tuesdays, beginning May 4
Rituals, ceremonies, traditions: starting points for understanding, engaging, and constructing ritual life | 4-week symposium, Thursdays beginning July 15
Madonna: a case study in religion & pop culture | 4-week symposium on Thursdays, beginning August 12)
Miss Jean Brodie is past her prime: teachers in film (4-week symposium on Thursdays, beginning September 9)
The minimum number of participants will be 4, and we’ll cap each group at 10. Please feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions!
Guided meditations via Zoom continue! Mondays at 4:00pm PST. The aim is to practice being present - to ourselves, to others, and to the world. If you or someone you know could use a 20-30 minute dose of peace and quiet on Mondays, visit the meditation page on my site to sign up.
Good Stuff
Laugh
There are few things I despise more about the holiday season than the Santa myth, as I have previously vented. But there are few things I love more about the holiday season than Mona Abboud’s performance of “The Pretty Little Dolly” on the Tonight Show in 1966. In the voice of a little girl, Abboud sings a letter to Santa with very specific instructions for what she wants for Christmas. A little bit of the fun is watching Johnny Carson’s reactions, but for me, it’s all about Abboud’s deadpan satire.
Listen
If you’re looking for something a little lovelier than a clip from Carson in 1966 to enhance the holiday mood, but you’re steering clear of Mitch Miller and the Gang on one end of the seasonal music spectrum and Mariah Carey on the other, listen to George Winston’s 1982 album December, in particular “Joy.”
If you stream music on Spotify, I’ve started a playlist called “Bill’s Good Stuff,” including music I’ve loved for a long time as well as things I’ve come across more recently. Feel free to add the playlist to your favorites! Bill’s Good Stuff Spotify Playlist
Read
I stumbled into Rebecca Solnit’s retelling of an old story in Cinderella Liberator on Brain Pickings, Maria Popova’s blog that weaves an endless stream of art, literature, and philosophy into accessible bites. In Solnit’s version, Cinderella’s step-sisters dressed to impress, thinking that either having the biggest hair or the fanciest dress would make one the most beautiful woman in the world, but Solnit continues with one of the loveliest and reorienting meditations on beauty I’ve read. This is the text I used in this week’s meditation:
[T]here isn’t actually a most beautiful person in the world, because there are so many kinds of beauty. Some people love roundness and softness, and other people love sharp edges and strong muscles. Some people like thick hair like a lion’s mane, and other people like thin hair that pours down like an inky waterfall, and some people love someone so much they forget what they look like. Some people think the night sky full of stars at midnight is the most beautiful thing imaginable, some people think it’s a forest in snow, and some people…Well, there are a lot of people with a lot of ideas about beauty. And love. When you love someone a lot, they just look like love.
