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April development week

  Inspiring; thought-provoking, stretching outside my comfort zone This afternoon looked at the interweaving of philosophy and creative practice. Very helpful - how can creativity help us to approach our research in new ways?  How might it pare down our results, get the essence out? Looking at the word "axiology" I decided to write a poem. I ended up writing two complementary ones - cut-up from the Oxford D ictionary of Philosophy "Axiology" definition and a text from Kae Tempest (On Connection 2020 p.103): Axi -connect   it blooms with dark shapes about the world Those shapes can feel objective validity to make claims about the darkness with light     Ion -ology my work can be dark rooted in emotions in large rooms  about what is  acting  from the stage  everyone deserves pleasure and moment    When I meet      the judgement that  pleasure is  that creates  the galvanising philosophers  not so ready to  end the performance, or in approval
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Person-centredness, a starting point

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I have been so excited recently to delve a little more into why I think Zen has a part to play in my research.  There is something about embodiment in there; and about relationship.  However, articulating my ideas has been a huge challenge.  Zen is all about direct experience - so how can I distil something about this multifaceted, 6-year experience into concepts and words without shrinking it?  I need to start with the here and now.  How am I in my body today?  I woke at 6am.  The light is beautiful - it reminds me of Aberdeenshire - cold clarity.  I feel warm and energised.  Yesterday at our Student International Community of Practice I learned so much about person-centredness.  The others' supportive welcome demonstrated the power of it.  I came away feeling valued - and had some questions to consider: 1: How will my research questions (or methods) reflect who I am as a person - (and Zen student)? 2: How will I develop confidence? *** My meanderings between Zen and Person-centre
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First steps

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This strange COVID-19 era has opened up many possibilities for attending talks all over the country - even the world! I attended this fascinating talk last week: Towards a Holistic Humanities: Senses and Sensibilities of De-Westernisation The speakers were lecturers in film: William Brown and Mila Zuo.  It was arranged by the University of Stirling and available to members of the Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities. Dr. Zuo's work looked extremely interesting on senses and the body - and how Western thinking prioritises sight over the other senses.   Brown's talk resonated with my current reading.  He referred to  contemporary  neuroscience and physics to suggest that our Western tendency to separate 'subjects' from 'objects' is flawed. He suggested that the experience of personhood is entangled with other persons (shown in the firing of "mirror neurons" in the brain).  In fact, our perceptions of 'things in the world' are more deep
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