June Collectibles

Listen, Read, Watch

Jun 22, 2024

Have you ever heard about Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten method? I hadn’t until recently. It’s a fascinating story about how certain people possess an incredible capacity to create through analysis, structuring, and organization. Niklas Luhmann was a famous sociologist who created a unique method to keep track of any information he encountered. He developed a huge database of paper notes brilliantly interconnected through numbers and letters. Zettelkasten is a German word that translates to 'slips of paper' (zettel) and 'boxes' (kasten).

Far from Luhmann’s Zettelkasten knowledge management, my aspirations are very humble: to create a basic library of interesting pieces to read, listen to, or watch monthly. I used to do this on Instagram, and soon I will transfer those recommendations here.

Listen

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

From time to time, I tune in to listen to other people's opinions and ideas. Recently, I needed some fresh perspectives and decided to listen to what Susan Davis, a prominent thinker and psychologist, had to say about the dangers of forced optimism that have been roaring on social media and other corners of the internet. Phrases like 'find the silver lining,' 'count your blessings,' and 'look on the bright side' are common examples. The thing is, we need to end this dualism around emotions, this incitement of one emotion against another, and this labeling of emotions as good or bad. There are no good or bad emotions. We cannot know there is a bright side if we don’t acknowledge the existence of a dark side and the often pleasant shadow in between. It resonates deeply with me when Dr. Davis speaks about creating space between stimulus and response. Spending time in the darkness could be the right response at certain stimuli.

Read

Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott

When my son was born, I went through a period of depletion. I couldn’t find solace in chats about poo with other moms — it wasn’t about him, it was about me — so I turned to literature. I desperately needed to know that I was not the only one struggling. I remember going to Amazon at night and searching for motherhood memoirs and journals. Some of them were funny accounts of those first years when you literally deplete physically and emotionally. At that time, I couldn’t bring myself to make fun of such an exhausting experience. I preferred more self-conscious accounts, told in a softer and more compassionate voice, to feel less alone and to experience a worldly connection with the authors when I recognized my own thoughts and patterns in their books. Authors like Louise Erdrich, Anne Truitt, and Anne Lamott.

I find Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions very relevant to this month’s theme of Change and Changing. As the narrative progresses, you’re not just a reader but a witness to a transformational process happening before your eyes. It’s like sitting in her home, in a corner, where you can see everything but cannot be seen. You can clearly distinguish the exact point when desperation culminates and a post-ecliptic stage takes place. The calmer and more relaxed Anne emerges from the lines as she turns again towards the outward realm of politics and mundanities.

Watch

Searching for Sheela

All I knew about Osho was that he was the author of certain famous quotes in boomers' morning posts on Facebook. A couple of years ago, I listened to Roberta Lippi’s podcast Soli – Osho’s Children. When Roberta published a continuation under the name Dragon Lady, featuring the story of Deeksha — one of the closest women to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during his ascension — I was in awe. I couldn’t stop and topped everything off with Netflix’s documentary Wild, Wild Country. How was it possible that I had never heard these stories before? I became very passionate about learning the mischievous patterns of cults. It was like opening Pandora’s box of social psychology.

When Netflix announced they were going to release a documentary featuring Sheela’s story from her point of view, I was in the front row with a pack of chips. It didn’t live up to my expectations, but I think it’s worth watching as an insight into a very disturbed mind. Ma Anand Sheela was the spokesperson of the Rajneesh movement and became a very controversial figure. I’m still fascinated by the transformations she underwent to rise and fall, only to rise again as the different person she pretends to be today.

What have you entertained your strained attention with lately that you could gleefully add to an imaginary memorabilia?

Collectibles is a monthly series of content in various forms, consumed at different times and on various occasions, reunited by a Zettelkasten-like logic residing somewhere in my mind.