This was a treat to re-read! Cameron's assumptions about her reader are very striking, so there's a lot to unpick before we can even engage with the content. As you say, it does make me wonder what else she might be missing. Perhaps it's time for another book that explores similar themes, but with a more inclusive, holistic lens? I'd certainly buy that book!
Haha, you really want me to write, don't you? I think it would be an interesting project, and part of how I would approach it would with different people collaborating: non Western, racialized, poor, trans and queer, disabled: what helps us and what hinders us in this approach? What can we adapt and what do we reject, and why? How else do we build a creative practice that still offers guidance while not being so prescriptive?
Bird by Bird is also still very useful, and also in dire need of being updated and critiqued.
Ha! I do :) It'd be great if you could write the book, and I can host a community event where we read it and do the exercises. 😉 Seriously though, I do think there'd be a market for it. Not that we always need to be led by capitalist impulses but there's a need for this kind of content through a less exclusionary lens, I think.
So yeah, let me know when you're done writing it! 😉
"I’m much more interested in loving others. And in others loving me." That line just hit me in the face in the best way possible! I never thought of love like that. And all your other reflections in this newsletter were so interesting!!!
Hmm well I liked what you said in the paragraph above the quote, about self-love not needing to be the ultimate goal. When I think of self-love, I think of being at peace with myself and liking who I am, but then when you said that you're more interested in loving others and having others love you, it made me realize that self-love is only one small part of living a life full of love! And it's so true that the wellness industry makes us self-centered by convincing us that we should be thinking of ourselves at all times. Sending love out into the world almost guarantees it comes back our way too, so I just love that idea of thinking of others more in general! :)
This was a treat to re-read! Cameron's assumptions about her reader are very striking, so there's a lot to unpick before we can even engage with the content. As you say, it does make me wonder what else she might be missing. Perhaps it's time for another book that explores similar themes, but with a more inclusive, holistic lens? I'd certainly buy that book!
And thanks so much for stopping by and reading this piece again!
Haha, you really want me to write, don't you? I think it would be an interesting project, and part of how I would approach it would with different people collaborating: non Western, racialized, poor, trans and queer, disabled: what helps us and what hinders us in this approach? What can we adapt and what do we reject, and why? How else do we build a creative practice that still offers guidance while not being so prescriptive?
Bird by Bird is also still very useful, and also in dire need of being updated and critiqued.
I have more questions than answers!
Ha! I do :) It'd be great if you could write the book, and I can host a community event where we read it and do the exercises. 😉 Seriously though, I do think there'd be a market for it. Not that we always need to be led by capitalist impulses but there's a need for this kind of content through a less exclusionary lens, I think.
So yeah, let me know when you're done writing it! 😉
"I’m much more interested in loving others. And in others loving me." That line just hit me in the face in the best way possible! I never thought of love like that. And all your other reflections in this newsletter were so interesting!!!
Thank you, Caitlin! If you care to share, how did you think of love? Thanks for reading and commenting, it means a lot.
Hmm well I liked what you said in the paragraph above the quote, about self-love not needing to be the ultimate goal. When I think of self-love, I think of being at peace with myself and liking who I am, but then when you said that you're more interested in loving others and having others love you, it made me realize that self-love is only one small part of living a life full of love! And it's so true that the wellness industry makes us self-centered by convincing us that we should be thinking of ourselves at all times. Sending love out into the world almost guarantees it comes back our way too, so I just love that idea of thinking of others more in general! :)
I see, thanks for sharing. I’m sending love into the world, and to your cat in particular! :)
thank you!! she's my roommate's cat but I love her as if she were mine haha <3