-bell hooks-
bell hooks said she needed "to live where I can walk," that she needed to have a connection with nature to feel like she belongs (hooks, 2). Nature is what keeps her grounded and spiritually connected. This place is often rural and in the South. Although she feels a belonging in the region where she is surrounded by nature, racial prejudice against her often challenges that sense of belonging, of being welcomed. She notes that part of this continued racism and prejudice comes from white supremacy and "residential segregation" that is enforced by internalized fear of white Americans by African Americans and a sense of safety among other African Americans (hooks, 72).
-Me-
In a twisted sense, I need to feel love/comfort and suffering/pain to feel like I belong, they must co-exist in my environment and even my relationship. A part of me deep down, a nagging in the back of my head makes me feel like I cannot belong within a setting that is all love/comfort, there has to be some kind of suffering/pain. My images this week show both of these needs. It is not one or the other, but the balance of the two.
It can be challenging to meet these needs, but there is always a way. When that part of me decides I am too comfortable, to happy it self-creates suffering, self-sabotages that happiness and comfort. There are also challenges in reverse, but it is harder to balance the suffering/pain by adding love and comfort. That usually comes in the form of a loved one or the chance encounter with a dog.
Not only did you sum up Bell Hooks's needs to belong very well, your own personal sense of belonging and what you need for it is something I find quite interesting. In the grand scheme of things, it's something I think we may all need to an extent. I mean, no one in the entire world lives in a setting that is full of only love and comfort. Suffering, as morbid as it is, is a natural part of life, and I think that without its existence, we wouldn't be able to truly appreciate the happiness that stems from love and comfort. It balances things out, in a way, and I think that's a part of what makes life so extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment Kelly.
DeleteYour images are beautiful and the choice of black and white further this metaphor of tension between two things (i.e. comfort/discomfort, love/pain).
ReplyDelete