#but artistic merit overrules it

[sweetmapple]

King of da highway

[byeler]

i generally agree with the sentiment of the post about liking v reblogging, but i think at its core the issue is about being able to get work out there and seen by other people. i mean this with all the respect in the world as a big fan of your work, but i’d imagine as the author of the number one kudos’d byler fic in the world (no small feat and a testament to your skill seriously) you have established a solid platform for yourself. i think overall it’s a very interesting discussion and like i said, i agree with you! no one is entitled to an engagement, regardless of the merit of their work. i just also think this adds an extra layer that’s interesting to explore. i hope this comes across as respectful, and my fr deepest apologies if not. all the love.

i do fully understand where you're coming from, but i also was not joking when i mentioned that i've said this before. if you can't tell by the date or the fact that post got a whopping three notes, i really did not carry the same presence back then that i do now. any reblog on any post or fic of mine was (and still is!!) incredibly valuable to me. i know how important it is to encourage and share fics you enjoy because that is what did and still does continue to help me. i promise i didn't post that because i want to stop people from interacting with things that they enjoy.

what really, really bothers me is the guilt trips. i absolutely endorse and support posts that say "hey, if you want your favorite authors/artists/theorists to continue to create more of what you like, reciprocate and interact with them". what i do not condone is posts that boil down to "this fandom is dying because YOU are not reblogging enough" when there are several reasons that someone might just not want to reblog. and i just don't feel like my desire for engagement overrules anyone else's desires for what they want to do on their own blog.

at the end of the day, if i post a piece of writing for free on the internet, it's already written. while getting feedback often feels like a reward for the work i've put in, i've already done the work. if someone wants to read it and enjoy it and then choose not to like or reblog or kudos or comment or acknowledge it in any way, i still don't lose anything from that. i might not gain anything, either, but that is not a loss, because i'm not entitled to someone else's time. and on the flip side, it gives me a huge amount of appreciation for those that do take the time to otherwise engage with my work, because i know it's not a requirement, it's something they wanted to do.

i know it might sound like i'm coming from a place of privilege (?) being able to say this, and i won't fully disagree with you on that, but it's something i've felt strongly about long before my writing really had any sort of traction. i also want to be clear that i can only speak for myself, and that many other authors and artists likely disagree with me on this topic. but i simply do not want anyone to feel pressured to force some sort of interaction with me for whatever reason, regardless of how much they like my fics.

[sivillanightchief]

Pick a picture

Ask a question, get an answer from Shen Shu, "Divine Numbers" ancient Chinese oracle

The answers:

1. Two women and one man Above and below drive each other away Yin energy takes advantage of yang Therefore consuming it and emptying it. When someone tries to take charge without the necessary power or wisdom, everything will deteriorate. The same happens when natural followers don’t acknowledge a born leader. When the need to appoint a ‘boss’ arises, it is a sign that the natural and harmonious order has been disrupted. 2. Solid locks

Late at night doors need a solid lock Be on guard for people sneaking in Don't say that it will not happen Negligence is liable to meet with disaster Close the doors which should be closed. Don’t let thieves in, or bad feelings, or words which hurt or secrets you’d rather not know. But don’t let all those things leak out either. Only confide in those who deserve it and who are discreet. Keep your house, your people, your body and your mind safe. 3. Alone In heaven’s space one solitary goose Warbling loudly laments being alone May we ask a gentleman if he knows Are there any people now like this? People are social, but they also need to be alone from time to time. If circumstances prevent one of the two, many become stressed or unhappy. Try to find a life in which both are possible. Where you can be alone or with others, each in its own measure and at the moment you need it. 4. Just do it Turning it over in your mind during one night Is inferior to carrying out one work In addition it appears to be a mistake Irritation and anger reach lungs and liver   There is a big difference between thinking and worrying. Thinking about a problem can be useful, worry never is. It pulls you down and takes your energy away. Overrule dark thoughts by doing something which engages your mind. Even small chores are an effective remedy against worries. 5. A friend who shares your heart You left for a very long journey But if you meet an understanding friend And you are of one heart and help each other You can garner big merit and fame   An understanding audience will bring any artist to a higher level. If you want to create something for others, it is important to find someone who connects with it. It is meant to be shared, and it will start to live when it is shared. Even one single person can be enough to form an audience. 6. Wind and moon Calm billows over a vast distance An entire day of leisure in a beautiful scenery Nothing stands in the way of profits and fame A journey away from heavy concerns   When things calm down, even if it is only for a short time, then use it to relax and to restore your energy. You need to work hard and to think hard, but you also need to nourish yourself, your body and mind, and don’t forget your heart. It gives you the strength to make a success of your work.   風月 Wind and moon: beautiful scenery, romance.   重關A series of fortified passes; heavy concerns. 7. Withering flowers For important events fearing the difficult plans Whithered flowers are no more fresh  For big plans or results, you have to put everything you got into it. The greatest results are achieved by those, who have great dedication embedded in their character. They don’t seek a result, they live the road towards it. If the effort scares you, you and anything you do will lack color and energy.

[betweentheracks]

On a scale of 1-5000, how annoyed do you get when people have the gall to tell you, “Wow! You’re so lucky!” when they find out that you work in entertainment and with celebrities?

Also on a scale of 1-5000, how unimpressed are you with the celebrities you end up working with?

Please share some horror stories so we can commiserate over nightmare clients! 😂

Yeef and also yikes, do I actually want to dive into this particular can of worms? Lmao. 

I thoroughly see spots of red in my vision whenever people try to do the whole “Wow, that’s really cool and lucky for you! How many famous people have you met or worked with? Your life must be so glamorous and exciting!!” Like please, spare me. It isn’t glitz and glitter all the time - in fact, the fun parts are in the minority of how working in this industry goes. Beyond that, I’m not ‘lucky,’ I worked my ass off to pull this off and have never slowed my pace (until this COVID-19 chaos) to ensure my post remains relevant. In accordance to your ranking, I guess I would go with 4999 points annoyed.

Frankly, my rating and impressions of my clients are like a river that flows on and on and yet there is no apparent water to be found. I have a good rapport with most of the ones I am contracted with exclusively, but they're prone to make my feelings change from sentence to the next. Celebrities will forever remain exhaustively effervescent. 

If you really want some dish, I can offer up some from a client I once worked with in my apprenticeship and how much I hate the time I had to spend with her while also retaining a sense of gratitude for helping shape me into someone that can withstand some of the prickly goings-on of the industry. She wasn’t even my client, as I was merely apprenticing and therefore was little more than a ghost that shadowed one of the veterans of our company. I’m highlighting this now before diving into the thick of what was the worst week in my career thus far because it is extremely important to keep in mind that I was under no actual obligation to work with this woman. 

Ahem, so, story time! Let me start off with first making it clear that even now I will only work with actresses and actors when I have no viable means of refusal. This is simply a preference of mine and stems mostly from this woman’s behaviors and treatments of me and some of the crew I worked with at the time. I was quite young when I entered my apprenticeship, like barely more than 20, and I was simultaneously accustomed and starstruck by the world I was entering. Before the apprenticeship, I had already been working off and on via temporary contracts and commissions as a MUA at the time, so I knew the ends and outs of the place and the people that worked my end of it. However, I hadn’t worked with many clients one on one as either a MUA or as an aspiring wardrobe stylist. Due to this I was still very green and awkward and hadn’t yet figured out the line between casual and professional (to this day, for me, this line is nearly nonexistent) and I tended to make a mess whenever I opened my mouth so mostly I kept quiet and melded into my role as an observing trainee with occasionally useful ideas but was mostly just an extra pair of hands. The stylist I was shadowing was, in a word, cumbersome. They weren’t a very great teacher and had a tendency to drop projects into my lap without much proper instruction or insight and would leave me to attempt making sense of what was wanted by means of vision boards and client portfolios. In much a similar fashion, when a scheduling conflict came up involving the actress which will star in this tale and another more major artist; naturally, he had to see to the client he had a more tangible contract with and stuck me with wrangling our golden girl. 

Within the first 4 sentences of our first exchange as stylist and client I hated her immensely. She was the type of client I abhor to work with; overbearing and demanding, thankless and impatient. She was in the midst of her career finally catching some interest which is the most pivotal time in any celebrity’s career and I like to think she was so bitchy and just plain mean due to the stress and pressure she was under but it doesn’t make what happened any more justifiable. Her immediate and first words to me were, “You’re young and clueless enough to be my baby sister. Whatever authority you think you can have in dictating what I wear ended with the sound of the door opening when you stepped in, get that straight now.” I remember this extremely clearly because I went from gobsmacked to incensed within the time it takes to pop the top on a can of soda. But! I knew at least enough to know to keep my mouth shut and temper my immediate dislike of this person and tried to push forward and steer the conversation in the direction of what her ideal style and presentation should be. It went well enough for all of an hour tops before she domed me again by calling me “baby sis” in place of my name. As I am, in fact, the baby sis of my family I am well aware of when a power play is being maneuvered in on me and spotted this for what it was: her trying to remind me that I had no right to be speaking to her, let alone designing her. This was a culmination of her being upset and put out that she wasn’t chosen by my mentoring stylist and was stuck with someone that had basically no merits behind her. 

Calling me this wasn’t really an issue for me, but it did chafe against my skin enough to make me feel uncomfortable and anxious. Still, I let it slide and she continued to call me as such for the duration of our time together. The true horror of this story is what comes next and the escalation from minor verbal insults meant to belittle me fanned into blatant sabotage. She and I had come to a sort of estranged agreement when it came to modeling her vision board - she wanted to retain some traces of her perceived sweet and demure self from when she was cast in her first role, but play up the maturity and grace she held now and have it reinvented into timeless class while holding a touch of being chic. It was a headache to make sense of since, from a the perspective of fashion and trends at that time, this wasn’t the ideal and even seemed counterintuitive to someone in her position and of her age. I went along with it and threw myself into the quest to pull from the brands she mentioned liking most and for days I learned firsthand how exhausting and tedious it is to make acquisitions and swear responsibilities/accountabilities one after the other and put my name and my company on the line. I handpicked every item and steadily managed to pull off forming my second ever ensemble of 4 sets of styles each with 2 or 3 substitution items that could alter the look entirely while still remaining within the realm of what the client had asked for. I worked upward of 13 hours for 4 days and when I finally was able to bring the client to her showroom and present my designs, I was only able to feel relieved for mere minutes before she began to yell and make a scene. She demanded my supervisor and the head of the styling department of our company both come to tend to her and see what a mockery I had made of her ideal image. She went on to use her acting quirks to insinuate that I had gone off half-cocked and overruled her every idea and word and then dared to present her with such low quality fashions. She even managed to produce a vision board that was entirely different from the one she and I had planned together! It was obviously done by herself and lacked the detailed attention any of the stylists housed in our company would have added, but it was convincing enough to appear damning. 

At this point my head was in a weird place, trying to make sense of the perilous world I was throwing myself into and the fact that this was actually happening to me at all and wasn’t just me daydreaming while watching daytime dramas. After I worked through that initial shock, I was more than mad but less than enraged. I was confused as to why this client was being so purposefully obstinate and difficult for me, even briefly wondered what sort of grievance I could have possibly cost her when I had only just met her and had done my utmost to seem cool and pro like all the seasoned stylists I had worked with. I thought I was going to lose my job and have to go back to my family with my tail between my legs and tell them they were right and I never should have strayed from my original course and career path. I only became aware that I was crying, like big fat tears that made a mess of my face and were embarrassing to the point that I wanted to flee, because my supervisor had given me his handkerchief. It was at this point that I teetered and looked deeply at the person accusing me and wasting my time and efforts and realized that it wasn’t about me and was only ever about her. This moment of clarity, though, was like the opening of a gate I had been clinging to all week in hopes of keeping all my spurned senses quietly simmering beneath my skin rather than wreck my name and finish off my chances before they truly begun. I very rudely told my supervisor and the department head that if they needed proof of my hardwork and dedication to the vision of a thoughtless actress caught in the weeds of her own wilting fame then they were free to examine my copy of the original vision board and compare it with the one she had; that they could check through the 15 or so LORs under my name and in her stead (both names are featured for security means). Anyway, she was attempting to spill a stain across our company and specifically the stylist in charge of me for blowing her off. Her idea was that if I failed in a big way it would make him look like a horrible mentor and cost him some of his reputation. I was merely cannon fodder.

This got insanely long - let’s put it up to me also being a storyteller and writer as well as very passionate about this encounter. It sparked the timid embers of my uncertain pursuit of my career into a fire that has since gotten me through many other rounds of hard hitting clients and their excessive personalities and entitled arrogance. I love my job a lot, but man is this industry full of bullies.  

[creativeculturesandcontexts1]

week 9 independent study

Find an example of indigenising or decolonising in relation to fashion/clothing/textiles (think traditional, customary, trans-customary, contemporary). Write a short paragraph to unpack the significance of this example using this week's readings (and any other connections to material we have discussed so far) to support your discussion.

Kiri Nathan: Founded her label in 2010 and made member to NZ order of Merit for her Maori fashion design services.

Her label is about identity and inclusivity inspired by the strength and beauty of New Zealand and Maoridom. Nathan her husband carves Pounamu jewellery and artwork for the label which contribute to the Maori values throughout her work such as the Korowai and Kakahu cloaks. Nathan set out to change the culture of the fashion industry building on the ethics of manaakitanga and tautako.  Being supported by Maori values help is given to maori designers to navigate the colonial structures of the fashion system.

Colonisation has made Maori garments to be seen as traditional and not fashion. Necessary re-thinking of the structures of recognition is an ongoing tasks for Pakeha designers, curators, activists and scholars to blame for the decolonising of fashion in Aotearoa. Maori fashion designers tell cultural stories through design reshaping our thinking of history, culture and the future for fashion in Aotearoa. Before colonisation transpired Maori had their own dense fashion cultures such as woven garments, Ta Moko tattoos and skin adornment which were representational of identity, status and relationships. Weaving was artistically applied to native plants for waist and shoulder garments in subtle, muted colours. Bird skins were stitched together with fibre from harakeke plants in which Maori used bone needles to create large capes and/or cloaks.

When Europeans arrived new materials, techniques, styles and colours came with them which were incorporated into Maori design however European made garments overruled Maori garments. Māori’s were encouraged to embrace European values including in dress following the signing of the Treaty signing in 1840. This is when Māori’s cloaks and gowns were marked as traditional and assigned as ceremonial attire. This hierarchical colonial perception remains dominant throughout the twentieth century in the colonial present today. Fashions tangible insights of cultural difference is reduced in the pursuit of a singular approach.

This dress itself feels powerful with the cloak sitting on the back of the model inspired by Te Ao Maori cloaks. Each strand hand woven together in every knot throughout the dress the same way Māori’s made garments before colonisation. The view can feel Nathans sense of cultural identity recognisable in the textiles used promoting and preserving his cultural identity. The models Heru made of Pounamu adds to the drama of the outfit as if Māori’s are taking a step forward against the binary distinctions and perceptions evident in the settler colonial New Zealand fashion industry. We can see Kiri Nathan is pushing Maori design back into fashion showing that its does not need to be characterised into ceremonial attire as the limitations to this fashion sense is endless using the special skills and values we inherited from Maori.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/365237/maori-fashion-designer-kiri-nathan-not-willing-to-conform

[makingmediameta]

Keyword Definition: Graffiti

Introduction

Graffiti has been a part of the human story since the dawn of mankind. Its history stretches all the way back to the first etchings and scratches produced on cave walls by the earliest men and women. Mirriam-Webster defines graffiti as “pictures or words painted or drawn on a wall, building, etc. (Mirriam-Webster).” Graffiti, however, is much more than just pictures and words; no one definition can capture the essence of its ever-changing nature. For many, it is an art form, allowing them to express themselves in a vibrant medium with no restriction. For others, it has become a form of political protest, a form of fighting for what one believes is right, and for others still, it has become a narrative through which people tell their stories and the stories of those they want people to know about. This changing and shifting definition of graffiti is reflected in the sociocultural shifts of society today. As the times have changed, the meaning, purpose, definition and use of graffiti have changed as well.

The History of Graffiti

When thinking of graffiti, one may have thoughts that flash to images of vibrantly colored, unstructured, words composed of big block letters on a building wall or park bench. However, as common a form of graffiti this may be in our current society, “…[this form of graffiti[ seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and by the late 1960s it had reached New York and was born on the subway trains (Blazeski, 2016).” Before both Philadelphia and New York ever formally existed, graffiti existed within the caves of ancient peoples, scrawled across the wall in primitive pictographs and scratches. One example of the earliest known forms of graffiti is the “Cueva de las Manos…located in Santa Cruz, Argentina…The painting dates from 13,000 to 9,000 BCE (Blazeski, 2016).” The piece depicts multiple hands sprawled across a wall, each hand surrounded by red, brown and white colored dyes in an unordered, unstructured manner. Ancient peoples were not the only ones who created these pieces. The ancient Greeks of Ephesus created the first “modern style” example of graffiti to date (Blazeski, 2016). A stone containing the etched images of a foot, a heart, a woman, a jug of wine, and a number was found on the main street in Ephesus and is fabled by locals to be an advertisement for prostitution (Blazeski, 2016). Additionally, the Romans created graffiti of their own on public buildings. One example is a satirical scene – the earliest known depiction of Jesus – that is found near Rome, Italy. It depicts Jesus being nailed to the cross with the head of a Donkey – a portrayal that seeks to mock Christians. In this respect, we see that even the earliest civilizations defined graffiti as a mechanism for political statements as well as a mechanism for creating a narrative – as can be seen in the Cueva de las Manos.

Coming to the more recent history of graffiti, we see the modern style of the art form – the use of spray paint – emerge in the ‘70s in New York City. This emergence started with the artist Taki, who used his tagline “Taki 183” to tag subway trains, and soon after, flocks of artist began to do the same. Taggers began to use more color and design to make their tags the most unique and stylish. However, in the ‘70s, “…John Lindsey, the mayor of New York at that time, declared the first war on graffiti in 1972 (Blazedski, 2016).” By the 1980s, graffiti became difficult to create on public entities and those who were caught, received legal sanctions. Today, society has become somewhat accepting of graffiti – more cities have come to accept the colorful display it creates in their cities. Others find it to be an eye-sore, an illegal use of public architecture. The controversial nature of graffiti itself and what it has come to be defined as is integral to the understanding of this keyword. This controversy is seen in the discussions of whether graffiti is an art form or not, whether it acts as a political statement, and whether graffiti can be used to convey a narrative.

Art or Vandalism?

One of the main pillars of the controversy surrounding graffiti centers around the notion of whether graffiti is considered art or just a variant of vandalism. “From the viewpoint of many of those who consider graffiti to be vandalism, all graffiti is vandalism regardless of a piece’s artistic value (Gomez, 650).” These people believe that the presence of graffiti lends itself to criminal activity, is done by criminals, shows that the neighborhood it is occurring in is in decay and that those who create graffiti should be legally sanctioned. Additionally, these individuals point to the unwanted nature of graffiti on public buildings and the costs associated with the removal of these pieces. Moreover, they state that because graffiti is associated with crime and those who commit it, “[it] incites fear because its opponents mistakenly believe that because gangs use graffiti, any graffiti necessarily brings about increases in gang activity, violence, and crime (Gomez, 654).” From this perspective, we see a complete negation of graffiti as an art form in any capacity. Individuals who possess this opinion emphasize the need to create more artistic outlets for artists to create publicly – such as the erection of murals and public art projects. Those on the other side of the debate, however, view graffiti as having the utmost “…artistic merit and should be exalted as such (Gomez, 655).” The notion that graffiti is art has been legitimized by the art community itself. “Recognition by the art world and inclusion in galleries and auctions is one way that graffiti art is legitimized as ‘real’ art (Sanchez).” Additionally, proponents of graffiti argue that the need for artistic expression overrules the demands of the public and private entities they create upon. In this regard, graffiti is seen as an art form that must be allowed at all costs, no matter the negative social ramifications it might produce. Personally, my definition of graffiti falls somewhere within the middle ground of this debate. I believe that graffiti is beautiful artwork that must be preserved for the cultural relevance and artist talent that it presents. However, I do recognize the fact that graffiti is normally created upon public and private entities that can be very costly to remove. I believe that graffiti is an art form that must be protected and recognized for the beauty it holds. However, I think that the defacing of public and privately-owned property is not something to condone and this could be rectified through the designation of public art spaces throughout communities.

Graffiti as a Political Statement

Since its inception, graffiti has come to be seen as a political statement, through which artists express their revolt against the “establishment.” As Troy Lovata and Elizabeth Olton state, “individuals or groups may use graffiti as a tool of protest, to communicate subversive opinions and experiences (25).” One instance of graffiti as a political discourse can be seen in “hip-hop” graffiti. “This highly stylized form of nongang graffiti writing – which includes the ‘tagging’ of subcultural nicknames on city walls and the creation of large illegal murals…has today fanned out intro large and small cities across the United States…(Ferrell, 78)” The creation of this graffiti was meant to disrupt the ever-encroaching gentrification of urban neighborhoods. Spaces became highly policed, curfews were enacted, and ordinances enforced that physically, culturally, and emotionally stratified cities. “The writing of hip hop graffiti disrupts this orderly latticework of authority, reclaims public space for at least some of those systematically excluded from it, and thus resists the confinement of kids and others within structures of social and spatial control (Ferrell, 79).” In essence, hip hop graffiti proved to be a direct defiance of the established norms of society, a political statement that served to defy those in power and empower those who were subjugated. A similar instance of graffiti being used as a political statement can be seen in the creation of feminist murals and war cries being painted upon the walls of Mexico City. Here, “[sixty-four] percent of women in the city [report] having been [victims of sexual harassment] while riding public transport…(Villatoro, 2017)” In a public display of solidarity, “women spray painted machetes against harassment and messages underlining consent as definitive – No es no (Villatoro, 2017).” Additionally, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, an American artist, took to the streets of Mexico City to paint multiple murals of strong women coming together to tell men enough is enough and that they have no right to assault any woman anywhere. This public display of resistance and political pressure spurred on action in the Mexico City community. UN Women and the government began an initiative that targeted men and aimed to put the burden of solving the issue on them. This example shows how graffiti can generate political statements which turn into visible action. In my own opinion, I believe that graffiti is one of the most powerful political tools that the public has at its fingertips. The painted image can unite where words fail and can inspire change where laws cannot. Defining graffiti as a political statement is a testament to the influence it has on modern culture and the enormity of the message it seeks to convey.

Graffiti as a Narrative

The topic of graffiti being used as a narrative has been debated time and time again. For those who are opposed to the idea of graffiti being able to convey a narrative, graffiti is just illegal scribbles and scrawls on public and private walls; it’s an eyesore composed of poorly arranged block letters that have no central meaning, no story to tell. The opposition, however, presents a strong counterpoint. They assert that graffiti has become a way for individuals to tell their personal stories as well as the stories of others who they wish to share. This story telling can be seen in the images created by these artists. An artist who has become the epitome of a story-teller through their art is Banksy. “Using striking stencil art and profound imagery…Banks puts social and political issues in our face.” (Johnson, 2018) The art he creates is open to interpretation by the viewer and allows the viewer to construct their own narrative about the image itself. One image created by Banksy features a small girl with her hand outstretched to a red heart balloon as it flies away with the accompanying text “there is always hope.” “While the image may symbolize loss, the text clearly tells us that no amount of loss can eliminate hope.” (Johnson, 2018) The point of the piece is to make people think about what is being conveyed and the artist is trying to present you, the viewer, with a story that is occurring within the image itself. I believe that images are some of the best narratives as they make the viewer construct their own narrative. Images have no verbal constraints on what is supposed to be understood, it is left up to the interpretation of the viewer.

Works Cited

Definition of Graffiti. Merriam-Webster, 2018, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graffiti. Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

Blazeski, Goran. The history of graffiti from ancient times to modern days. The Vintage News, 17 Nov. 2016, https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/11/17/the-history-of-graffiti-from-ancient-times-to-modern-days/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2018.

Sanchez, Noel. Graffiti: Art Through Vandalism. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/Sanchez/about.html. Accessed 13 Feb. 2018.

Lovata, Troy, and Olton, Elizabeth. Understanding Graffiti: Multidisciplinary Studies from Prehistory to the Present. Left Coast Press, Inc., 2015.

Gomez, Marisa A. “The Writing on Our Walls: Finding Solutions through Distinguishing Graffiti Art from Graffiti Vandalism,” University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform vol. 26, no. 3 (Spring 1993): p. 633-708.

Ferrell, Jeff. “Urban Graffiti Crime, Control, and Resistance,” Northern Arizona University vol. 26, no. 1 (Fall 1995): p. 73-92.

Villatoro, Jose Miguel Larios. Twitter, Graffiti, and Femicide. Harvard Political Review, 16 Sep. 2017. http://harvardpolitics.com/culture/twitter-graffiti-and-femicide/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

Johnson, Brianna. 15 Life Lessons From Banksy Street Art That Will Leave You Lost For Words, 17 Jan. 2018. http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-life-lessons-from-banksy-street-art-that-will-leave-you-lost-for-words.html. Accessed 13 Feb. 2018.

- AG

[live4thelord]

A Battle You Can’t Afford to Win – The Story of Jacob’s Conversion

One of God’s stranger affections is the special love He had for Jacob of the Old Testament. We are reading through this story in daily Mass this week.

According to some, the name Jacob means “grabber” or “usurper.” Even while still in his mother Rebekah’s womb, Jacob wrestled with his twin brother, Esau. Although Esau was born first, Jacob came forth grabbing his brother’s heel, hence his name.

Although he was a “mama’s boy,” Jacob was also a schemer, a trickster, and an outright liar. Rebekah favored Jacob and schemed with him to steal the birthright from Esau by lying to his blind father Isaac and obtaining the blessing under false pretenses.

Esau sought to kill him for this, leading Jacob to flee north to live with Laban, an uncle who was an even greater trickster and schemer than he. For fourteen years Jacob labored for Laban, in the hopes of winning his beloved Rachel, Laban’s daughter. In a wonderful payback, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Rachel’s “less attractive” sister, Leah, by hiding her appearance at the wedding. Jacob had thought he was marrying Rachel, but when the veil was pulled back … surprise! It would be seven years before Jacob would finally secure Rachel from Laban.

Frankly, Jacob deserved it. He was a schemer and was himself out-schemed by someone more devious than he.

Yet God still seemed to have a heart for Jacob. God loves sinners like you and me as well. In the story of Jacob—a hard case to say the least—God demonstrates that His love is not based on human merit. God knows and loves us long before we are born (cf Jer 1:5). His love is not the result of our merit, but the cause of it.

There came a critical moment in Jacob’s life when God’s love reached down and worked a transformation:

It was a dark and sleepless night in the desert. For reasons too lengthy to describe here, Jacob had reached a point in his life when he realized that he had to try to reconcile with his brother Esau. He understood that this would be risky and that Esau might try to kill him (he did not; they were later to be reconciled beautifully).

Perhaps this was the reason for Jacob’s troubled sleep. Perhaps, too, his desire to reconcile with his brother pleased God. Whatever the reason, though, God reached down to touch Jacob.

We pick up the story at Genesis 32:21

I. DISTRESSED man – So the [peace] offering [to Esau] passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp. The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day (Gen 32:21-24).

Jacob is distressed and has difficulty sleeping. He has, somewhat willingly, sued for peace with his brother Esau so as to be able to return to his homeland. How his brother will react is unknown to him.

Our sins have a way of catching up with us. If we indulge them, sooner or later we are no longer able to sleep the sleep of the just, and all the promises of sin now become like overdue bills to be paid.

Now that Jacob has come to this distressed and critical place in his life, God goes to work on him, to purify and test him. On a dark and lonely night in the desert, Jacob finds himself alone and afraid, and God will meet him. Note three things about the way God works:

1. God brings Jacob to a place of isolation – This is difficult for God to do. Oh, how we all love distraction, noise, and company. We surround ourselves with so many diversions, usually in an attempt to avoid considering who we are, what we are doing, where we are going, and who God is. So God brings Jacob to a kind of isolation on this dark and sleepless night in the desert. The text says, And Jacob was left alone. It’s time for Jacob to think, time for him to pray and look to deeper issues.

2. God brings Jacob to a place of confrontation – Verse 24 says, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

Who is this “man”? The Book of Hosea answers the question and also supplies other details of the event. He strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with him—the LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is his name (Hos 12:4-5).

Yes, it is the Lord who wrestles with, who strives with Jacob. God “mixes it up” with Jacob and shakes him up. Here is an image for the spiritual life. Too many today think that God only exists to affirm and console us. He can and does do this, but God has a way of afflicting the comfortable as well as comforting the afflicted. Yes, God needs to wrestle us to the ground at times, to throw us off balance in order to get us to think, to try new things, and to discover strengths we did not know we had.

3. God brings Jacob to a place of desperation – The text says, When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him (Gen 32:25).

It is interesting to consider that God “cannot prevail” over Jacob. Though omnipotent, God will not simply overrule our human will. Thus in striving with Jacob, God can only bring him so far. But God will leave him with a lingering memory of this night and with the lesson that he must learn to lean and to trust.

Jacob is a hard case, so God disables him. By knocking out Jacob’s sciatic muscle, God leaves him in a state in which he must lean on a cane and limp for the rest of his life. Jacob must learn to lean. He will never forget this lesson because he must physically lean from now on.

Thus Jacob, a distressed man on a dark desert night, wrestles with God and learns that the answer to his distress is to strive with God, to walk with Him, to wrestle with the issues in his life. Up until this point, Jacob has not trusted and walked with God. He has schemed, manipulated, and maneuvered his way through life. Now he has learned to lean and to trust.

II. DEPENDENT man – The text next records, Then the man said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

If “the man” is God, as the text of Hosea teaches, then it seems odd that God would ask Jacob to let him go and for Jacob respond, “I will not let you go.” As if a mere man could prevent God from doing anything!

But the request of “the man” may also be understood as a rhetorical device, drawing from Jacob the required response. So the man says, “Let me go!” God wants Jacob (and us) to come to the point at which he (and we) say, “I will not let you go.”

In saying, “I will not let you go,” Jacob is finally saying, in effect, “Don’t go; I need your blessing! Lord, you’re my only hope. I need you; without you I’m sunk!”

God needs to get all of us to this place.

This critical moment has brought Jacob to the insight that he must have God’s blessing, that he wholly depends upon God.

III. DIFFERENT man – The text then says, And the man said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen 32:27-28).

Here is the critical moment: Jacob finally owns his name. When his blind father Isaac had asked him his name, Jacob had lied, saying, “I am Esau.”

But after this encounter with God, Jacob finally speaks the truth: “My name is Jacob.” In this response is a kind of confession: “My name is Jacob. My name is deceiver, grabber, usurper, con artist, and shyster”

Thus Jacob makes a confession, acknowledging that all that his name implies of him has been true.

Having received this confession, God wipes the slate clean and gives Jacob a new name, Israel, a name that means, “He who wrestles or strives with God.”

Renamed, Jacob becomes a new man. He is different now; he is dependent. He will walk a new path and walk in a new way: with a humble limp, leaning on the Lord, and striving with Him rather against Him.

And thus Jacob (Israel) wins by losing! God had to break him in order to bless him, to cripple him in order to crown him. Jacob would never be the same again. He would limp for life, always remembering how God blessed him in his brokenness. Scripture says, A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Ps 51:17).

Postscript – In the Book of Hebrews, there is a kind of picture of the “new man” Jacob has become: By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and bowed in worship, leaning on the top of his staff (Heb 11:21). Jacob limped for the rest of his life. He needed a staff to support him. He learned to lean.

Have you learned to lean?

There is a battle you can’t afford to win: the battle with God. Learn to lean and to delight in depending upon God. This is the story of Jacob’s conversion. How about yours?

[niuusblog-blog]

1812 Overture is 'top classical piece'

1812 Overture is ‘top classical piece’

Image caption Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had 14 entries in the Classic FM Top 300 Tchaikovsky may have loathed it, but his 1812 Overture has just been voted the UK’s most popular piece of classical music. The composer famously said it was “very loud and noisy and completely without artistic merit, obviously written without warmth or love”. But listeners to Classic FM have overruled him, putting it…