from the desk of Ellie Voyyd
Art, Music, Science, Culture, Economics, Politics, Religion etc.
These are examples of categories which stand apart from other things.
Before there were things, there was just all of it.
Before there were names, there were just things, being.
If everything you do is art, then nothing is art, everything is art, the word art becomes useless.
If every sound you hear is music, then nothing is music, everything is music, music becomes a useless word.
We should think of why these things are categorized, separated from other things.
Is it useful to separate them? Who finds it useful? What is done to keep them separated?
It is often the role of large, powerful institutions and power structures to do this segregating and categorizing.
Sometimes, maybe, it happens "organically", but much of the time it is enforced.
Large, powerful institutions or systems will always segregate things in a way which benefits those systems.
The way this categorization is done may be good or bad - often, depending where you fit in or don't fit in to the system.
It isn't necessarily that all the categories must be destroyed, but they should be looked at with skepticism.
If someone tells you, this is what art is, or they say this is what politics is, or they say this is what religion is,
you should be skeptical, especially if they are someone at the top of the system, or who benefit from the status quo.
Being able to name things, to categorize things, is a power, and it is good to see who has power and who doesn't.
There is power in naming things.
This is a way of thinking that you will find useful.
- elucidated.voyyd