Much Love Monday

This weekend, I enjoyed reading a potpourri of interviews at Aesop (via) with Gentlewoman editor Penny Martin, down-to-earth Michelin star-bearing chef Skye Gyngell, and Girls writer Lena Dunham. My interest lie not only in the women's noteworthy work, but also in how they have all struck out beyond the mainstream.
When reading one of those interviews, it occurred to me how much critics - those who write of others' achievements - have leverage with which to boost a career. For instance, by pointing out certain aspects of a topic or connecting it to another subject that may be more one's cup of tea, an enthusiastic journalist can give one cause to appreciate a work or vision one would otherwise have dismissed.
I have been thinking a lot about this recently as I've made a small return to the world of publishing. This weekend, I had to expose myself to the bestsellers of recent years, which is something I am adverse to do, because I think there is something off with the mainstream standards. I often wonder doubt whether these standards are a reflection of "the people" - if so, then which people? - and enumerate the number of "voices" not registered in the media.
M. Scott Peck wrote a book called The Different Drum, about how technologically aided communication has failed to build a true global community. His definition of such a community begins with self knowledge, before extending outwards. "The basic pretense of pseudocommunity is the denial of individual differences," he writes. To move my own observations from publishing to the internet, I find that because the latter is so hard to charter, it is a challenge to locate the like-minded. One is more likely to encounter people who are too busy, due to their visibility, to have the time with which to respond.
Since I was raised in a very international community - which I later discovered exists in but few and tiny pockets across the world, I expected I would always be surrounded by kind and interesting people from different backgrounds. I've realised that to find it again, I have to try to build it myself, hence this blog. The joy of the community is the exchange of ideas, which moves one out of stagnant thinking, and reminds one of the grand horizons of life - for it is never as small as bullying pettiness make it seem.
The internet is a great tool in this respect. What I envision the internet facilitating are extended dialogues, and heartfelt themes that are allowed to unravel. Because I have found that half the time, unless we take the time to get to know an-other's context, we are bound to misunderstand what we read or hear. It takes time, and repeated encounters, to broaden our constellations.
So, for today's Much Love Monday, I love the powerful communication of the internet. I hope that my engagement online will bring me to more happy thinkers who will enrich my life. As a sign of that, below is a picture of a little bowl someone dear to me brought to me from Turkey. That piece of Turkey came to where I live, and will now be viewed in countries all over the world. That's pretty neat!

Element: Animus dots.