The Reflective Threads of Yesterday

One of the antiphonal patterns that defines my analytical reflections these days deals with the idea that:

...good criticism must be attendant not only to formal concerns and the potential aesthetic triumphs incipient in any object, but also the power relations (1.) that allow the object to come to fruition, (2.) that allow the other to encounter the object (eg. "distribution" or "exhibition" to "audiences" or "publics") & (3.) that inform whatever critical judgements have been or can be made about the object.

The reversal is, that increasingly, my spiritual journey continually teases me toward the idea that the *power* frame is a profoundly insufficient one for understanding one's own being; who-we-are must proceed from generosity, forgiveness & sacrifice, and while what we say and do for others must include an ability to see the abuses of power that define human interaction we must beware the easy conflation of the plight of those we advocate for with our own situation.