TRAUMAGENIC DELUSIONS

The Pandemic started roughly 2 ½ years ago and it has completely altered the entire world and has permanently changed the human race. It’s been a complete paradigm shift, one we have never seen in our lifetime and is still changing as I type these words. This pandemic has forced us to redefine what and who we value, our working situations, family and social life, but most importantly it’s caused many of us to look within and observe deeper than we ever have. I recall actually being excited when the pandemic started because I could spend more time with family, be outside more, and focus on more important things. However, this all came at a cost once the newness wore off and reality settled in. The new reality being a strict lockdown, lack of social life, a normal routine completely vanished, and a constant worry of what the future might bring. In essence, chaos. I still argue that there were/are more positive outcomes than negative with the pandemic, but one negative aspect has stood out to me more than any other and it’s one of the main reasons for this project.

I also can't forget to mention what I was reading before and during the pandemic that had a similar theme as well. Those books are listed on the "LITERATURE" tab and I recommend giving them a glance. They are certainly part of the inspiration of this project. If you recall in my original email, I mentioned there was a connection I was trying to make with this project, but wasn't sure it was actually there. Well, that connection is TRAUMA and how it relates to creativity and art.  I have a theory (not necessarily a new one, but rather focused on the pandemic and larger events) that not only has this traumatic event affected us in ways that we are not aware, we are also born with trauma. And not just the incredibly traumatic event of being born, but trauma stored in our DNA from ancient ancestral trauma and cataclysmic event/s. I would even go so far to suggest that intelligent life could be a result of trauma. While trauma is a terrible event, that is survived, it can often lead to transcendental experience/s and superhuman abilities.  

What I am referring to is what Jeffery Kripal has coined, "The Traumatic Secret".  I am contending that all of us, when creating art, have experienced a transcendental/ altered state of consciousness, even if only for a split second, and that trauma may function as a catalyst for this creative process. A trauma that is sacred, "a numinous presence at once alluring and terrifying, at once positive and negative." I'm not suggesting everyone has experienced childhood trauma or abuse. I'm merely suggesting, at the bare minimum, we have ancient trauma in our memories that have been suppressed and therefore forgotten. This maybe one of the links to creativity, ideas and imagination that sometimes seem to appear out of the ether. Consequently, this is the reason I titled the project; "Oscillating Metaphors When Stars Collide." A star collision is one of the most violent/traumatic events in the Universe. And if we are all made up of star dust, could you not argue that we (humans) are the manifestations of this violent trauma? 

With all that being said, let's take a step back and look at the role of trauma in our lives, I will look at traumatic events in the micro vs macro and what that might mean.
- James Stabler

( Click Traumatic Secret) Button