Memories of a Murder
Wayne’s Zeitgeist series: Remembering the Murder You Didn’t Commit, an article by Rachel Aviv. Tangled up in Spacetime, an article by Clara Moskowitz. Walk Off the Earth, music by R.E.V.O.
Curated by Wayne Dodge. In the Zeitgeist series, Wayne wades through a world of publications, theories, music, poems and more, sharing his thoughts, discoveries and passions with particular reference to topics that touch The Haven.
We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive or not. ~ Joan Didion
Articles
Remembering the Murder You Didn’t Commit
Rachel Aviv, appeared in The New Yorker, 19 June 2017. Illustration by Adam Maida, Courtesy Beatrice Police Department.
This ten page article relates what happened in 1989 when psychological approaches, then currently accepted, were applied to trying to solve a murder in a small US town. In brief, 6 people were convicted of the murder and imprisoned. In 2009 – 20 years later – they were exonerated using DNA evidence. Yet, despite proof, one of the defendants still believes that she had a role in the murder.
I found this article important for two reasons. First, another example of how malleable our memories actually are. I always take someone’s memory of what has happened in the past as their truth – but not necessarily THE TRUTH. This does not lessen the importance of working with that memory as it is – but I realize I must be very careful not to inadvertently participate in shaping that memory.
Secondly, I am profoundly thankful to how this was handled with me at Haven in the the 1980’s. I was struggling for a while about WHY I reacted so strongly to stories about abuse. The very wise assistant with whom I was working did NOT read into this some story of some specific past abuse – but helped me explore my feelings as they were and the utility of now standing forth in the face of any threat. I see that this could have easily turned into a search for ‘at what point I had been abused’ in my life – and a potentially very ugly outcome for me.
Tangled Up in Spacetime
Clara Moskowitz, appeared in Scientific American, January 2017.
For those of us who enjoy wondering about the very nature of ‘stuff’ and ‘reality’, Tangled Up in Spacetime is an interesting review of current thought about the possibility that the basic building blocks of the universe/reality is actually information.
Music
R.E.V.O. – Walk Off The Earth
From the album: R.E.V.O., available on iTunes.
Heard this as a background to a recent movie – driving beat that got my body moving and OK lyrics.
Close your eyes and take my hand
Throw out what the teacher said
The revolution’s in my head
The revolution’s in my head
Raise the mast and set your sails
Just say when,
Just say when,
Just say when,
Just say when, go!
I’ve got a fever that I can’t control
I’m knee-deep and I don’t even know my name
I forgot about it.
I’m on fire, I’m a burning coal,
We can’t fight it ’cause we never sold the flame,
Not for love or money.
Close your eyes and take my hand
Silenced by the driving sound
The revolution’s in my head
The revolution’s in my head
Raise your fist, and stand your ground, go!
I’ve got a fever that I can’t control
I’m knee-deep and I don’t even know my name
I forgot about it.
I’m on fire, I’m a burning coal,
We can’t fight it ’cause we never sold the flame,
Not for love or money.
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
Hey hey, you know we’re never coming down
We’re never coming down
The revolution’s in my head
You know we’re never coming down
I’ve got a fever that I can’t control
I’m knee-deep and I don’t even know my name
I forgot about it.
I’m on fire, I’m a burning coal,
We can’t fight it ’cause we never sold the flame,
Not for love or money.
Just say when,
Just say when,
Just say when,
Just say when,
Not for love or money
Yeah, we’re never coming down
