“Where Many Gather,
Let Them Enter with Grace”
Salons are more
than your weekly pit stop to manage our superficial outward appearances. It’s
more than a meet and greet. Once a place of community, perspective and an
intersection of the intellect; that had been gathered from all walks of life.
An invitation for all, however your acceptance, is only received through the
sharing of intellect; a willingness to share.
Gathered
together around the table of communal cognition, the English 212 class began
the endeavor of the salon. Spanning the realm from the Renaissance to the
Reformation. It was a true testament that you do not need to become an expert
in all matters of education, however, you must learn the art of learning. Dare
to learn. Dare to know just enough about all subjects that when opportunity arises,
you might share a gem of knowledge to begin conversation where all are
participator friends, elevating all in attendance to a sphere of new thought.
A delicate
display of such a discussion, in which I wish to share just a few insights of
thought, that were produced under the umbrella topics of the salon.
To begin, and interesting
comparison of the the printing press’s effect on humanity. As common knowledge,
during the Reformation, the printing press was a revolutionary invention, thus
allowing no longer just the elites ability to read and right, but that of the
very commoner. Allowing individuals to take oral knowledge, story,etc. to the
press, allowing physical dissemination of information that you could personally
have. It no longer came from a “chosen” individual or informational gatekeeper.
Compared to the Renaissance, travel was the mode for the “printing press”. As travel
became the way to go back to the source and find civilizational roots, it
became a mode of transferring information. As Europeans began to see new lands,
they saw new ways of living. They gathered new forms of plants, societal interaction
and new ways of understanding the world around them.
Once Greek oration
and collective learning were the basis for ground breaking education. Though,
slowly as time progressed, we began moving away from collective learning until
the Reformation and one became the mouthpiece; mainly the preacher. As “religion”
becomes the center of towns and communal gather, the preacher in a sense became
the gatekeeper of understanding. Which today, we see, in society still in part
exists; yet through reformation we have greater awareness of individual ability
to learn, teach and understand information on our own.
They say we must
learn from the past so we might not make the same mistakes. However, I believe
we must understand the principles of the past, that we might continue the
legacy of innovation. To gather the processes and patterns that brought forth
light, life, and the continued cultivation of human intellect. Atmospheres of
learning. Once Salons, now found within classrooms, homes, and barbershops. Let
us continue to gather in intellect, let us bring home the salon.
