Making the ordinary extraordinary

Making the ordinary extraordinary 

Both science and the arts have the power to make the ordinary and mundane extraordinary. While the methodologies, tools, and techniques differ between the disciplines, both fields require practitioners to focus, observe, and think deeply. In science, this deep thinking is helped by our mentors and the scientific literature; in traditional art forms like Bharatanatyam, it is the wisdom of our gurus and our experiences. Both the arts and the sciences help us focus our attention; something that used to blend into the background forces becomes a subject of deep attention.  
 
For example, a plant abundant in my neighborhood, the marsh elder, seemed unremarkable at first. But through a bit of digging, I found that it is a keystone species. These plants are critical for shoreline erosion control and provide refuge for small birds and small mammals during high tide [1]. These salt-tolerant plants are called halophytes, and they employ a host of mechanisms, including ion homeostasis and specialized salt glands, to deal with the varying salt levels in marshlands [2]. 

Analogously, showing a sun through dance made me think of all of the effects of the sun, such as light and warmth, but all of its impacts as well - the way it animates the smallest worm to the biggest elephant, and how it animates our limbs and breath. 

Literature cited:

1. https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_ivfr.pdf
2. ​Meng X, Zhou J, Sui N. Mechanisms of Salt Tolerance in Halophytes: Current Understanding and Recent Advances. Open Life Sci. 2018 May 18;13:149-154. doi: 10.1515/biol-2018-0020. PMID: 33817080; PMCID: PMC7874743. Link here. 

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Comments on this post:

• "Sloka, inspiring as always. You bring “a new breath” into subjects that we know; however, we fail always to appreciate."
  
• "The beautiful tapestry weaving nature , art and science."