July 8, 2024 | vol. 001
Welcome to my Salon Letter, It Could Be Anything. A million years ago when blogs were just beginning, I started a blogspot by the same name. At the time I desperately wanted to have meaningful things to say but could never actually think of what they were. Now, I’m ready, as I do have so much more to say and many wide ranging interests. This iteration, THIS SALON LETTER, was conceived in August of 2019 and finally I have mustered up the gumption to go through with it and share with you all; surrendering to the unknown with an open mind knowing that I have no idea what it will become.
Since I began conceiving of the project, people have been asking me, “What is a salon letter?” or saying, “Oh, like a blog you mean?” The latter question has been frustrating for me because while it may have blog attributes this is in fact not a blog. It is a salon letter and I made it up, thank you very much. Beginning in Italy in the 16th century, women of means would host gatherings in their salon rooms and invite academics, experts, performers, artists, etc. to their homes to teach them or have conversations about current events and other topics. There is also a rich history of art being shown in salons, (and you will definitely find art here)… but mainly the idea was that this was a space for thought and for learning, for conversation, and curiosity, inspiring minds and ideas that broaden horizons. This is one of the ways sheltered financially affluent ladies occupied and enriched themselves within the proper confines of societal expectations, while their husbands went off to work or withdrew after dinner for brandy and cigars… but this is the 21st century and explicitly, EVERYONE is welcome here and all different kinds of people are on this email list. Furthermore let’s all just get on with it and accept that gender is a spectrum, and for that matter so is sexuality. If you don’t agree I invite you to consider that the scientists who deemed the XX and XY chromosomes to be the defining factors of human gender were raised in a Judeo-Christian world where their frameworks were heavily influenced by the ideas of Adam and Eve so inevitably their scientific education, research and conclusions were informed by this societal programming and biblical propaganda. Anyhow, please embrace my tangent, everything is connected and I can really find a path to anything if I look hard enough, so that won’t be the last time I get tangential.
Here you will find a wide range of topics, people, art and life. Specifically I will be highlighting human-beings who are living differently, following their passions and breaking preconceived notions of how life has to be done by doing it their own way. Alongside these individuals It Could Be Anything that I desire to share with you that I know about and feel lit up by.
One of the things I’d like this project to do is to inspire YOU. Inspire you to seek solutions, collaborate, live differently, to live outside the box, follow your wildest dreams, lead with curiosity, cease assuming with little information and no real answers, ask questions, have constructive, courageous conversations. I want to inspire you to build your own new way of living not hindered by societal and generational expectations. We do not have to adhere to the frameworks that were built and stand but no longer make sense, if they ever did.
This is an invite only letter: by receiving this, You Have Been Invited. If there is anything here that you think someone you know would enjoy and be interested in, I invite you to share with them. If you have received this from a friend and like what you see, please send me a note using the contact form or reply to the email and I will add you to the list for the next iteration. Furthermore, if you receive this and no longer want to, please write to me and I will remove your name, no hurt feelings, friendship still intact. ;)
Email is something we all get enough of and I wouldn’t want you to receive something from me and feel it an obligation or burden.
I invite you to respond, share with others, ask questions or provide suggestions on topics. Send me things that inspire you! Please contradict, challenge, agree or question. Email me directly with your thoughts and let me know if I can share them in the next letter. Feel comfortable doing so knowing that I am here as your moderator and you do not have to share your name publicly or anything about who you are! This is a safe space, there are no trolls here (there is no learning in that behavior, no understanding, no solutions) and I want to know what you think. I hope you will feel comfortable speaking up and engaging with what and who you find here in my digital salon where It Could Be Anything.
Sometimes I’m going to talk about or muse on the heavy stuff. In fact I reserve the right to do so. An ex-friend of mine used to say, “we don’t talk about money, politics, religion or prescription drugs.” Variations of this statement have been uttered throughout history and speaks to a certain level of privilege, which allows one or many to ignore that which does not affect them. This is exactly why we need to be having open conversations concerning these things, and let’s tack sex on there for good measure. After all, it’s EVERYWHERE and shouldn’t be taboo. In regards to religion for example, I’m not interested in judging anyone on where they find their faith, but I do think it’s important to be aware that one of the predominant faiths on the planet, Christianity, is responsible for the persecution and obliteration of many cultures in the name of savior-ship. Many of its ideals are rooted in the shaming and oppression of those perceived as other. In contemporary times we can simply look at how the rights of the LGBTQIA community have been denied and challenged and easily trace it back to the ideals of Christianity as well as draw parallels with other mainstream organized religions. These religious “ideals” have had more of an influence than I think most people spend time considering, in wide-ranging fields from politics to science. Nettie Stevens, who discovered the XY/XX chromosome in mealworms in 1905, was raised in a Judeo-Christian society, as were the scientists who took her discovery and applied it to all humans, but so many other factors seem to have been left by the wayside, like varying hormone levels… (sounds like a good subject to delve deeper into in a future letter, and I will) and I think we are shortsighted not to consider how these religious ideals taught at a very early age continue to influence discovery and scholarship in adulthood.
I think a lot about the frameworks, judgements, roles, institutions, laws, and discriminations that have molded our society today. Like A LOT A LOT, and the end truth is it is all made up, created by someone and then glommed onto by others so that it perpetuates and then has become something that we live our lives according to; ideas that split us into groups who each think their way is best. When most definitely many ways are best for many different peoples. For example, like sports being divided by gender. Is there another way to split up groups in sports? Why do sports always need to be separated? Is it okay that Olympian hopeful, Caster Semenya was denied the opportunity to compete because she has naturally higher testosterone levels? Is there another way to group athletes to be more inclusive? How many of these created societal frameworks actually serve us well? Is the way you move through life the way you want to or the way that someone told you was the correct way so you did it that way and now you’re perpetuating the pattern?
For me so much of everything is intertwined; you talk about one of these subjects and it’s inevitably linked to another. As the creator, writer, editor and moderator of this salon letter you will find me to be open-minded to constructive discourse, intolerant of any troll-like behavior and in search of solutions rather than a new place to complain about everything that is wrong with the world.
Above all I hope to INSPIRE YOU by sharing people who are living in inspirational ways as well as inspiring things that I know about and information that will lead you to question and expand your views.
I hope you enjoy what you find here and will let me know what you’re thinking!
With Love,
Katherine Alexis Clausen
Creator, Writer, Editor and Moderator
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
Thank you for supporting, It Could Be Anything, The Salon Letter. Currently everything here is written and curated by me, Katherine Alexis.
Here you will find art, brave people, deep thoughts on current social structures and norms, people breaking boxes, ways to do things differently and anything else I feel inspired to share with you.
This is my passion project and I look forward to growing it and seeing what it will become with your support.
With love and respect,
Katherine Alexis
Writer, Moderator, Creator and Editor