Great friendships recognize their past but also proclaim their future. When we look at close friends, we can see them growing together in the past (the tradition they have cultivated) and sailing together into the future (the history they are making).
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of my meeting my other self, Dr. Pantelis Polychronidis, I am honoring the shared future of friendship, a subject I have considered often. I am not referring to the messianic constellation of things-to-come but never-here-yet (such as redemption and democracy) but to the immanentist assemblage of things-to-be-created-collaboratively.
Great, future-oriented friendships are engaged in world building – not their own isolated and protected world but open worlds available and welcoming to others. That is why such friendships have a civic dimension even when they are not themselves civic. My friendship with Pan-telis has been from the start telos-oriented as it has involved plans for collaborative performing, researching, writing, teaching, and more. My blog, which was named after my friend and launched five years ago, continues to reflect on our mutual commitments.
19 December 2019
Piano Poetry Pantelis Politics 