For all of my life, I figured that if I were to accept a Christian theology, the story of “The Fall” would always be a frustrating, contentious mythology, instead of what it truly is: the beginning of the greatest love story ever told.
The tiny seedlings emerging from the new garden quickly became a metaphor for my early pregnancy. As they grew, so did I. We were surrounded by the lush growth and rich colors that nourished our bodies and souls.
Hardcover or paperback? Dog-eared pages or bookmarks? Current read? Favorite read of all time? Let’s chat books with this silly 2023 mid-year reading tag!
Last summer, after I heard Jane Austen’s Persuasion was being adapted on Netflix. I RAN to the library to read it that week before I got cranberry-vodka intoxicated with my husband and watched the silly film adaptation. I have ZERO complaints! It made me smile. It was humorous & funny & creative. In fact, I think the experience kickstarted the major reading adventure I’ve started this year.
There’s a wild sense of empowerment in turning hoards of fresh produce into batches of soups, stews, and diverse, colorful, nutritionally-packed meals. But more than that, I’ve taken on the household tasks of meal prepping and cooking as moments of meditation and prayer, weaving intention into every ingredient I choose. It’s almost like a witch casting a spell over her cauldron, except… that’s exactly what it is.
Laughter is my drug of choice. If you’re asking me, I’d say that where you can find humor, you can also find a shred of joy. That makes sense, right?
Before the original sin, stark naked and unaware, Adam and Eve were merely a part of their perfectly balanced ecosystem. They worked for nothing. They created nothing. They likely would have felt nothing except for the basic instincts that govern living creatures. An even temperament. A homeostasis. No real love, no fear, no desire. They were content with such an existence until the serpent slithered up Eve’s arm and told her to take a bite. To open her eyes. To know. To truly feel.
A common canonical rule in horror, or if you’re incredibly spiritual & superstitious, is that a monster must be invited in to cause any real damage to you. In classic literature and occult media, vampires must be invited to cross the threshold of a home and demons must be given permission to enter an object or take possession of body. In much the same way, Victor invited his monster into existence by creating him in the first place. And this is first and foremost how horror begins to befall our rather dim-witted main characters.
Given how I tend to experience places, with my senses first, I became particularly enamored with the work of Antoni Gaudí while I was in Barcelona. Some of his whimsical creations, expert use of color and avoidance of straight lines in his most experimental designs have stuck with me this long, inspired some of my own art and helped me to rethink everything I’d previously considered to be “beautiful”.
Pregnancy is hard. When you hear women joke about their “tapeworms,” usually it’s a lighthearted way of describing a rather cumbersome reality – feeling like all the energy, motivation, and nourishment is being literally zapped right out of your body. Now factor in raising an infant and working full time. Suddenly, things seem more grim.
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