But don’t blame me, Julie’s been busy. So per her request, I am asking that you link me some good blog (her too if you want or her instead of me if you prefer). Any good blog post you’ve written or read? Link it and share it with the world (okay, not the world. just the few souls who graciously bless this site with their time and attention).
Here is mine:
Where is yours?
A recent documentary on the two year old Indian girl born with an extra set of arms and legs due to a parasitic twin follows the child and her family from her transformation from “goddess” to normal child. The little girl’s family and the village she lived in revered her as the reincarnation of a goddess and as such she brought attention and tourism which provided for her family and helped the community prosper. However, her condition was such that she would not have survived beyond her teens without intervention.
The Hump Day Hmm invites us to ponder the idea of when to leave well enough alone. Do all things “not normal” truly need fixing?
Perhaps it is because I am not feeling well as I write this but I have no opinion on this topic. I question the idea of normal and norms anyway. Nothing/no one could possibly survive too much scrutiny or measurement to fit the one size should fit all theory under which we live.
In the case of the goddess girl should her welfare have been put aside in favor of the continued benefits her condition brought to her family and village? Clearly the answer is no. She was already suffering the ill effects and would have continued to decline health wise. It would have been irresponsible of her parents not to take action. And perhaps their daughter’s job was done. For two years she brought joy and prosperity into their lives and the lives of others. A huge task for one so tiny. Maybe it was her turn. Maybe being “normal” was her reward.
Julie asked, What feeds your soul. What do you do to renew yourself? And how does this fit within the cultural boundaries that fence you? Big questions that grew out of a friend’s need to cook for others as she looked for footing and more level ground following the death of her father.
My reply is – I don’t know.
I am not sure that what we refer to as the “soul” is renewable as much as it is elastic. For most of us it can stretch and snap back, holding up to a remarkable amount of challenge and even abuse.
Deliberate recharging of the energy source that makes this possible is something I haven’t spent much time considering. I know that many of us take holidays, but I find getting away to be merely doing what I do normally, more of less, in a new locale. There is little about it that is relaxing or recuperative in a me time sort of way.
Is soul food Me Time? Alicia wrote about naming that time we dedicate to ourselves. Defining it.
Does the soul need daily intake, or is it a feast or famine thing? Or perhaps it is like the Energizer rechargable batteries that my husband uses in the digital camera – an every so often.
I used to run daily and would get quite cranky when anything prevented me from getting my miles. Music and mileage were musts.
I used to read books a week but wandering the Barnes and Noble last evening I wondered if I would ever need to read again the way I need to write.
Is writing a soul feasting? Not unless breathing is as well.
I thirst for time with my husband. For time on my own. Occasionally I need to interact in person with the wider world.
More to ponder than to state as absolute where my soul is concerned, I think.
But what about you gentle reader? Comments? Linkbacks?
anniegirl1138 