Sunday, November 21, 2010

whirling

 Just so everyone of you knows, Disneyland is absolutely perfect right now. I went yesterday and was overwhelmed by the beauty, richness and vibrant tradition that seemed to magically and seamlessly permeate every inch of Main Street - my favorite place in the park. Just the visual experience was intoxicating and caught the rest of my senses in a tremulous, frenzied effort of trying to see and capture every speck of my surroundings. From the towering, glittering tree to the tiny ornaments within the warmly lit shops I could hardly restrain myself from grabbing arm-fulls of classic Disney ornaments and stockings to take home and amaze Bryce with. Lucky man, I spared him.   

We did however, this week indulge ourselves in the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.   

I first began reading the Harry Potter books my freshman year of college and have been addicted ever since. The depths of my fandom include attending all the midnight showings that occurred after my reading of the books, enrollment in a Harry Potter class offered at CSULB - yes, it's real AND we were sorted into houses, so when I say I was in Gryffindor, I actually mean it. I also successfully converted my husband into a true Harry Potter fanatic. He re-read book 7 with me in anticipation and excitement over the new movie and he lovingly put the batteries in my holly and phoenix-feather wand so that the tip of it would light up.  

Yes, he loves me and we love Harry Potter.  

 If you haven't read the books yet, I would highly encourage you to do so. The story is so powerful, so gripping, so sad and so full of love. From the second this seventh movie started I was in tears, dreading the losses that this book encounters. - I should mention that I frequently cry in movies, but I like to think that the movies I cry in are worthy of my tears. My favorite movie is Little Women (with Winona Ryder), I watched it recently but it had been a while since my last view and for whatever sentimental reasons I spent almost the entire movie with tears pouring out of my eyes or choked up to where I couldn't speak. ANYWAY, back to Harry . . .   

The movie was fantastic, it presented the moments of heart break and emotion with such sublimity and power that it felt, or at least I reacted the same as if I were back home,sitting on my bed with candles lit around me reading the actual paper pages of the book. I loved the movie, go see it - I believe that if you have not read the books yet this movie may push you to. I know they are children's books, that they're a fad, that they are full of wizard and witches - but I promise that if you give them a chance you will encounter a story that channels the powers of good and evil with almost perfect purity and agony. It is quite simply, a fantastic story and why would anyone turn that down?   

To give you a snippet, here is one of my favorite quotes from Dumbledore,   
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"  

Now, go and think about that concept and then go and buy the books.   

molly

Monday, November 8, 2010

oh! the places you'll work

When I was in high school I took a career test to see where I would work someday. My result: Mortuary. This was not all that odd to me since my father is and always has been a mortician (although now he is far more important and doesn't get to embalm as much as he'd like - I know - anyways . . .). Little did I actually think that career test would have such prescient knowledge but here I am, working at a mortuary.
To be accurate, I work at a bookstore and at a mortuary. I love books and selling these precious page-filled-friends of mine to young aspiring, or aged and avid readers brings me tremendous joy. It's a great job but strangely, the mortuary is always where I would rather be. There I am in contact with death, with grief, with the most uncomfortable and ignored emotions on the planet. It is a remarkable place where perspective hits a little too hard at times, but perspective is a huge gift. Yes, there are funerals that no one attends, where I am left wondering if they just lived too long or if they lived the wrong way. But then there are those funerals where everyone is smiling, celebrating, and united in the joy of their shared relationship with a singular and wonderful person. It inspires me and I love it. It is an incredible process to observe and one that you and I will go through.
Isn't that scary?
It scares me, but we forget that it faces everyone, that your family will die and that you will die. That is a piece of the perspective but let me share the rest with you: you see, death is the poetic opposite to life. As we approach or experience death, we are stunned by the importance and bursting flavors life holds. Death is a perspective in itself - and one that most people have not grown up with as the children of morticians do. The most important aspect that I have seen death illuminate is our relationship with God. I've seen many funerals void of God and therefore, void of hope. Those funerals are the most excruciating and painful to watch as no one is able to point to love, prayer, grace, God's faithfulness or meaning in their lives.
I've found Heaven to be a place of great comfort as I live this life. It sounds rather odd that it comforts me so already, but not when we recognize God's poetic perfection and His design where death inspires us to live.


I hope you found this meaning-full.


molly

Friday, November 5, 2010

what do I mean?

I am starting this blog in the hope that I can reach others who share my interest in this life. I am interested in many different and difficult aspects of the human spirit and find literature a remarkable source for learning and gaining insight into myself and my fellow people.

If you are curious about what other topics will likely come up on here, behold (one of my favorite words!) the list below:

Books: more classics than anything else
Shakespeare I am writing my master thesis on Hamlet, therefore, I expect Shakespeare's genius to make an appearance rather regularly.
Quotes: I love profound words, they make for excellent conversation, will make you sound more intelligent, and will hopefully even, dare I hope, inspire you.
Death: I work at a mortuary, so this is a prominent part of my life and I have learned more from death than I yet realize.
Irony: I am of the opinion that life is a perfect irony, perhaps death has a great deal to do with that, but it exposes itself everywhere in both beautiful and tragic ways. I hope to track down moments of irony and share them here as they almost always present a reason  to laugh or the need to stop.
Meaning: I love listening to music, particularly that of Coldplay (my very favorite band) and finding myself struck by personal insight, by truth, and by deep meaning. This happens whenever I am able to immerse myself in something truly wonderful, it is why I am obsessed with Shakespeare and the books of old, they hold meanings and beauties that do not age.

I hope your interest is piqued and that as I learn from the past and present, we are able to learn together. I am getting really excited about this project and seeing what new meanings emerge!
 
Molly