January Menagerie

C. 2016 Ryan P. Freeman

Photography by Rachael

Photo by Rachael Thompson

"Rachael Thompson currently works as a Storm Chaser and as a Model for Retro-Fitt Boutique. She lives in New Market, Alabama with her husband Sean Thompson and their 4 cats, 2 dogs, and 3 snakes."

Who Do You Love (Literately)?

Who Do You Love (Literately)?

By Ryan P. Freeman

 Writers are nothing without reading - so who literately inspires you most and why?

First and foremost, are those two fairy-tale giants, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien for me. They loom quietly in the background of my imagination. Most of the bedrock from which I build my sandcastles are founded on one or both of these men. But it's not just their fantasy works which get my mind salivating - it's also their non-fiction works, as well. Works like On Fairy Stories (Tolkien) or The Discarded Image (Lewis) delve into the philosophy and structure of Faerie in a way unparalleled.

The next great abiding spirit is George MacDonald. If you know anything about C.S. Lewis, you'll already know about this imaginative titan of a Scottish pastor and lecturer. This is the guy who wrote the original Alice in Wonderland (yes, you read me right... Lewis Carol and George MacDonald were friends, and would often use each other's stories). If Tolkien and Lewis are giants, then MacDonald is the Great and Powerful Wizard. Seriously, his stuff transcends reality. While he's written a ton of all sorts of genre, his fantasy is hands-down the best (although his non-fiction isn't too shabby, either...).

From there, of course, the literary influence become widely scattered. But as suggested in my previous posts, it has mainly been the fantasy authors who have helped me most. Folks like Ursula LeGuin, Madeline L'Engle, Brian Jacques, J.K. Rowling, Niel Gaiman, and Susan Cooper. Non-fiction authors include Peter Berrisford Ellis, Donald Miller, Bob Goff, Edith Hamilton, and Susan Bauer.

Then there's poetry: Robert Frost (*drools). Luis Borges. Homer. Whoever it was who wrote Beowulf.

My point is, here, long list not withstanding, is that who you read and why you read them is vital to the formation of your imagination and writing abilities. Spend time walking with the masters - not just those who are purportedly to be be excellent from others, but with those whom you truly love. You truly enjoy spending quality time with. They're just like relationships. Spend time around people and you can't help but become familiar... And through friendship you can wind up sharing something so unique, only you and that other person, at that given moment in history, could create.

Write (and read) on!

Ryan 

Progress and Me.

Progress and Me.

A thought by Lindsey Dominguez

Being a woman has changed my life.  This is not simply a reflective notion, but rather an expressive realization.  As I look at past cultural norms for women I am blown away with how far the female persuasion has come.  Not just from Gender Identity but as individuals able to express freely, women are a constantly changing tide. I was recently watching a promotional video from WhirlPool (Yes, the Washing machine manufacturer) from the 1950’s.  It was titled “Mother goes on a Holiday”. Essentially it is introducing the automatic washer and dryer as a way that the female of the family can free up more time for doing “other things”.  What they allude to is that “Other things” still equates to chores around the house and never ending servitude to her husband and children.  At first, it’s comical. The mother goes off and does something outside the home and the men are sitting around playing cards.  They make cracks about how they can't make lemonade and they :just found it in the refrigerator, the wife made it.”  And then on to bitching and moaning about how now, they have to help with the laundry because all it is, is a simple push of a button.  Wow.  Life as a 1950s man must have been “rough”.  This video is funny to watch, but then it made me a little sad.   Is this progress?  The fact that we have washing machines? We have invented so many gadgets to make a woman’s household life easier, but yet, we fill that time with other complex demands.  Is it helping us or hurting us as women?  We have pinterest.  Isn’t that a little silly?  A board of things we can do with our time. I feel lie in the face of female progress, women can’t simply slow down.  We have replaced mundane household rearing with hyper scheduled hyper filled days.  It’s no wonder lots of the women I know have or have been on anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication at one time or another, myself included.  Instead of enjoying our kids, we over schedule them, we compare them to a societal standard of milestones and play dates and developmental and cognitive checklists. I have never enjoyed a pregnancy (and i’ve had 3).  Why?  For me it was the constant need to be working and entertaining and contributing.  If I take a nap, I feel guilty, like somehow i’m being selfish or abandoning my family.  I have worked full time during the 1st trimesters of all 3 of my pregnancies and it was hell.  But how do we change?  How do we progress without moving backwards into the 1950’s weaker sex servitude that we have worked so hard to overcome?   

I think it starts with being honest, and it continues with being real.  Although we have moved past June Cleaver, we are still stuck on the idea that being busy somehow defines our personal worth as a wife, parent, peer or woman.  We stigmatize ourselves into thinking that is we take time off, or stop long enough to actually rest, we are lazy or somehow admitting defeat.  We’re not.  A few weeks ago I had to have an honest conversation with myself.  I asked myself “Do you like who you are?”  The immediate answer was “no.” At first I couldn’t pinpoint why.  I was working a full time job with a full time salary.  I don’t have a degree and I had a job that surpassed that fact and paid me like I did.  I had free childcare and money to spend.  But I realized that the societal definition of female success was not making me actually fulfilled. I felt like I was drinking the kool aid and somehow I was supposed to project that because I had everything society told me I had worked so hard for as a woman, I should be happy, proud and accomplished.  Instead, I was tired, depressed and felt emotionally bankrupt.  I felt like my sense of self, real self was lost. I felt like a big sell out fake. That’s not who I am. I went to my doctor and was told that I’m depressed and dealing with Anxiety. I started taking Prozac which I fought back and forth about for various reasons, but ultimately I realized that my way wasn’t working.   I quit my job.  It was a risk but I’m glad I took it.  Is money tight?  Sure.  Is it going to be a challenge?  Absolutely.  Do I regret it?  No fucking way.  I am taking time to explore what being me really means.  What does it mean to be me as a wife?  A mother?  A person who refuses to let things define me as a societal norm.  I wanted to wipe the slate clean and start with less.  because sometimes less is more.  And happiness means realizing that sometimes progress is simple, and slow, and even  boring, but worth the extra introspective.

- Lindsey Dominguez considers herself a Jane of all trades and a master of none. And that's the way she likes it. Mostly cynical, sometimes funny, Lindsey writes honestly about things that make her think. She is currently the Social Media Administrator at Women2be.org because she cares about women and their impact on human rights.

Simple Survival

Simple Survival

by Josiah Bohn

In this modern age we have a love affair with the newest coolest wonder gadget to hit the market. We quickly adopt these items and they become "necessities" until they are replaced by next year’s newer shinier model. This mindset has taken root in society and can be found in the survival and preparedness community as well. We have a techno-centric mindset that i believe can be detrimental to us at times. While I admit that I am not an expert I believe that it would be beneficial to us all to simplify our thinking.

             

 Our ancestors have survived and thrived on this planet for millennia with very little in the way of possessions and what we would call "necessities", never the less here we are to prove that they were indeed successful. I believe that the two most important things they had going for them were skill and imagination. These two things are necessary to overcome any obstacle and they both weigh nothing. I believe that we need to recapture this part of ourselves. One of the many ways that these two qualities were put to use is making do with what was available. Being able to make do with what you have takes both skill and imagination. Those who came before us did not let the shape or preconceived notion of an object limit its uses, they used very simple things for many many useful purposes.

           

The first example of this that comes to mind is a simple garment from around the 16th century in Scotland. This particular item is called the great kilt or belted plaid. This garment is made from thick woven wool about 7 yards long and 54-60 inches wide. To wear this you would leave a flat space and then gather most of the material into pleats on top of your belt until it would fit your waist and then leave another flat panel. After this you would lay on top of this with your waist in the middle of the fabric and bring the two flat panels you made over your front to overlap and buckle the belt around it and stand up. This left a lot of fabric which would hang down over the top of the belt which was gathered in many different ways but most often slung and pinned over one shoulder. Now this item is a functional garment but its uses were many. In bad weather the part over your shoulder could become a cloak to ward off rain and cold. It could also be tied into a backpack to carry items. If you came across smaller items like berries or other items of interest you could make it into a pouch. At night this garment would become a blanket and tent to keep you warm. One other benefit of this garment was the fact that it would help the Scottish to blend in with their surroundings. In George Buchanan’s History of Scotland from 1581 he states "Their ancestors wore plaids of many colours, and numbers still retain this custom but the majority now in their dress prefer a dark brown, imitating nearly the leaves of the heather, that when lying upon the heath in the day, they may not be discovered by the appearance of their clothes; in these wrapped rather than covered, they brave the severest storms in the open air, and sometimes lay themselves down to sleep even in the midst of snow.".

            

In this case the Scottish used a very simple item in the form of a large length of cloth to clothe themselves, provide concealment, shelter from bad weather, and also to carry various items. While they did not have lots of gadgets and things to help them they made use of a simple technology to do many tasks for them.

            

 In a similar way the kerchief is another useful item that spans many cultures and time periods and goes by many other names some popular ones being Shemagh, head scarf and snipers veil. This item is sometimes confused with a bandanna or handkerchief. The bandanna and handkerchief are the smaller less useful grand-kids of the kerchief. Bandannas are quite useful and have many many uses; however the kerchief is capable of doing what the bandanna does and more. The kerchief is about 3 feet by 3 feet square and is made from cotton most of the time. This item serves many many purposes including first aid tasks such as tourniquet, sling, bandage, secure a splint, cool off a person with a fever etc. This can also be used to keep you from breathing in dust, to keep your head and neck warm, signal for help, wash cloth or towel, camouflage if appropriately colored, made into a firewood toting device and much more. The best thing about this item is that it can be made for very cheap in a variety of colors and patterns and it is not difficult to carry more than one. All you need to do is to get a yard of your desired cotton fabric and cut to size then hem the edges and you are done. This kerchief folds up small and is very light and serves a multitude of purposes. This is another example of a low tech item that through imagination and skill can be used to help get you out of a tight spot.

             

There are many other examples of simple yet effective thinking that I can give but the point here is just to get us thinking about simple things we can have on hand that serve multiple purposes. Not only to have simple things on hand but to remember that the most complicated or technical device is not guaranteed to save your life what matters most is your attitude your skill, your imagination, and your determination to endure.

"Josiah has lived in the desert, midwest, and New England. He enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his family of five. Blacksmithing and metalwork are one of his major passions as well as history and good books. Quality craftsmanship is another of his passions, whether it be a well made tool or a masterfully told tale."
You can find out more about Josiah at his own blog: http://dwarvenheartforge.blogspot.com/
or on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Dwarven-Heart-Forge