Mourning Magic
When I was a little girl, my Mom used to tell me that fairies lived in the bushes outside my bedroom window. Every time I looked out that window, I thought I could just about make out some fluttery wings amongst the brambles, and I was convinced there were thousands of little eyes hiding, watching me.
I admit I was a child with a fervent imagination. I created whole storylines that I lived by every day in secret, I considered each good or bad thing that happened to me to be some kind of reward or punishment, and I believed in Santa until I was embarrassingly old. Even as I grew up and became a teenager and then an adult, I always sought the extraordinary, always chose to believe in something special, be it tarot cards, rose quartz bracelets or horoscopes.
Recently, however, I have started to notice how much my outlook has changed. The instant I hear someone talking about some kind of pseudoscience, my eyes roll and I tune out. I just cannot listen to people talking about the energy they get from crystals anymore. I don’t believe that the fields of Acupuncture or Chiropractic are real medical practices. I think vitamins are a multi-million dollar business that do nothing for human health. And don’t get me started on the ‘Venus rising, Scorpio moon, Gemini sun’ mumbo jumbo.
But how did I get to be so skeptical? Well, not that I want to get into politics today (especially in this rather nice, quieter moment in the American capital), but I think the Trump era of fake facts has a lot to do with it. Whether we wanted to or not, as a nation and a people, we were forced into a position where we had to research everything that we heard, just to know some basic information about what was going on around us. We learned to fact check, investigate our sources, question our own beliefs and ideas, and draw our own conclusions. It took just 4 years of a presidency that reigned with lies, fraud, and deceit for us to be able to spot some calculated BS from 1000 miles away.
But it’s interesting because while we all started to reevaluate where our information was coming from and what our leadership was telling us, for some people it didn’t stop there. The rise of QAnon, climate-change deniers, flat-Earth believers, anti-vaxxers, pseudo-scientists, and a myriad of other conspiracy theories tell us that skepticism has gone much further than we believed possible 10 years ago. We, and by we I mean anyone on either side of the political spectrum that does NOT subscribe to any of those conspiracies, learned how to read scientific research and data, we learned to listen to and trust the experts whom we choose to believe because of their work, qualification, and experience. For these others, though, trust in evidence and hard facts doesn’t seem to be a concept that exists for them anymore.
I suppose my point here is, we ALL have something in common, and that is a sense of skepticism in the information that we receive, which became more and more serious throughout the last presidency. For us, this stopped with recognition of expert and professional advice, but for others, the slope became all too slippery into the realm of the ludicrous and absurd. And now, I find it difficult to separate all of this from the relatively harmless studies of Astrology and ‘clean eating’. Because, although these things are of interest to people, can even be helpful and at the very least fun, I can see how they can lead to something much more dangerous.
The sad part of it all for me is that, actually, I really do miss having that sense of wonder and belief in things that can’t necessarily be proved. I want to feel the awe and marvel I had as a child when presented with an idea or situation that can’t be explained; ‘it must be magic’! Honestly, life these days could do with some of this. Well, I don’t know if it’s possible to get it back, while still staying loyal to firm science and real-world truths. But I’ve never forgotten about those fairies outside my window, and I hope someday they’ll come back to visit.
Some Interesting Things
‘Shuggie Bain’ by Douglas Stuart, is a devastating yet astounding first novel by this author, and winner of last year’s Man Booker Prize. Set in Thatcher-era Glasgow, this story is a close-up and often difficult-to-read look at a single mother’s battle with addiction, a son’s reckoning with his sexuality and a love that can bring a family together.
I was fascinated by this article by the New York Times about Ballet culture and how Covid has not only affected the lives of dancers but also caused them to look more critically at what their industry is really asking them to do to their bodies. I drew many parallels to my own industry - Classical Music - and how much change is needed.
For all you Murakami fans, this movie - Burning - is for you.
‘Death Row Inmates Are Selling Their Art on Etsy (and It's Beautiful)’ is quite a beautiful insight from Vice into this world that I have never come across before. After looking through the collection on Etsy I am profoundly humbled by the work of these artists and the whole initiative.
We tried the most incredible Uyghur food from Dolan, a local restaurant in DC. I have never tried anything like it - it’s kind of like a cross between Chinese and Middle-Eastern cuisines, with really unique flavours. If you happen to be in DC, it’s an absolute must. We got spicy hot chicken stew and beef dumplings, both were exquisite.
This profile by the Guardian of Afghanistan’s first professional female animator, Sara Barackzay, was really interesting.
I’m kind of into the new fashion trend of Zizmorcore, whereby New Yorkers are wearing clothes that support businesses in their city. My question is, is it a fashion choice or just a representation of getting sucked in by all the paraphernalia that businesses keep near the cash registers because they KNOW THEY WILL GET US THAT WAY. Oh hey, here’s my skepticism peeking through again.
Yep, I’ve landed myself on Tik Tok. For the amount it has made me laugh recently, I’m not even slightly embarrassed or sorry. But I wanted to share one that really spoke to me recently.
I’ve been on the Fit On fitness app for about 4 weeks now and I can recommend it! It’s free for starters (with the option to pay a premium to access the playlists etc.) and I found it really easy to customise to what I wanted. You can input your goals, what your favourite kinds of exercise are and how often/long you want to exercise and they come up with a plan for you. If you’re like me and need exercise to be made really simple and available so that you actually do it, this one’s for you.
I’m following the news on all this NFT business quite carefully. I suspect this is something we should all know about ASAP, but I’m not really sure about my feelings on it yet?
Thanks, as always, for your time and attention! And happy International Women’s Day. Lotsa love to all my firece femmes x
