The mythical monster + eclipse birthday
On wailing women, monsters, and my first thoughts since returning from Indonesia. Also, I'll be teaching yoga this week in the East Village with a climate justice non-profit on Thursday night!
It feels right to be back in the writing chair on the first break between rainstorms over the past few weeks. I got back to the country as the spring showers were starting, and I was grateful to nest inside as I slept off a heavy jet lag.
Before I left, I celebrated two beautiful new books being released into the world. One was by podcast guest Gina Chung (Green Frog) and the night before was by my friend Micaiah Johnson (Those Beyond the Wall). A dog (the one and only Radcliffe) showed up and got onstage.
They felt like the right way to say goodbye to the city for a short while as I left to meet up with two friends who were traveling in Southeast Asia.
They gracefully planned a short stay in Uluwatu and Ubud with me. I’d like to write more about our experience once I have more time to process and reflect and research all of the questions that emerged while I was there.
I was also looking forward to getting back to Conversations With Animals, having recorded several episodes before I left.
It’s difficult when traveling not to place oneself inside of a sort of hero’s journey in which you’ve embarked on a kind of adventure. Metaphorically, it might be useful to see oneself in this way, to stay open to the unknown and allow for transformations as you move in a new place. But at the same time, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to detach the colonial from this idea of “seeing a new land.” While we did our best to stay with locals or locally-owned businesses, it was a question often on our mind.
Perhaps, too, this framework is an inheritance from the lens used when entering into a story. In my conversation this month with Erin from Myth Monsters podcast, the #1 Mythology Podcast on Goodpods, she shared why she decided to shift her gaze from the hero in a classic myth to those they are “defeating,” their “monsters.”
“I want to hear about the things that are monstrous within them,” she shares. “I want to know more about the things they are up against.”
We spoke about the way monster hunters often mistake creatures like bears or rhinos for their long-sought after kill, an example of why it’s important to pause when encountering an unknown. “To misinterpret a black bear as a monster in and of itself is horrible,” Erin shares. Why is it that a malicious story or intent is often applied to these creatures, too? Who is the true “monster” in these situations?
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The stories we tell matter, and dictate how we relate to a creature. Think of snakes. “I know for a fact snakes aren’t slimy,” she continues. But these creatures are weaponized in modern media and now we equate their slither with a slime that has nothing to do with the actual surface of their skin.
We also consider the way gender plays into these stories, especially the origin of the slurs “harpie” and “banshee” as a way to perpetuate the stereotype of a “wailing woman.”
A few nights ago, till a bit hazy from the total solar eclipse that happened to be on my birthday (!!)…
…I went to a premiere screening of Sasquatch Sunset, a film that, with a lot of humor, tries to bring us closer to what we may see as monsters, and after Jesse Eisenberg shared an anecdote about the screening. In short, he was in full costume at the side of the road in northern California as a woman jogged by, not noticing, or at least reacting to, him and the film standing at the edge of the highway. The creature so mythologized in that region of the world—potentially visible, but unremarkable in that moment. What else do we miss that is right in front of us?
A few days before the eclipse, I was leaving one of my classrooms when someone asked me if I’d like to make roses with them. I joined a group of students and faculty who were at work at a table, piecing together scented colorful boxes of flowers.
It might be as simple as that.
Saying yes to what is before us.
On Thursday night, I’ll be teaching my first class at Sixth Street Community Center thanks to Liv at Breath Club. If you haven’t checked out her awesome community of mindful breathers—I recommend! Important details about the series (Thursdays 7 - 8pm April, May, and June):
Sliding scale $15-25 -- no one will be turned away for lack of funds!
This round's proceeds will support SSCC's CSA program
