This was just so much fun for me to read. Thank you for sharing!!
I wanted to recognize your excellent word-picture from the couscous section: “one might pinch a neglected carrot from his neighbour, or ascend the couscous mound to tear some meat off the opposite slope.” What a fun description!
This, like part 1, gave me plenty to think on. Your section on the prayer mats was particularly striking to me. I’ve worshipped in sanctuaries with pews, and currently worship in one with chairs. The demarcation of individual space is quite noticeable, and I often feel I’m trespassing on the space of others when I assign one chair each to myself and children. In pews, we could slide in or spread out as needed to make space for others. I miss that.
Thank you Leah for your ever-thoughtful comments. It means so much to me for you to share these points of resonance. I'm glad you liked the couscous description, it was so fun to write! And very interesting re. pews, you are right to draw the analogy.
On another note, I've been meaning to further explore your writing as well, it's just about finding the time. Thank you again for your thoughtful engagement.
This was a beautifully written reflection on the idea of reticulation. It made me think about the time I visited Morocco for a one day trip while on vacation in Spain, and how chaotic it felt to me. Then it made me think about my Armenian mother and how confusing or disjointed our American culture must have felt for her when she immigrated from Iran. It gives me such a deep context with which to better understand my mother and her inclinations. Before becoming a mother, as an introvert and American millennial, I often sought solitude & independence as the ideal circumstance. But now as a mom, I'm finding more and more the value in connection, and even the plain necessity of being intertwined with others. The poetic nature of your words will carry these ideas in my mind for some time to come. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kyra for your very thoughtful words, I deeply appreciate them. I'm so glad that my ideas resonated with you, and on such a personal level. I have not visited Iran but have had close relations with the culture and know it exudes a similar sense of interrelation as the one I've described here in relation to Morocco.
This was just so much fun for me to read. Thank you for sharing!!
I wanted to recognize your excellent word-picture from the couscous section: “one might pinch a neglected carrot from his neighbour, or ascend the couscous mound to tear some meat off the opposite slope.” What a fun description!
This, like part 1, gave me plenty to think on. Your section on the prayer mats was particularly striking to me. I’ve worshipped in sanctuaries with pews, and currently worship in one with chairs. The demarcation of individual space is quite noticeable, and I often feel I’m trespassing on the space of others when I assign one chair each to myself and children. In pews, we could slide in or spread out as needed to make space for others. I miss that.
Thanks again for this lovely post!
Thank you Leah for your ever-thoughtful comments. It means so much to me for you to share these points of resonance. I'm glad you liked the couscous description, it was so fun to write! And very interesting re. pews, you are right to draw the analogy.
On another note, I've been meaning to further explore your writing as well, it's just about finding the time. Thank you again for your thoughtful engagement.
You are so kind. Take your time! It’s not nearly as eloquent as yours. :)
I'm sure it is! :)
This was a beautifully written reflection on the idea of reticulation. It made me think about the time I visited Morocco for a one day trip while on vacation in Spain, and how chaotic it felt to me. Then it made me think about my Armenian mother and how confusing or disjointed our American culture must have felt for her when she immigrated from Iran. It gives me such a deep context with which to better understand my mother and her inclinations. Before becoming a mother, as an introvert and American millennial, I often sought solitude & independence as the ideal circumstance. But now as a mom, I'm finding more and more the value in connection, and even the plain necessity of being intertwined with others. The poetic nature of your words will carry these ideas in my mind for some time to come. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kyra for your very thoughtful words, I deeply appreciate them. I'm so glad that my ideas resonated with you, and on such a personal level. I have not visited Iran but have had close relations with the culture and know it exudes a similar sense of interrelation as the one I've described here in relation to Morocco.