This week is graduation. While not all of the contributors to this blog were seniors in college this semester, enough are graduating to bring a slightly different tone this semester’s wrap-up (see last semester’s here). Their insights are messages from their present selves to their future selves.
I asked, “What did you learn?”
They answered by describing who they hope to become. Continue reading
My blog post is basically an appreciation post for one of my favorite modern spiritual women, Danielle Laporte. Laporte is a bestselling Canadian author, an entrepreneur, a successful blogger, and most importantly she is a leader in spirituality and personal development. Laporte focuses her efforts on personal development and encouraging women everywhere to embrace their ambitions instead of taking a backseat to their male counterparts. Continue reading
Our class discussion on Dorothy Day and the talk that the guest speaker, Molly, gave could not have happened at a more convenient time. Over spring break, I lead an Alternative Break Immersion trip to Cherith Brook Catholic Worker house in Kansas City, Missouri. After living out Dorothy Day’s mission for a week, I gained a unique understanding of her passion and love for others, and the selflessness that is carried on in these houses of hospitality. Continue reading
As I was reading about Dorothy Day for this week’s class, one passage from our textbook in particular caught my attention for its connection to some of the feminist themes we’ve been discussing. It comes from Day’s book Meditations, published in 1970:
“I know that what I write will be tinged with all the daily doings, with myself, my child, my work, my study, as well as with God. God enters into them all and is inseparable from them. I think of the Lord as I wake and as I think of Teresa’s daily doings.
Perhaps it is because I have a wandering mind. But I do not care. It is a woman’s mind, and if my daily written meditations are about the people about me, of what is going on, then it must be so. It is a part of every meditation to apply the virtue, the mystery, to the daily life we lead.
Because I am a woman involved in practical cares, I cannot give the first half of the day to these things. I must meditate when I can, early in the morning and on the fly during the day. This is not in the privacy of a study — but here, there, and everywhere — at the kitchen table, on the train, on the ferry, on my way to and from appointments, and even while making supper or putting Teresa to bed.”
Here’s what made my ears perk up. What does it mean to have “a woman’s mind”? What does Day mean when she writes, “Because I am a woman involved in practical cares, I cannot give the first half of the day to these things”?
I want to engage in a bit of speculative interpretation of this passage. I’m no Dorothy Day expert — in fact, this class is the first time I’ve really learned about her instead of just hearing her mentioned as a famous Catholic. I’m no gender studies or theological scholar, either. But I think it could be interesting to try to draw some conclusions about Day’s message. Continue reading
When I grow up, I want to be a mother.
Historically, marriage and motherhood was the assumed future of women my age, in addition to the possibility of joining the religious life. Inside the Christian religion, this limitation of opportunities was perpetuated by interpretations of the Bible that placed women as subordinate to men and social systems that placed men in positions of power over women.
Now, thanks to the feminist movement present both inside and out of the Church, I feel that I am the only one in a position of power over my future. The sky is the limit.
At age 19, family and friends seem to constantly be asking me about what I want my life to be like. After all, now is the time to make important decisions that will shape my future, decisions that I am fortunate enough to have. I tell them that I want to be a social worker, but I also think “mother”. Every time. Continue reading
Nowadays, it seems that the only issues the Church cares about are those of contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage. What does the Church have to say about other societal issues? What about the poor? What about the marginalized and oppressed? What about war? Continue reading
Navigating Mansions 