I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion; I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company.
-Henry Miller
“I fight my battle with monopolated light and power”. -Ralph Ellison I think about loneliness often and most so when I am lonely. In the aftermath of a glorious trip to Puerto Rico, spent in a state of harmonious connection with light, water and people, I am mourning sudden absences. Home in Philadelphia, winter is …
In the original Christian context, “Demon” is a kind of indifference to the spiritual life, “a lack of spiritual energy.” And then there’s “Noonday”. The qualifier implies an unafraid visitor, confident enough to appear in broad daylight. This week I’ve been slaying a dragon. Someone I love very much suffers from bipolar disorder and we’re …
I loved the novel Passing by Nella Larsen so I gave the new Netflix adaptation a look last night. The film is worth watching but didn’t fully express the psychological complexity so effectively explored by Larsen in her 1929 novel. Reflecting on why the book made such an impact on me in college, I realized …
