Reading:
- The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, [go organic, locally-sourced food and sustainable farming! I want to live just like this.]
- Desperate Marriages by Gary Chapman, [Can any marriage truly be saved? This book seems to give that hope. Bless his heart, I hope so.]
- All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling Down House by David Giffels [Can I buy a broken-down mansion too?]
Watching:
- The Business of Being Born
I wrote about wanting to see this movie a few months ago. I'm completely inspired by the power and vulnerability of a woman giving birth. So, I finally got to see the movie and loved it in some ways and took issue with it in other ways. I really loved how it ended too. The documentary deals with a lot of ideals in birthing and then ended with a not-so-perfect birth situation and that was heartwarming to me too. Likely because it reminds me that I can have ideals too but sometimes life doesn't always play out according to my ideals.
At times the movie felt a bit too much like a girlfriends' klatch with "girl power" reigning supreme. But then that is exactly the feeling I think needs to be inserted more into our birthing views. More welcoming of women's keen intuitive powers and emotional support systems. Science is very good and well in its proper place, but in our too-strong reliance on science's narrow focus, we sometimes forget words like: magical, powerful, warmth, unity. The spirituality and emotion that can accompany the miracle of birth seems marginalized and anesthetized away at times. There is a rare glimpse of true beauty that comes from holding and helping a woman who is bearing down as blood, water, pain and joy erupt into new life. It isn't the kind of experience that can be neatly packaged and produced before the 5 o'clock news or after a good night's sleep.
I like what this movie makes me think about: greater respect and greater attention to this oh-so-powerful and oh-so-daily miracle of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment