4 Everyday Phenomena
Enthusiasm, Closet hate, Birthday-bachelorette celebrations, Mugs
The word Enthusiasm is derived from the Greek word Enthousiasmos, and translates to ‘full of God’ or ‘inspired in God’. This suggests that a child gleefully building a sandcastle, two friends emphatically embracing after time spent apart, or a woman passionately engrossed in painting a water jug was once understood as a display of holy embodiment - divine inspiration. A sliver of advice I once wrote down: follow your enthusiasm.
Closet-hate. It’s that peculiar moment when you stand before your shirts, sweaters, and pants, with little recognition and a sense of dread. You’re trying to pick an outfit to wear to a social gathering and start to feel sweat glistening on your upper lip. You stare at those innocent fabrics and patterns with resentment and eventually put on the thing you bought most recently, bitterly aware of its inevitable decline. Or maybe you pick something that fits decent and has a touch of the personality you swear you once had. It’s a moment of self-reckoning - with Tan France in the corner urging you to try a French tuck.
A Birthday-Bach or Birthelorette (lol) party. If I leave no other legacy in my life, please credit the coining of this concept to me. On June 14th, I celebrated both my 31st birthday and my bachelorette party (I’m getting hitched in September!). My best friends arrived and set up camp in various corners of my apartment for the weekend. We did crafts, spent time outside, bedazzled my apartment in tiki-dive-bar-themed decor, and had a wild time at a Mexican restaurant and karaoke bar. Now I want to plan other dual-celebrations and see who shows up for some loosely structured rambunctiousness. Housewarming & Cinco de Mayo? New job & international marzipan day? Carlos’ Uncle once threw a massive family reunion bash at his farm just to celebrate his pony’s birthday.
The psychology of mugs: this one for tea at this hour, this one for coffee at that hour, one for this mood, one for that guest, or a whole set of the same mug to bring some semblance of order to the chaos. It’s that flicker of a pause before the selection and the little zap of correct-mug-bliss that makes this mild neuroticism worthwhile.
& a Bonus Phenomena: a well-known singer’s lesser-known work.
In 1995, a teenager of Lebanese descent from Colombia wrote and produced her third studio album. The sound was heavily influenced by Latin rock, punk, and Andean Folk. The single, Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos (Barefeet, White Dreams) was a social satirical song exploring norms and rules invented since Adam and Eve. The music video features a creepy masquerade ball while the singer rages into a mic in the middle of nowhere in circular black sunglasses and straight dark hair covering her face. Long before the world would know her for her belly dancing, Latin dance hall tracks, and iconic name, a clever, scrappy, young feminist named Shakira had just hit the scene, totally unfiltered.
