Michaela's Musings

Pooping reminds me of my mortality.  I know this is weird, but stay with me. As a very articulate and feminine woman, sometimes I get embarrassed when I use the bathroom. How could someone so elegant and beautiful expel something so...gross? Then it got me thinking. Women and girls are taught to distance themselves from their humanity. Jokes such as "girls don't poop" (something I heard constantly in high school) reinforce the idea that our natural bodily functions are shameful.  I never pooped at school for fear of being made fun of. Most of the time, the girl's restroom never smelled like a restroom, but a mix of perfume and weed. And the few times it did , others would loudly make it known how disgusting they found it.  Women are socialized to be dolls. Hairless, blemish free, and always smelling like dessert. To embody womanhood, we must abandon our humanity. Abandoning our connection to nature and embracing an existence that prioritizes performing instead of bei...

This summer has been a slow one. My days were spent reading, watching classic films, and most of all! Painting. Ever since I was a young girl, I always enjoyed my school art classes. We experimented with perspective, oil, pastels, and clay. I loved the activity so much that my mom enrolled my siblings and I into after school sessions together every Friday. For Christmas, I was gifted seven canvases and I made it my mission to use them all. So without further ado, let me take you on a journey of my summer through art. The first painting was The Love Cow . She is surrounded by primroses. I created this piece off the high of my first kiss. Summer was in bloom and everything felt possible. He was gentle and oh so affectionate. In that moment, I understood why people dedicated songs and tomes of literature to this meeting of the lips. This piece ended up as a gift to a cousin of mine. Weary spawned after the realization I'd been ghosted. Silence and rain dominated those early summer da...