By: Gabriela Yareliz As I read the homages in the passing of Joan Didion, I see a lot of people noting that they wanted to write like her and be like her. One writer wrote that “What Would Didion Do?” was a guiding principle of her life. What I find so interesting about certain figuresContinue reading “Inspired to Be Original”
Category Archives: literature
Joan Didion
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want, and what I fear.” Joan Didion By: Gabriela Yareliz Many of us who love reading and writing mourn a legendary writer, Joan Didion. I’ve seen so many people reflecting on: her essaysContinue reading “Joan Didion”
The Soul’s Interpreter
“The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter – often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter – in the eye.” Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre By: Gabriela Yareliz For some, our identities are complex and odd things that have layers upon layers. Some layers are closer to the heart. Some stick together. Others hide. Some layers areContinue reading “The Soul’s Interpreter”
Nourishment for Hard Times
By: Gabriela Yareliz Where We Are What does it look like to confront moments of uncertainty? We all do it, day after day. I was listening to a doctor on a podcast who is temporarily staying in Harlem, and she was talking about how there is a depressive cloud over NYC. The subways are silent.Continue reading “Nourishment for Hard Times”
Freedom, Faith and Virtue
By: Gabriela Yareliz I had the opportunity to listen to Eric Metaxas the other day, through a livestreamed event about his latest book, Is Atheism Dead? His discussion was on freedom, faith and virtue, and how they are all intertwined. Metaxas has written many best selling books, including one on William Wilberforce, Amazing Grace: WilliamContinue reading “Freedom, Faith and Virtue”
A Lesson from Jesus’ Selections
By: Gabriela Yareliz Something that has truly impressed me about the series The Chosen is how alive the characters are. They stand before us in their flawed and relatable humanity. Sometimes, when we read Scripture or we have read certain stories over and over again, we see these characters as kind of flat. We missContinue reading “A Lesson from Jesus’ Selections”
Autobiography
Virginia Woolf wrote: “There is one peculiarity which real works of art possess in common. At each fresh reading one notices some change in them, as if the sap of life ran in their leaves, and with skies and plants they had the power to alter their shape and colour from season to season. To writeContinue reading “Autobiography”
To Be a Writer
By: Gabriela Yareliz What does it mean to be a writer? Does it mean someone has to care about what you write? I am lucky enough to have people who do. Today, I saw someone ask a fairly popular person on social media a question–he/she wanted to do something, but he/she stated he/she didn’t haveContinue reading “To Be a Writer”
Words
By: Gabriela Yareliz I visited a magical bookstore today. Every book inside was either old and familiar from past readings, like that one version of the Odyssey I read before freshman year, or unknown and new books to the eye and mind. On the walls were old cartoons, old covers with dedications and little handwrittenContinue reading “Words”
Proportions
“I died after living more of my life with you than I lived with just myself.” Jenny Slate, Little Weirds We all live with this tiny little clock that ticks beside us. It ticks with every heartbeat. It measures the life we spend on our own and the life we spend in the company ofContinue reading “Proportions”