Launching "The Moon's Shadow"

The next chapter of my newsletter (with the cool kids on Substack)

I recently learned a new word that gives voice to a concept that has long fascinated me: biomimicry. A brief definition, courtesy of Wikipedia, is “the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.”

Since I come from the premise that we are connected to the rest of nature through a God who created us all, this makes perfect sense to me. Where we have tarnished God’s image, we can turn to nature to remind us of what it looks like, and what we need to do to thrive.

Without knowing the word for it, I wrote about this in a 2020 blog post about what nature can teach us about interconnectedness, and how it can guide us to be better to each other. 

You may have noticed that this month’s newsletter is coming to you in a new format, under a new name, which derived from my April writing about the eclipse. 

In the months that have followed, I have continued to reflect on the themes I pondered there: my desire to slow down, to make room for wonder, and to be a more present mother (and person, generally). And I have started to re-mold my life around them.

“The Moon’s Shadow” has an element of biomimicry in it: a desire to learn both from my experience of wonder during the eclipse, and from the nature of the moon itself.

While there is no scientific evidence that women’s menstrual cycles are connected to the moon, there is a long history of people wondering about the relation between the two, since the average length of a woman’s menstrual cycle is the same as the lunar cycle (29 days). Some people think the two used to be more linked, before artificial light interfered. 

I appreciate this kinship with the moon. Those of you who have been around for a while know that one of the things I like to focus on in my writing is how female bodies in particular reflect the divine, and I think there is great wisdom in what our bodies and the moon can teach us about embracing the seasons and cycles of life. For the Feast of Corpus Christi, I wrote about how menstrual blood can help us to imagine the Blood of Christ in a non-violent way.

I also think we can learn from the way that the moon reflects the light of the sun to produce such a beautiful, gentle glow – much in the same way I aspire to reflect God’s love to others, and in how I hope to reflect the individual lights of each of my children. 

I intend to continue to write about women’s bodies, spirituality, nature, and the challenges and joys of being a woman in the Church. But as I live into this new goal of slowing down, this may look like more poems and fewer articles. It also probably looks like writing more about motherhood as I embrace that as my main focus in this season of my life. Thank you for coming along for the ride!

On that note, I’m going to leave you with a poem I’m working on:

Baby Birds

Our house was leaking.
We found mold in the closet.
We tore up our walls
and paid a hefty bill
to fix the roof
that started it all.

In the process,
some other things broke.
A window cracked,
and some wood,
leaving a hole in the floor
of an unstable patio
outside our nursery door.

A mother bird
looking for a space
to build her nest
decided that right there –
in that broken,
accidental nook –
is the perfect spot
to nurture new life.

Now she feeds her young
on the other side of the wall.
I hear her babies’ chirps;
Perhaps she hears mine cry.

And there we are:
Two moms,
doing our best
to sustain life
among the splinters.

_____

Yours,

P.S. I turn 30 later this month. My next newsletter will likely include some reflections on that. But as I start this new chapter of my newsletter (and life), I’d love to hear from you. Why did you decide to subscribe? Or what has kept you from unsubscribing? What do you want to hear me write more about? Do you have any questions for me? If you do, I’d love to answer some of them in my next newsletter!

• What my child learns from how we treat one another at Mass by Abby Jorgenson - You might recognize Abby’s name from her bereavement doula work that I featured in a recent article about pregnancy and infant loss. This is a powerful article where she reflects on the ways she and her daughter have been excluded (or welcomed) in their parish based on their bodies – in her case, a disabled body, and in her daughter’s case, a toddler body that has a hard time being still and quiet.

• First laywoman CEO of Catholic Charities finds hope in women’s leadership by Me - I thoroughly enjoyed having the chance to speak to Kerry Robinson about women in the Church. She once advocated for on-site child care for Vatican employees. Now that would show a commitment to women’s inclusion in the structure of the Church.

• On Nature’s Wisdom for Humanity - This is the episode of On Being where I learned about biomimicry. Give it a listen for some fascinating examples. I’m adding the guest’s book to my to-read list.

• PROTECTOR by Beyoncé - On the note of reflecting my children’s light.