Minerva's Muse Vol. 32
Minerva’s Muse is a column of inspiration named after the Roman goddess of creativity, wisdom, medicine, and craft. I believe that inspiration and creativity belong to the collective and are meant to be shared, so if any of the following inspires you, please feel free to share it with others!
Listen…
Rosalía’s new album, LUX, is blowing my mind. It’s so ballsy, unique, and undeniably impressive. This quote from Pitchfork sums it up - “LUX takes desire as a holy problem and divinity as a complex solution. Love, men, God, femininity, death, surrender—they all swirl around this idea, expressed in Japanese, Ukrainian, Chinese, Italian, and nine more languages. How did Rosalía begin to understand life’s thorniest questions? She read hagiographies of female saints and poets like Teresa de Jesus, Sun Bu’er, and Hildegard Von Bingen; she studied feminist theory while preparing lines for her acting debut in Euphoria. She looked to these devout women for inspiration and synthesized their messages into her own creed as a 33-year-old pop star trying to make sense of all this insanity.”
Read…
I read this piece a few days ago, and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. While I find Jonathan Reid’s tone unnecessarily abrasive and lacking some nuance, I think he makes a very valid point. Modern humans are trying to make communities work in an inversive manner. We think cultivating shared values and a “community spirit” will produce shared necessity, egalitarianism, and community cohesion, but Reid argues that community cohesion comes as a result of shared necessity. Unless we truly rely on each other for (economic) survival, we will have a hard time creating the trust, cohesion and success we desire. Ultimately, many “communities” turn into groups of autonomous, economically independent humans living on the same land, coming together for meals or activities. There’s nothing wrong with this, but we can’t necessarily call this a community, when really it’s just a group of roommates who don’t truly rely on one another, and who can opt out at any time.
“They think they can hack it with the right governance structure, the right conflict resolution process, the right shared agreements. They can’t. Because smartphones exist. Cars exist. Remote work exists. Every member has an exit strategy in their pocket.”
In my own experience cultivating community, I can’t say I disagree. Especially when it comes to the fact that most people will (and do) simply opt out when things get messy. Without true shared necessity, there is no obligation for anyone to face themselves or stick around to repair conflict or betrayal. Generally, when people aren’t forced to grow, they don’t.
Another article that’s stuck with me responds to Lily Allen’s new album West End Girl. The album chronicles the dissolution of Allen’s marriage. Allen credits her husband’s desire to pursue non-monogamy as the reason for the marriage’s destruction. In this article, Jean Garnett responds in a way that made me want to stand up and clap.
The following paragraph in particular felt extremely validating -
“I would love to hear a version of West End Girl in which a wife not only heartily consents to and partakes of openness but sings her heart out as she stands under the cascading consequences of her own desire. Because there are always consequences; that is what we open to when we open a marriage, and no provisos, no “rules” can fully insulate us from them. Maybe part of our discomfort with nonmonogamy is bound up in a teaching that “good” romance is safe romance, and that we deserve and owe each other emotional safety. We do not; in our hearts we know this, and in fact part of open marriage’s appeal, and part of its expansive potential, is precisely in how it makes us less safe. The pursuit of desire is a dangerous, vulnerable business; like Roy Orbison sang, love hurts. We can be thankful for this. Where would we be as a species without the mind-altering pain that reckless passion and tenderness and sex and betrayal can cause, the way they can dismantle and force us to rebuild more honestly? What would our art be, what would our music be, if loving was safe?”
Click here to read the full piece.
Watch…
Leif Vollebekk just released this beautiful short film featuring some of the songs from his most recent album, Revelation. The album is spectacular, and this short film, featuring Aurora is equally as moving.
Look…
A year and a half ago, we started construction to build a living and dining room onto our little house on the top of the hill. Although it still needs to be furnished (these pieces of furniture are still placeholders), the bones of this room are finally complete. Chris and I are very much looking forward to finally being able to host guests and throw parties in a house that fits more than four people.
The room features custom windows, earthen plaster, and Doug fir flooring.
This project marks the end of two and a half years of construction building this room in addition to a mudroom/extra bathroom on the other side of the house, and it feels like a huge relief to be able to shift our focus to other (non-construction) projects.
Buy…
In addition to being amazing filmmakers, writers, and storytellers, my friends Jake and Maren have been helping Jake’s mom run a tallow skincare business, called The Beekeeper’s Granddaughter. I am obsessed with these products, and constantly get compliments on how good I smell as a result of using them. “Vision” is my favorite, which features Palo Santo, Sage, Coffee and Copaiba, but I’ve used nearly all of their products and there is truly not one I dislike. They have some pretty sweet Black Friday deals going on right now, so take advantage!
Anya! I was about to message you the other day after I listened to Rosalía's Lux!! It made me think of you (likely because of all the conversations I've heard on your podcasts and in the Lunar Circle) and I had a feeling you would love it. I've been full obsessed with this album since I heard it earlier this week. It's incredible. Dark room, candlelight, full blast....a devotional.