Smells and Bells

As I am reflecting on this past semester I have been finding myself thinking of the things that I miss about being on campus. I miss being around my friends, even when it would be finals week because doing all this work on my own is very productive but not that fun. At least at Wheaton, I could take a break and take a walk down to Bagels and Cream. I also miss walking around just looking at all the beautiful nature all around campus. I was just talking to my mom about the smell of the flowers on campus this time of year. I just loved walking around and smelling them as well as seeing the blossoms on the trees and "snowing" on the ground. In Green's book The Aroma of Righteousness: Scent and Seduction in Rabbinic Life and Literature  she talks about how some smells can be relaxing or comforting. I think the smells of campus around this time of year are so comforting when studying for finals. I like being able to go for a walk between assignments and really get to enjoy t...

I was really thinking hard about what I could write about with the 6th sense, so I started by looking for a topic in the Spell of the Sensuous  book and I came across the section on pages 78-79 about animal communications. This made me start thinking about how I communicate with my dogs at home. We teach them tricks and they seem to understand them, but sometimes they just know things without getting any indication from us. For example when one of my family members is sick one of my dogs will not leave that person alone like he has to constantly sitting near them or looking at them. For example, one time I was super sick at Wheaton so I came home for a long weekend, and my dad told me while I was sleeping he was literally standing on my chest looking at me to make sure I was ok. So strange. Java (left) and Diver (right) (Shiba Inu and Beagle Mix Brothers) So last night I had what I decided was a weird 6th sense moment where I was sleeping (It was like 3:30 am so I was dead as...

When I saw that Diana Eck's book seeing the divine image in India 's book had pictures, I found myself sucked into looking at them! I was especially drawn to the images of art in the book because during my senior year of high school I took AP Art History (mostly to have my favorite teacher one more time) and I was shown this whole world of art that I was unaware of and unappreciative of. I will say I did not spend a ton of time looking into Indian art because there was not a ton of that on the exam, but we did talk about the religion represented in art and the Hindu religion did come up. From the Eck Book When I was in this class we took a field trip to the MFA in Boston (you should go if you haven't yet!).  While we were there we looked around for the pieces we were studying, but we were able to check out the whole museum since we had the whole day. While I was there, there was a whole Asian art exhibit and I remember distinctly looking at a piece of art that looked ...

While reading the book Women, the Recited Qur'an and Islamic Music in Indonesia I found myself taking notes of the different commentary on the dancing that goes along with the music. At the beginning of this book, Rasmussen talks about the importance of women in the rituals, but late in the book, she talks about their role in music and dance. Before this semester I did not really have much exposure to dance, but I have always participated in Zumba on Tuesday nights. For this semester I was really looking for a 4th class that wasn't too hard for my senior spring semester, and Julie Searles sent out an email to the Zumba people about this dance class she was teaching. (an academic dance class not like a ballet class!) So I decided to try it out because she said it shouldn't be too hard. So this semester I learned about different ways that dance has made it into American vernacular culture from popular dance styles to the way some people walk! It has actually been really f...

When I was in like 3rd grade my grandmother taught me to knit. I worked on a few projects for like a year, then life happened and I didn't do it for at least 10 years. Then when I was at Wheaton minding my own business my friend texted me that she needed a treasurer for this club she was the president of and would I please help her out. I said sure why not, and suddenly I was the treasurer of the knitting club but I had not knitted in a decade. This is me holding this insanely large ball of super soft yarn. *Picture from @craftwheaton on Instagram* Over the next few weeks, I relearned how to knit and started working on a few projects. (My first one was a MAJOR fail) After a while, I knew the basics and on Sunday nights in the Lyons Den (where we met) I was able to knit while enjoying a milkshake. That was 3 years ago. Since then we have rebranded our club to be the CRAFT club. (Create, Relax, and Familiarize with Textiles) Why am I telling you about this? Well, when I was ...