Happy New Year! The holidays were a stressful time, but I still got through a few great reads. I also have several that are halfway done that will be carried over to next year, which drives my INTJ personality insane.
Continue reading “What I Read – December 2021”Author: Liz Busby
Liz Busby is a writer of creative non-fiction, technical writing, and speculative fiction. She loves reading science fiction, fantasy, history, science writing, and self help, as well as pretty much anything that holds still for long enough.
What I Read – November 2021
Not many completed books this month due to hosting Thanksgiving and a lot of stress. I do have a lot of half-finished books on my pile that I’m trying to get through by the end of the year. Gotta start the new year with a clean book slate. Anyway, here’s what I read in November.
Continue reading “What I Read – November 2021”Author’s Note: The 37th Ward Relief Society Leftovers Exchange
Read “The 37th Ward Relief Society Leftovers Exchange” on the Mormon Lit Blitz blog. And if you’re reading this before November 13th, don’t forget to vote for your top four!
This story originated from a phrase in When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller. A character says that some of her “leftover anger” spilled over onto someone who didn’t deserve it. I thought this phrase was very apt: sometimes emotions leftover from other encounters spill over into our interactions with innocent bystanders. The phrase also gave me the hilarious image of people boxing up their leftover emotions to store in the fridge for later.
During a discussion in a writing class, I connected that image with the idiom of “eating your feelings” and the scriptural idea of “mourning with those that mourn,” and this story was born. I have never participated in a leftovers exchange, but I have been a part of many potlucks, taste tests, cooking demos, and recipe exchanges, so this felt like something a Relief Society might do.
For non-LDS readers: a ward is a congregation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Relief Society is the church’s women’s organization. Food is a central part of most cultures and Mormons are no exception. It’s not a church activity without a spread of tasty calories, and bringing meals to each other is one of the most basic ways that we show that we care. See this fabulous book on Utah food culture for more stories and examples of LDS/Mormon foodways.
I see the lack of empathy for others as a huge problem both within the church and in the world generally. I was recently in a meeting where several Relief Society sisters expressed how they didn’t feel that they fit in and that no one understood their problems. But secretly everyone feels this way, at least part of the time. How much easier it would be if we could transfer the experience of our hearts to each other! If we understood one another that deeply, we would be more understanding of each other’s faults and foibles. Bearing one another’s burdens is in fact what Christ has called us to do; it is, I believe, the main purpose of practicing religion as part of a church, rather than as individuals.
I hope you enjoy the story and that it inspires you to find a way to share in someone else’s leftover feelings and make the world a more peaceful place.
What I Read – October 2021
October has come and gone and it’s time for book reviews again. Looks like the themes in this month’s reads are great short stories and novels with cliff hangers! I’ll also throw in a link to my Twitter review of the newly released Dune movie. Book reviews after the jump.
Continue reading “What I Read – October 2021”Author’s Note: Buyers, Renters, and Belonging
Read “Buyers, Renters, and Belonging” in Irreantum 18.2 – Building Zion.
Writing this essay was like writing a eulogy. A eulogy for all the groups of women who made my years as a young mother survivable. The steady presence of these two groups of women was the thing that got me through all the experiences of parenthood that make you think you’re losing your mind. Those groups no longer exist, though I occasionally still talk to some of the women who were part of them.
It’s also a eulogy for the suburban wards of the Pacific Northwest. You can see the slow decline of the wards in the area by looking at a ward map. Our ward had two church buildings inside its boundaries, buildings that used to house several wards each but have been hollowed out by the area’s financial success. It’s nearly impossible to find an affordable house in the area that can accommodate a typical Mormon-size family, and so the ward is filled with young renters and older couples who bought in before Microsoft happened.
This essay is also a very vulnerable one to me. The turn in the essay where I realize exactly how privileged and well-off we were is still something I am coming to terms with over and over in my everyday life. Talking about money and success is very taboo. There are different problems that come with financial success, and it’s hard to talk about them with anyone without coming across as bragging. There’s also the guilt of having money in a religion where we promise to consecrate all that we have. I often agonize over if we are giving enough to thank the Lord for his blessings.
I should note that though the ending to this essay is pretty bleak, we were actually quite happy to move to Utah. I grew up around my extended family and had wanted that for my kids for a long time. The pandemic provided the ability for us to be untethered from the Pacific Northwest. Still, the move was bittersweet like a breakup from a long-dysfunctional relationship. We already knew that it was over, but leaving made it feel so final. It meant admitting defeat in creating a community, one that we had covenanted to build. I felt bad for abandoning our ward in the state it was in, with so many in need of help and so many having to leave. In fact, in the months after we moved, several more of our remaining friends in the ward have left the area.