Issue #4–CARRY
What are we carrying? How can we lighten our loads? Why are we so armed and guarded? Can we put down our weapons and carry each other instead? What makes a space safe for a community to thrive? What makes a body feel safe? Who will carry our future?
We are looking at these questions historically and from an international perspective. We are looking for art that is dreaming of a society where people have the autonomy to choose what is right for their bodies.
Carrying Hope: An Unconventional Path to Motherhood Through Surrogacy
I never imagined being in the same category as Chrissy Teigen, Kim Kardashian, or Tan France. Nor could I have dreamed of someone else carrying and birthing my child. I’ve never aspired to celebrity culture or cared much about it, but alas, when my fertility doctor suggested pursuing surrogacy as my most viable path to parenthood, I began my journey into what I thought was the seemingly unattainable life of the rich and famous.
The Curse of Land Possession and the Possibility of Dwelling
Yanan Rahim Navarez Melo crafts an op-ed article arguing for us to rethink our orientation around land ownership, calling for a theology of land. Regardless of religious or spiritual orientation, Melo’s essay reminds us that no thing exists without the earth. How might we reshape our thoughts and practices to reorder the land as sacred in our lives?
Metabolizing Grief Between Fallow and Fertile
Joliene Adams writes a journal entry-like essay processing the grief of losing her father, undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, and observing the changing climate along the Oregon Coast Trail.
Jacob Lawrence’s Paintings of John Brown Show That Failure is Not The End
In life, failure is always an option. However, failure is not synonymous with the end.