All posts by Soul Sapience

Hyperempathy – Pain – Baltimore

As I finished working on my bibliographies a couple weeks ago, I narrowly beat the deadline for submission and wiped a sweat gland off my forehead right after submission. I think I am becoming more and more of a perfectionist. And though I try to control it, I wonder if that could be considered a disability wherein time is sometimes against me or rather, the environment I am in does not allow enough time? This question compelled me to reflect on Lauren’s syndrome and an article by Their Pickens. Continue reading Hyperempathy – Pain – Baltimore

Disability and Growth – Living

A few weeks ago, Dr. McCoy presented us with the question “Why live?” My answer was “to search for one’s purpose and fulfill it.” I said some more about it as well which I have written below:

I think one must live to better humanity. Everyone is part of something greater than themselves and must promote the betterment of each other in order to fulfill that greater purpose.

     In the moment of writing, I began to think a bit differently: Continue reading Disability and Growth – Living

Names and Identity

What’s in a name? One of the interesting things I thought about the Oankalis and the ooloi are their names. In chapter one in Metamorphosis after Jodahs escorted the couple to the guest area before the arrival of a ship to Mars, It explained to the woman that Its human name was “Jodahs Iyapo Leal Kaalnikanjlo” (526). The complexity of Its name and the many other names like it throughout the novel caused me to recall a video I watched a few months ago by Michael Stevens on one of his Youtube channel called Vsauce, titled: Names. There is so much in a name and the names Octavia Butler has given to her characters have been assigned intricately and fascinatingly that to even pronounce them the right way causes hesitation to even pronounce them at all. Continue reading Names and Identity

Planetary Destruction

There is so much to say by the end of the Xenogenesis trilogy and I have to hand it to Octavia Butler once again. Thanks for giving me the curve ball just as you did in the Patternist Series. But I was not displeased at all with the end because it ended on a smooth term. Although it ended on such a term, which I am contented with, I still wondered about the complete destruction of the Earth. Continue reading Planetary Destruction

You’re in Control? Guess Again.

When Dr. McCoy shared with us that Octavia Butler had given up on writing save the world novels and instead, wrote Fledgling without taking any medication (which was the cause of her writer’s block) made me feel sad. Because through my readings of her work I have felt her passion in grappling with the contradictions and troubles of humanity and her exploration of ways humanity can become better for itself. I find myself contemplating about such aspects of humanity on a regular basis as I continue making an effort to see the good in people. That contemplation requires confrontation with our current and developing beliefs, whether it is by reading a writer’s work or by our own continuous and developing desires. Humanity is complex, of course. Just indulging in Butler’s works thus far has made me contemplate the littlest things which makes me question my normative actions such as finding a pen on the ground, even in a secluded area, and deciding whether or not to take it and call it mine. Continue reading You’re in Control? Guess Again.

Who or what is to be blamed?

After Dr. McCoy mentioned in class that Lil Wayne was raped as a boy as he explained on Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel, I quickly turned to the internet to find out more about it and was shocked at another video wherein Lil Wayne bragged about the incident. To me, he was glorifying ‘rape’ as if it was a good thing. On his show, Kimmel interviewed Lil Wayne and asked him about his virginity. The body language and reluctance of Lil Wayne was to refrain from answering the questions, yet it seemed Kimmel was unable to see that and even to go as far as to compel Lil Wayne with a curious manner as if to say “having sex [involuntarily] at that age is a good thing for a male or a female.” Continue reading Who or what is to be blamed?

Beyond the Mind – Journey to Mars

In the interview with Larry McCaffery and Jim McMenamin in 1988, Octavia Butler shared a lot about her Patternist Series which included her comments about once considering to include Kindred as part of the series. She argues that it simply did not feel like part of the series and that she wanted to go in a different direction, a more realistic path. Nonetheless, a few things Butler mentioned in this interview caused nostalgia, others provoked wonder of the past and future as I mention below. Continue reading Beyond the Mind – Journey to Mars

Victories in the Web

Wow, this novel had me on the edge of my seat as it came to a close. Will Doro win or will Mary dethrone him? Back and forth they fought in the one body and at last, Mary triumphs and becomes the Queen. But is Doro really dead? Initially, at the moment of conclusion, I believed he was, but something tells me, he is still around, still alive, somewhere lurking in the shadows, trying to figure out how he will come back and seek revenge on Mary. But perhaps he may even return unprepared because Clay is about to be introduced more in-depth. And what about the child of Mary and Karl – August? Will he be the one branded as the Patternmaster? Continue reading Victories in the Web

Mine To Protect?

Since evening I stumbled upon a clip of my favorite childhood cartoon – Dragon Ball Z (DBZ). About forty seconds into the clip, the purple villain whose name is Bills told Vegeta (pun on vegetable) that he would die with honor in his death. Vegeta’s wife then shows up and directs her anger at Bills by slapping him for interrupting her party. He slaps her back to which Vegeta gets riled up and bawls out “that’s my Bulma.” At first, I thought he said “that’s my woman.” Continue reading Mine To Protect?

Ina in The Classroom

The teacher is like an Ina.

Today in class, as I sat listening to the overwhelming amount of information I so desire to have to learn from, I began to think that a/the teacher is an Ina. I began to think about power; my being there in the classroom, ‘willfully’ taking in the information as my own ‘want’ or is it a result of years of encouragement from parents, relatives, friends, and/or colleagues implanting that ‘will’ within me, asserting that education taught by a teacher will help you throughout your life. Can encouragement be a form of power, for instance, I encourage you to take action on something, while giving you reasons to take the action, and thus, you take action? Which calls forth the question, is encouragement bad? Continue reading Ina in The Classroom