So I'm now saving my discussion of teenhood with Jesus and leading kids to Christ for part three, just because it makes more linear sense - and there is a colossal amount to unpack. Philosophising at Twelve I begin with an excerpt from my 2016 blog post, The Beauty of Religion. "The unraveling of my… Continue reading Hillsong Music, Twelvie Me and Decolonising God (Part Two)
Kids Camps Attending kids camps as a youngster was easily the most significant factor in my conversion to Christianity. I went to my first one in January 2007, about a month after I turned nine. As you can imagine, I was at an extremely impressionable age. Kids' minds are like sponges, and for the most… Continue reading On Kids Camps, Worship Bands and Life with Jesus (Part One)
Purity culture within religion is problematic. Reflecting on my time as a Christian, this is one of the fundamental parts of it that still makes me angry, and its ghost still lingers. Today, I consider myself empowered, liberated and sex positive - yet I know I'm still affected by what I was taught by the… Continue reading Confronting Sexual Purity Culture
The older I get, the more I realise that identity is extraordinary complex. In my own context, I have a lot of questions of myself, my friends, my whānau, and the communities I am involved in. Shock horror - Abby has more questions? Such is the life of a philosophy major, a poet, a writer,… Continue reading Navigating Identity: Being Pākehā in Aotearoa
What an absolute whirlwind of a term...and a year in fact. On the whole, I think 2018 has been very good to me - I suppose I've tried to be good to her also. I am celebrating the completion of second year, and also the much loved return of my circadian rhythms. I think I've… Continue reading Insomnia: How to Not Fall Asleep
Unlike most Christians (and ex-Christians), I grew up in a secular household. I now thank Ranginui, Māori god of the sky, that this was the case. In my opinion, what drew me to the Christian faith in the first place (for eight years) was my innate need for spiritual exploration, influence via Christian extended family members,… Continue reading Addressing My Internalised Homophobia
Art humanises and grounds absolutely any political issue or conflict ever. People are moved by music, tears, poetry, photographs, paintings, novels and by sculpture. People are not emotionally affected by spreadsheets, statistics or mathematical equations (okay except maybe this guy*). When you marry the hard facts with the stuff that effects a person's kare-ā-roto, their… Continue reading Why We Need Art
I don't know where I want to go with this post, but that's ultimately how most of my blog updates go, so we're doing good. I went on a Philosophy field trip last weekend and it was an absolute whale of a time. I met heaps of wonderfully weird humans akin to myself, had phantastic… Continue reading Philosophy, Sexuality, and Christian Me
This site has recently been morphing into bimonthly brain dump, but I'm letting it evolve into whatever it wants to be. Little old me has been doing some thoughtful healing/processing/living in the last few months. It's a weird time when you realise the year is over two thirds through and you look back at your… Continue reading Colours
I'd like to interrupt my blogging hiatus once again. It has taken me a while to figure out how to do it. It has been less about writer's block and more about how much information is too much information - but I think I can trust myself to be reasonable in how I exhibit my… Continue reading Bruised Egos
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