Thursday, January 28, 2010

A Perfect Life

Eve stood on a verdant precipice looking over the immaculate garden, her big toe tracing the edge where spongy grass met solid rock. The breeze wisped past her, raising goosebumps on her exposed flesh, reminding her of an unusual feeling that she couldn't exactly define - vulnerability it would eventually be called in a language she could not imagine. She didn't feel cold, exactly, because cold did not exist yet. Still, she folded her arms across her breast for comfort as she allowed herself to float into reflection.

Her memory of that first awakening went something like this:

"Eve, you're in paradise," he told her, and her eyes brightly scanned the arc of his gesture. She remembered feeling incredibly lucky and humble that she had the opportunity to exist in such beauty. That was when things were good, inspirational actually. The colors alone lifted her into a blissful oblivion, and of course, he - with his gorgeously curious features, his amazement at her graceful movements, the way he looked at her, as if she were the most beautiful, most amazing addition to the garden.. Yes. His being there was certainly a positive. Then.

"And now?" she thought. She still loved him. Absolutely. She loved him even though he was her master. She loved him, even though he had loved another before her. She still loved the garden, and her soul felt warm as she looked across the horizon. "It's not him," she whispered. "It's not the garden. It's not anything except that I want more." She silently numbered her desires on her fingers: ".. to know what God knows, to understand why things are as they are, to truly experience the full range of emotions that my soul knows exists - the ones that come from a place I don't understand.." Paradise was brilliant, but the humanness of her body, its yearnings, made it nearly impossible to enjoy fully.

"I have to leave here," she thought, and then blanched at the audacity of the thought. "I want to leave here," she thought again, more willfully, "even though the consequence will be loss of this place. I want to go and explore, to know and attempt to understand what it means to be human, to find answers, to truly live! Isn't this why God made me this way? Different from the angels?" Eve tried to imagine what the world would be like in that instance. She felt an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach - uncertainty, it would be called.

The sky darkened, and the first drops of rain brought her out of her contemplation. "Not today," she whispered.

This post was inspired by the Loose Bloggers Consortium, a small and feisty(!) global community. We write weekly on a common topic (A Perfect Life, this week) and post responses - all of us together, simultaneously, from all over the world. (Lovely!) Please visit Anu, Conrad, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Judy, Magpie 11, Maria and Ramana for other wonderful posts.

12 comments:

Grannymar said...

Amazing! Totally amazing!

Rummuser said...

What a take on the subject! I approached the garden of Eden for a different purpose but this treatment is truly mind blowing. My congratulations.

Conrad said...

Wow! This is a hint of potential in you that I had guessed - but, as extravagant as my guess was, it fell short.

This is breathtaking. I am really looking forward to your further works!

JudyH329 said...

Very interesting.

Maria said...

All I can think of is to applaud you for this wonderful post. So if you hear clapping it is coming from me. What a wonderful take on Eve and the beginning of the human race according to some people's beliefs.

I love this and I can feel the pull on Eve for the desire to experience being human. So much better than the guilt that women have swallowed for years along with that damn apple and serpent story.

Unknown said...

Uncertainty. She felt its arrival, but knew that she had to explore,to experience and to learn and grow.

Stress can lock us up. In our misguided attempts to keep safe, we may not only keep out the bad, but also prevent the good from crossing the threshold of our lives.

Heart-rendering beautiful, Ginger.

Ginger said...

Geez. You guys are so nice! Thank you for your kind comments. Xx

Maria said...

Lovely. One question. Who was the 'other' whom he had loved before her?

You have shook me up nicely. And I just love it.

Not only a great post. A great piece of writin as well......

Helen McGinn said...

Ginger, that was wonderful.

When (if) you come here to live, the recipes shall be yours...I'll show you first!

Helen xx

Ginger said...

Hi gaelikaa! I'm talking about Lilith, Adam's first wife according to Jewish folklore. She's usually thought of as a demon, the form she is described as taking after she left Adam and the garden. I like to think of her as I do Eve, a woman who struggled with her humaness. She's also mentioned in Isaiah 34:14.

Helen, You know I'll be calling.. :)

Unknown said...

hey stranger! It's always a mental treat when I stop by your blog. you give Eve such humanity, which is so lacking in traditional theology. bravo!

K A B L O O E Y said...

Peeling the onion with you, Ginger. New layers revealed all the time. Terrific, and I loved the ending.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

A Perfect Life

Eve stood on a verdant precipice looking over the immaculate garden, her big toe tracing the edge where spongy grass met solid rock. The breeze wisped past her, raising goosebumps on her exposed flesh, reminding her of an unusual feeling that she couldn't exactly define - vulnerability it would eventually be called in a language she could not imagine. She didn't feel cold, exactly, because cold did not exist yet. Still, she folded her arms across her breast for comfort as she allowed herself to float into reflection.

Her memory of that first awakening went something like this:

"Eve, you're in paradise," he told her, and her eyes brightly scanned the arc of his gesture. She remembered feeling incredibly lucky and humble that she had the opportunity to exist in such beauty. That was when things were good, inspirational actually. The colors alone lifted her into a blissful oblivion, and of course, he - with his gorgeously curious features, his amazement at her graceful movements, the way he looked at her, as if she were the most beautiful, most amazing addition to the garden.. Yes. His being there was certainly a positive. Then.

"And now?" she thought. She still loved him. Absolutely. She loved him even though he was her master. She loved him, even though he had loved another before her. She still loved the garden, and her soul felt warm as she looked across the horizon. "It's not him," she whispered. "It's not the garden. It's not anything except that I want more." She silently numbered her desires on her fingers: ".. to know what God knows, to understand why things are as they are, to truly experience the full range of emotions that my soul knows exists - the ones that come from a place I don't understand.." Paradise was brilliant, but the humanness of her body, its yearnings, made it nearly impossible to enjoy fully.

"I have to leave here," she thought, and then blanched at the audacity of the thought. "I want to leave here," she thought again, more willfully, "even though the consequence will be loss of this place. I want to go and explore, to know and attempt to understand what it means to be human, to find answers, to truly live! Isn't this why God made me this way? Different from the angels?" Eve tried to imagine what the world would be like in that instance. She felt an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach - uncertainty, it would be called.

The sky darkened, and the first drops of rain brought her out of her contemplation. "Not today," she whispered.

This post was inspired by the Loose Bloggers Consortium, a small and feisty(!) global community. We write weekly on a common topic (A Perfect Life, this week) and post responses - all of us together, simultaneously, from all over the world. (Lovely!) Please visit Anu, Conrad, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Judy, Magpie 11, Maria and Ramana for other wonderful posts.

12 comments:

Grannymar said...

Amazing! Totally amazing!

Rummuser said...

What a take on the subject! I approached the garden of Eden for a different purpose but this treatment is truly mind blowing. My congratulations.

Conrad said...

Wow! This is a hint of potential in you that I had guessed - but, as extravagant as my guess was, it fell short.

This is breathtaking. I am really looking forward to your further works!

JudyH329 said...

Very interesting.

Maria said...

All I can think of is to applaud you for this wonderful post. So if you hear clapping it is coming from me. What a wonderful take on Eve and the beginning of the human race according to some people's beliefs.

I love this and I can feel the pull on Eve for the desire to experience being human. So much better than the guilt that women have swallowed for years along with that damn apple and serpent story.

Unknown said...

Uncertainty. She felt its arrival, but knew that she had to explore,to experience and to learn and grow.

Stress can lock us up. In our misguided attempts to keep safe, we may not only keep out the bad, but also prevent the good from crossing the threshold of our lives.

Heart-rendering beautiful, Ginger.

Ginger said...

Geez. You guys are so nice! Thank you for your kind comments. Xx

Maria said...

Lovely. One question. Who was the 'other' whom he had loved before her?

You have shook me up nicely. And I just love it.

Not only a great post. A great piece of writin as well......

Helen McGinn said...

Ginger, that was wonderful.

When (if) you come here to live, the recipes shall be yours...I'll show you first!

Helen xx

Ginger said...

Hi gaelikaa! I'm talking about Lilith, Adam's first wife according to Jewish folklore. She's usually thought of as a demon, the form she is described as taking after she left Adam and the garden. I like to think of her as I do Eve, a woman who struggled with her humaness. She's also mentioned in Isaiah 34:14.

Helen, You know I'll be calling.. :)

Unknown said...

hey stranger! It's always a mental treat when I stop by your blog. you give Eve such humanity, which is so lacking in traditional theology. bravo!

K A B L O O E Y said...

Peeling the onion with you, Ginger. New layers revealed all the time. Terrific, and I loved the ending.