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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Every Day - I Want To Live Where Soul Meets Body






EVERY DAY (I'm hustlin')





Every day A really is hustlin'.  In different bodies.  While trying to be with a special girl. All the while fighting small battles, facing a demonic presence, and rewriting people's lives. 

Every Day, oh how I have fallen for you.  This book by David Levithan was a fascinating book that kept me scratching my head while begging for more.  From depictions of falling in love to facing loss and depression, this book kept me hooked.  I was confused, intrigued, even more confused, and even more intrigued.

"Answerless questions can destroy you. Move on." - David Levithan 

Attempting to comprehend all the questions I had and the little answers I had received, a funny thought hit me...EVERY ONE SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO READ THIS BOOK!  Every single person living on earth should be required to read this book.  I haven't had a profound thought like that since I was reading Harry Potter for the first time back in 1998 (yes, I thought like that as a second grader).  Humor me for a quick second...if every person read this book, people may understand the idea that who we are is so much more than who we are.

Confused yet? Let me explain.  

A had no real identity but at the same time, A did.  There was no gender, no sexuality, no skin tone, or religion.  There was nothing identifying A other than that A was 16 and had memories and yet A still held on to a sense of identity.  This story really encompasses what it means to be human, even though A wasn't a tradition depiction of being human.  A had flaws, A felt powerful emotions (most above all love), A had memories.  A was nothing more than what it means to be human, but without all the superficial outer layers. It's a powerful idea that translates into a beautiful statement on what it means to be living.

A major theme in this book was love, of course.  The relationship between A and Rhiannon, who he meets and stays connected to while in a number of different bodies, presents a strong belief that love is more than skin deep, that there is a lot more that connects us as living beings that just what we look like or what gender we identify with.  Love is something we cannot control and it can't be dictated by the color of our skin, the sizes of our bodies, facial features, or flaws.

I thought this book was very meaningful.  I was especially impressed with the level of understanding and empathy David Levithan demonstrated while writing the emotions of some of the people A spent time as.  If you haven't given it a chance, please do.  It is truly touching and powerful.

And because I think it is such a good song and it is the title of this post, here is Soul Meets Body by Death Cab For Cutie.