Man, if there's ever anything to make you feel like a Muggle, it's waking up the morning of September 2nd, NOT in your house dormitory... le sigh.... One year, I really really really want to be in London on September 1st and take a picture like right before 11:00 at King's Cross at Platform 9 3/4! I know there's probably lots of people that do that every year... I just want to be one of those people!
So, this past week has been very hectic because we had this whole Hurricane Isaac thing going on. I want to assure all of y'all that my family and I are all just fine. My brother got some water in his house, and they had to be boated out of their neighborhood that's about 30 minutes outside of New Orleans, and boy, do I wish he would've had the Trace on him then! There were about five hours where we had NO CLUE where my brother and my oldest nephew were, which was scary, but it's all good. Phones just were not working right because everybody was having the same issues apparently. On the side of good news, we learned that the Impervius charm that the Corps of Engineers put around the New Orleans area works! Which means most of the city came off relatively unscathed, just your usual downed trees and power lines.... Makes me wonder, if in HBP they suspected giants were involved in a "freak hurricane".... were they perhaps involved here?? Although there are NO mountains anywhere near by... Do you think maybe there are swamp giants somewhere?? Curious... very curious... Downside, we're going on the fifth day of no power at my house... I've been trying Lumos.... totally has not worked... Now, a block over, at my family's photography studio, we have power... so yeah, that's pretty much where we've been living. I'm gonna need a house-elf to do a cleaning once the power comes back on. The house is just hot and smells really musty right now.
I want to tell y'all about an awesome happening yesterday that just made me very very happy! So I was doing my normal check of the news yesterday..... and by news I mean, checking Facebook, and checking for new posts in Nerdfighteria, on the Hogwarts Professor blog, and on the Harry Potter Alliance blog.... side note: the HPA is currently doing and awesome campaign called Equality FTW... if you have not donated to it yet, it's an awesome campaign... they're planning on building another Imagine Better Library. It is very very sad, but lots and lots of children do not have access to books. It seems to typical for all of our very modern lives that we can just order online or download straight to our ereaders tons of books wherever and whenever we want, but lots of people don't have that option, globally and here in the US. It's hard to claim that everyone has equal access to education when so many don't have access to the basic tools of education: BOOKS!! And hey, when the population as a whole is progressively smarter, everyone benefits! But I digress....
ANYWAY... so I checked the HP Alliance blog, and there was a great post that had a link to the video of JKR's 2008 Harvard Commencement Address from in which she used the phrase "Imagine Better" that has become a big statement of the HP Alliance. So you know, can't help but watch it... well, a minute or so after I turned it on... I was watching it on the computer in my dad's office, which has a second large monitor hooked up so that clients can view their images in sales... it was on and my dad and my husband walked in. Now, my husband has read the books several times, so he's got his official magic card even if he isn't as massive of a fan as I am, but my Dad is definitely a Muggle. He's never read the books, and has maybe seen the first movie like twice... They were just coming in to eat some donuts (there's a conference table in my dad's office that has now morphed into our dinner table this past week), and I paused it, and Dad was like, "Oh, what's this?" And I was like "It's JK Rowling's commencement address to Harvard." And he was like, "Well, you can but it back on." And so he sat down and watched the speech. This was probably the first time he had ever really seen video of Jo and heard her speak so I was very excited... but I totally played it cool... well, he sat there entranced for the whole speech. I couldn't see his face... he was facing the second monitor, but he didn't turn and start a conversation with my husband and go on eating, which he would've done if he was bored. And after it was over, he went, "Wow... that was AWESOME! That's something good just to watch over and over again!" And I was just very smugly giddy and was like "Yup... she's kind of amazing!" Later on, I was talking to my husband and was like "Dad really seemed to like Jo's speech this morning!" and Roch (my husband) says, "Bey... he was CRYING." I was like "REALLY??" and that just made me ecstatic! You know, it's one thing for us in the Potterverse to be moved to tears when Jo speaks. I mean, we probably would tear up merely getting a glance of her on TV! But for her to move my Dad to tears, when he hasn't even really gotten into the true power of her words, is just wonderful! And it gave me great hope that eventually, he could lose his Muggle status yet! :-)
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
What Would Hermione Do?
Ok so, I started my masters in English! Yay! And I'm super-excited on a totally Hermione-ish level that in one class, I'll be doing the Divine Comedy the whole semester, and in another one, I get to do Paradise Lost.... both of which have been cited as influences on JKR. I really really love the Divine Comedy, have read it before and love every instance I can get to pick into it again. I haven't read Paradise Lost, but I've always wanted to read it, and it seems like this professor I have is going to pick it apart pretty thoroughly so I'm pumped! That's what I want out of my literature.... I want to peel it apart like an orange and savor every little juicy wedge one at a time. I want to stand before it like an art critic and talk about how it moves me, pick out an emotion and purpose behind every stroke. To get automotive on it, get under the hood and see every little gear that makes the work run... so these two classes look to be right up my alley. I've got this other class on Southern Lit which looks to be really good.... However, an incident right before the class began got me a little worried that some Muggles might have stowed away on my Hogwarts Express journey of Southern Lit.
So I get to class ten minutes beforehand (I'm usually much earlier but freakin parking! Grrr)... and I see the classroom is dark but there are a couple of people chillin' in their desks... so I go in... People start coming in at a pretty steady pace after that, and then, like three minutes before time, this dude walks in, shouts a big HEEEEEEY!!!! to his buddies who have all situated themselves in the back of the room, and then starts a LOUD conversation with them "Oh yeah! Senior year!" (apparently this class can be taken by undergrad and grad students) "Thank God y'all are in here already! I got here like fifteen minutes ago, but I didn't want to be the first one in here and look like a NERD!!"
....... ummmmm... excuse me?
Let me see if I understand this..... you are in your final year of your college undergraduate program (and how long has it taken you, by the way???)... which means that you and/or your parents have been shelling out a good chunk of money (or you've done a BUTTLOAD of paperwork so the government will hook you up with an education) for several years now... but after all that time and all of SOMEONE'S money, you don't possibly want to appear as if you *GASP!* want to LEARN anything??? SERIOUSLY???
I really just don't get it, what is the abhorrence of wanting to appear nerdy? It's like "no thank you, I prefer to appear vapid and unintellectual to gain the approval of other vapid and unintellectual people." If that is how you wish to appear then why on earth are you in an institution of higher learning? And how on earth did you survive in it until your senior year?? I mean, there has to be an ounce of intellectualism (NERDINESS) in there somewhere or you would've just flunked out by this point. Why are people so afraid to appear intelligent???
See, that's what I love about Potter people... we know who we are, and we're totally unafraid of people knowing it. And instead of throwing out names and calling each other "nerds" (or if we do, using a totally positive connotation!), we sit and discuss intellectual ideas and applaud each other for our level of insight. I just find it really hard to understand why people try so hard to pretend to be less than what they are. They convince themselves that being seen as intelligent is negative so they convince themselves that they aren't... to the point of eventually making themselves so!! Come on people!! Embrace your inner nerd!! It's ok to expand your cranial capacity! It's ok seek new horizons! What's the alternative?? Dim, dull, self-induced enclosure in the mundane?? Sounds way too Muggle for my tastes!
So I get to class ten minutes beforehand (I'm usually much earlier but freakin parking! Grrr)... and I see the classroom is dark but there are a couple of people chillin' in their desks... so I go in... People start coming in at a pretty steady pace after that, and then, like three minutes before time, this dude walks in, shouts a big HEEEEEEY!!!! to his buddies who have all situated themselves in the back of the room, and then starts a LOUD conversation with them "Oh yeah! Senior year!" (apparently this class can be taken by undergrad and grad students) "Thank God y'all are in here already! I got here like fifteen minutes ago, but I didn't want to be the first one in here and look like a NERD!!"
....... ummmmm... excuse me?
Let me see if I understand this..... you are in your final year of your college undergraduate program (and how long has it taken you, by the way???)... which means that you and/or your parents have been shelling out a good chunk of money (or you've done a BUTTLOAD of paperwork so the government will hook you up with an education) for several years now... but after all that time and all of SOMEONE'S money, you don't possibly want to appear as if you *GASP!* want to LEARN anything??? SERIOUSLY???
I really just don't get it, what is the abhorrence of wanting to appear nerdy? It's like "no thank you, I prefer to appear vapid and unintellectual to gain the approval of other vapid and unintellectual people." If that is how you wish to appear then why on earth are you in an institution of higher learning? And how on earth did you survive in it until your senior year?? I mean, there has to be an ounce of intellectualism (NERDINESS) in there somewhere or you would've just flunked out by this point. Why are people so afraid to appear intelligent???
See, that's what I love about Potter people... we know who we are, and we're totally unafraid of people knowing it. And instead of throwing out names and calling each other "nerds" (or if we do, using a totally positive connotation!), we sit and discuss intellectual ideas and applaud each other for our level of insight. I just find it really hard to understand why people try so hard to pretend to be less than what they are. They convince themselves that being seen as intelligent is negative so they convince themselves that they aren't... to the point of eventually making themselves so!! Come on people!! Embrace your inner nerd!! It's ok to expand your cranial capacity! It's ok seek new horizons! What's the alternative?? Dim, dull, self-induced enclosure in the mundane?? Sounds way too Muggle for my tastes!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
The Potter Stamp of Approval
So my son's friend came over to play yesterday, which my son was so excited about...
"Mom!! Is Patrick here yet??? I just can't wait!! We're gonna play Harry Potter cuz he loves Harry too!!"
Of course, that made me very happy. I always get very excited when Vito talks about him and friends playing Harry Potter because I know they're living out the messages of the books and talking about right and wrong and all the wonderful things that parents want their children to know. PS It's also fun for me because I get to say things like "Ok, y'all go play upstairs! Remember, don't play with Mommy's good wands!"
Other super fun part for me was sitting and hanging with Patrick's mom who is also a Potter fan.
But she told me a disturbing story... She said that one of her kids has a friend who's homeschooled and while the friend's parents allow him to watch pg13 movies that are violent, they don't allow him to watch or read Harry Potter.
Really???? Like.... REALLY?!?!?! I had really begun to believe that we were past this kind of nonsense. The last book came out 5 years ago now, and I would think with the whole sacrifice and resurrection thing in Deathly Hallows that this ridiculous argument that the Potter books were non-Christian would have gone away by now. Before I go on ranting, I want to point out that I don't believe that the books cannot be enjoyed by non-Christians. I think the story is broad enough that anyone of any religion can enjoy it and see some parallels to their faith in there (because honestly, any good religion is basically built around peace and loving one another... which we should all agree on are good things), but I think it's worth noting that Jo Rowling is a member of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), and authors are going to pull from experiences and beliefs that are familiar to them. Besides the obvious sacrifice, resurrection, and saving by blood thing going on in the series... there are couple of things that point out the series as being Christian-friendly:
1 - At Hogwarts, they celebrate and get out of school for Christian holidays... So many events in the series happen during the Christmas holidays and you see some form of Christmas celebration IN EVERY BOOK.
2 - Although it's called "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry", the "witchcraft" performed in the books is nothing like actual practicing witchcraft. Real witchcraft has to do with nature worship and ceremonial spellwork. There's nothing ceremonial about the spellwork in Harry Potter. The kids point a stick and casually say a word in Latin - LATIN... as in THE TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH!! And the ridiculous argument that kids will get confused and try to do real witchcraft... umm.... no. If kids try to imitate Harry Potter, the most they will do is point a stick and say "Expelliarmus!!" or maybe they'll jump on a broom.... and guess what?? When nothing flies out of another person's hand and the broom doesn't come off the ground, the kids will know it's PRETEND... I mean, come on people, give your kids a little more credit! Idiots are made, not born.
3 - JK ROWLING SAID SHE USED CHRISTIANITY IN WRITING IT!!! Over and over again in interviews, you could see Jo get so frustrated every time a reporter bring up the question "What do you say to people who say the books are dangerous because they're about witchcraft?" My favorite was the time she responded with "You know, no one has come up to me and said, 'Thank you so much for writing your books! It really taught me about witchcraft. Let's go together and sacrifice a goat!' " Plus she stated that she really couldn't talk too much about her beliefs because it "would give too much away about how the story progresses".... which means that she used her beliefs to form the plot of the story.... and as stated before, she's a Christian. Put two and two together, people!!
The thing that just frustrates me so much when I hear about this anti-Potter ridiculousness is that it's obviously coming from people who haven't read the books!! Some of the greatest advocators for the Potter series as a Christian narrative are people who read the books because they had heard the rumors about it being about witchcraft and wanted to investigate before they allowed their children to read it, and guess what happened?? Instead of banning it from their children, they applauded it for its clear lessons in morality!! Hey, I totally understand that you want to check something out before you allow it for your children. Parents should do that!! I screen anything my son or daughter insist on watching!! (Which has eliminated Spongebob or any of those Bratz cartoons from my kids' screen selection!) But don't just outright say no to something that YOU KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT!!! Educate before you eliminate!! I mean, come on!
If you're interested in reading about Harry Potter and its connections to Christianity... here are some awesome resources... and if you're unfamiliar with these authors, I really suggest you check them out in this order. I'm listing them as the most general to the most detailed....
The Gospel According to Harry Potter by Connie Neal http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-According-Harry-Potter-Spiritual/dp/0664231233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344427104&sr=1-1&keywords=the+gospel+according+to+harry+potter
If you want a good, general overview of the Christian morality, this is your book.
The Christian's Guide to Harry Potter by Leslie Barnhart http://www.amazon.com/Christians-Guide-Harry-Potter/dp/1477575081/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344427187&sr=1-2&keywords=the+christian%27s+guide+to+harry+potter - Just some notes on this one... I did find a couple of mistakes in this one... she gets the Ravenclaw mascot wrong (it's an eagle, not a raven) and she defines transubstantiation wrong (I'm Catholic. She says that transubstantiation is a 'spiritual transformation not a physical one'... and no, transubstantiation is the our belief that the bread and wine really and truly and PHYSICALLY become the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass) However, on a whole, she does make some very cool connections so I'll recommend it.
How Harry Cast his Spell by John Granger http://www.amazon.com/How-Harry-Cast-His-Spell/dp/1414321880/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344427502&sr=1-1&keywords=how+harry+cast+his+spell Seriously, AMAZING. Every single nuance you ever thought of is explained in here... OUTRAGEOUSLY awesome!
Seriously, check these books out, and if you ever hear somebody make that ridiculous argument... whip that book out like a freakin tract the street-corner evangelists love to hand out and tell them about how moral and wonderful the stories really are!! I think I might order an extra copy of Connie Neal's book to keep on me at all times in case of emergencies!
Also, remind them of all the amazing charitable work that is being done in Harry's name!! Jesus would be all about that!
"Mom!! Is Patrick here yet??? I just can't wait!! We're gonna play Harry Potter cuz he loves Harry too!!"
Of course, that made me very happy. I always get very excited when Vito talks about him and friends playing Harry Potter because I know they're living out the messages of the books and talking about right and wrong and all the wonderful things that parents want their children to know. PS It's also fun for me because I get to say things like "Ok, y'all go play upstairs! Remember, don't play with Mommy's good wands!"
Other super fun part for me was sitting and hanging with Patrick's mom who is also a Potter fan.
But she told me a disturbing story... She said that one of her kids has a friend who's homeschooled and while the friend's parents allow him to watch pg13 movies that are violent, they don't allow him to watch or read Harry Potter.
Really???? Like.... REALLY?!?!?! I had really begun to believe that we were past this kind of nonsense. The last book came out 5 years ago now, and I would think with the whole sacrifice and resurrection thing in Deathly Hallows that this ridiculous argument that the Potter books were non-Christian would have gone away by now. Before I go on ranting, I want to point out that I don't believe that the books cannot be enjoyed by non-Christians. I think the story is broad enough that anyone of any religion can enjoy it and see some parallels to their faith in there (because honestly, any good religion is basically built around peace and loving one another... which we should all agree on are good things), but I think it's worth noting that Jo Rowling is a member of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), and authors are going to pull from experiences and beliefs that are familiar to them. Besides the obvious sacrifice, resurrection, and saving by blood thing going on in the series... there are couple of things that point out the series as being Christian-friendly:
1 - At Hogwarts, they celebrate and get out of school for Christian holidays... So many events in the series happen during the Christmas holidays and you see some form of Christmas celebration IN EVERY BOOK.
2 - Although it's called "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry", the "witchcraft" performed in the books is nothing like actual practicing witchcraft. Real witchcraft has to do with nature worship and ceremonial spellwork. There's nothing ceremonial about the spellwork in Harry Potter. The kids point a stick and casually say a word in Latin - LATIN... as in THE TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH!! And the ridiculous argument that kids will get confused and try to do real witchcraft... umm.... no. If kids try to imitate Harry Potter, the most they will do is point a stick and say "Expelliarmus!!" or maybe they'll jump on a broom.... and guess what?? When nothing flies out of another person's hand and the broom doesn't come off the ground, the kids will know it's PRETEND... I mean, come on people, give your kids a little more credit! Idiots are made, not born.
3 - JK ROWLING SAID SHE USED CHRISTIANITY IN WRITING IT!!! Over and over again in interviews, you could see Jo get so frustrated every time a reporter bring up the question "What do you say to people who say the books are dangerous because they're about witchcraft?" My favorite was the time she responded with "You know, no one has come up to me and said, 'Thank you so much for writing your books! It really taught me about witchcraft. Let's go together and sacrifice a goat!' " Plus she stated that she really couldn't talk too much about her beliefs because it "would give too much away about how the story progresses".... which means that she used her beliefs to form the plot of the story.... and as stated before, she's a Christian. Put two and two together, people!!
The thing that just frustrates me so much when I hear about this anti-Potter ridiculousness is that it's obviously coming from people who haven't read the books!! Some of the greatest advocators for the Potter series as a Christian narrative are people who read the books because they had heard the rumors about it being about witchcraft and wanted to investigate before they allowed their children to read it, and guess what happened?? Instead of banning it from their children, they applauded it for its clear lessons in morality!! Hey, I totally understand that you want to check something out before you allow it for your children. Parents should do that!! I screen anything my son or daughter insist on watching!! (Which has eliminated Spongebob or any of those Bratz cartoons from my kids' screen selection!) But don't just outright say no to something that YOU KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT!!! Educate before you eliminate!! I mean, come on!
If you're interested in reading about Harry Potter and its connections to Christianity... here are some awesome resources... and if you're unfamiliar with these authors, I really suggest you check them out in this order. I'm listing them as the most general to the most detailed....
The Gospel According to Harry Potter by Connie Neal http://www.amazon.com/Gospel-According-Harry-Potter-Spiritual/dp/0664231233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344427104&sr=1-1&keywords=the+gospel+according+to+harry+potter
If you want a good, general overview of the Christian morality, this is your book.
The Christian's Guide to Harry Potter by Leslie Barnhart http://www.amazon.com/Christians-Guide-Harry-Potter/dp/1477575081/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344427187&sr=1-2&keywords=the+christian%27s+guide+to+harry+potter - Just some notes on this one... I did find a couple of mistakes in this one... she gets the Ravenclaw mascot wrong (it's an eagle, not a raven) and she defines transubstantiation wrong (I'm Catholic. She says that transubstantiation is a 'spiritual transformation not a physical one'... and no, transubstantiation is the our belief that the bread and wine really and truly and PHYSICALLY become the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass) However, on a whole, she does make some very cool connections so I'll recommend it.
How Harry Cast his Spell by John Granger http://www.amazon.com/How-Harry-Cast-His-Spell/dp/1414321880/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344427502&sr=1-1&keywords=how+harry+cast+his+spell Seriously, AMAZING. Every single nuance you ever thought of is explained in here... OUTRAGEOUSLY awesome!
Seriously, check these books out, and if you ever hear somebody make that ridiculous argument... whip that book out like a freakin tract the street-corner evangelists love to hand out and tell them about how moral and wonderful the stories really are!! I think I might order an extra copy of Connie Neal's book to keep on me at all times in case of emergencies!
Also, remind them of all the amazing charitable work that is being done in Harry's name!! Jesus would be all about that!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Life as a Muggle...
Hello. My name is Carol....and I am... a muggle. Despite waiting patiently, laying out owl treats, and attempts to find the Leaky Cauldron, I must resign myself to the fact that my Hogwarts letter will probably not come. And at 30 years old, unless Hogwarts has suddenly started a graduate program, chances are... I'm not getting in. So I must find a way to cope. So here I am.... figuratively staring at the mound of ruins that I know the glorious Hogwarts castle merely stands behind... I don't know how all of you feel, but I know from the second I first read about Diagon Alley, I was hoping I could somehow trade in my Barnes and Noble member card for one at Flourish and Blotts. That was in 2001, shortly after GOF had been released. I admit, I came to the series backwards.... I saw the first movie, fell in love with the whole concept, and went immediately to go buy the books. Literally. Immediately. I was still picking movie popcorn out of my teeth while standing in line to purchase books 1-4. And then a couple days later, after finishing GOF... (and after I finished sobbing...) I discovered the amazing online community that is the Harry Potter Fandom. I kept up with the Potter news, read up on all current theories, and made sure I was at every midnight release afterwards (except the GOF movie release because I had just given birth to my son the previous week... Incidentally, the HBP movie was supposed to come out a week after I had my daughter in 2008, but it got pushed back to June, which meant that I was the ONLY Potter fan ECSTATIC about pushing back that film release. And yes, I am still convinced they did it so I could be there.) So I guess this is the part where I list the rest of my Harry Potter street cred.... In May of 2007, I attended the Phoenix Rising Potter con in New Orleans, where I won a trivia duel and was able to participate in a recorded book discussion group with a couple of other trivia winners and the lovely members of Pottercast. It was an awesome experience to say the least, and through theories discussed during that group, I went on to write a paper about the twin imagery in the series called "Twin Core: An Exploration of Twins in the Wizarding World." I got to present this paper this past summer at the UK's first ever Potter conference at St. Andrew's University in Scotland and at the Ascendio Potter con in Orlando. The word AMAZING doesn't even BEGIN to describe both of these experiences!! While I was in the UK, I did the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and took a train from King's Cross station at 11:00 to get up to the conference in Scotland!! Geek levels.... too high!! Total nerdgasm imminent!!! AHHHHH!!! Phew.... I have to fan myself off for a moment.... oh le sigh! ANYWAY....
You know what the most awesome part about all these experiences was?? It was getting to be surrounded by people who, like myself, happen to be muggles but lead magically informed lives. It's not just about being your run of the mill Potter fan.... it's about having a real love and enthusiasm for this work and seeing how reading it, knowing it, and learning from it can lead to a more compassionate, intelligent, socially aware life. This is so not an exaggeration! (And you know what's SOOOO obnoxious is that I can almost hear the magically uninformed rolling their eyes, even as I type this...) The Harry Potter Alliance has done such AMAZING word!!! Hungry people: FED. Injured people: MEDICALLY CARED FOR. Why?? Because Andrew Slack read Harry Potter and used the issues discussed in the series to do good for others. Geez, if that isn't an argument for Harry Potter as a vehicle for the betterment of humanity, then I don't know what is!! And if you don't know what the Harry Potter Alliance is.... go google it.... IMMEDIATELY.
I guess that's the reason for Muggles Anonymous. It's hard having these experiences surrounded by people with the same love and enthusiasm and then return to an ordinary muggle life. The awesome thing about being a member of the Potterverse is that you feel like these stories are a part of who you are. The flipside of this is that when people don't show any respect for Harry Potter, it feels like they're punching you straight in the gut. "Oh, isn't that a kids' story?" "They're about witchcraft so I don't let my kids read them." "No, I never got into those.... but I do like to read. I just finished 50 Shades of Gray." I hear phrases like this and I simultaneously want to scream, chain that person to a chair with a copy of book 1, and weep for humanity.
I firmly believe that anyone with an open heart who reads these books cannot help but see the beauty they represent. Now I know not everyone on Earth is gonna turn into Mother Teresa, but geez, if reading these books only opens people's eyes and makes them stand up for someone being bullied or maybe even just give a smile to someone you didn't think to acknowledge before, then if even in those small ways, these books have the power to change the world!
And look, I don't want this blog to just be me ranting... If you're perhaps suffering from Post Potter Depression or had someone look at you dressed up as Luna and went "Now, what are you supposed to be?".... then consider this an open forum for your frustrations... and hey, let's bring in the positive too! If you've managed to bring someone into the Wizarding World through your suggestions they read the stories, shout it out! The world is a little brighter for having another Potter fan in it!
You know what the most awesome part about all these experiences was?? It was getting to be surrounded by people who, like myself, happen to be muggles but lead magically informed lives. It's not just about being your run of the mill Potter fan.... it's about having a real love and enthusiasm for this work and seeing how reading it, knowing it, and learning from it can lead to a more compassionate, intelligent, socially aware life. This is so not an exaggeration! (And you know what's SOOOO obnoxious is that I can almost hear the magically uninformed rolling their eyes, even as I type this...) The Harry Potter Alliance has done such AMAZING word!!! Hungry people: FED. Injured people: MEDICALLY CARED FOR. Why?? Because Andrew Slack read Harry Potter and used the issues discussed in the series to do good for others. Geez, if that isn't an argument for Harry Potter as a vehicle for the betterment of humanity, then I don't know what is!! And if you don't know what the Harry Potter Alliance is.... go google it.... IMMEDIATELY.
I guess that's the reason for Muggles Anonymous. It's hard having these experiences surrounded by people with the same love and enthusiasm and then return to an ordinary muggle life. The awesome thing about being a member of the Potterverse is that you feel like these stories are a part of who you are. The flipside of this is that when people don't show any respect for Harry Potter, it feels like they're punching you straight in the gut. "Oh, isn't that a kids' story?" "They're about witchcraft so I don't let my kids read them." "No, I never got into those.... but I do like to read. I just finished 50 Shades of Gray." I hear phrases like this and I simultaneously want to scream, chain that person to a chair with a copy of book 1, and weep for humanity.
I firmly believe that anyone with an open heart who reads these books cannot help but see the beauty they represent. Now I know not everyone on Earth is gonna turn into Mother Teresa, but geez, if reading these books only opens people's eyes and makes them stand up for someone being bullied or maybe even just give a smile to someone you didn't think to acknowledge before, then if even in those small ways, these books have the power to change the world!
And look, I don't want this blog to just be me ranting... If you're perhaps suffering from Post Potter Depression or had someone look at you dressed up as Luna and went "Now, what are you supposed to be?".... then consider this an open forum for your frustrations... and hey, let's bring in the positive too! If you've managed to bring someone into the Wizarding World through your suggestions they read the stories, shout it out! The world is a little brighter for having another Potter fan in it!
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