Why Outlander is NOT a Bodice Ripper
When people call Outlander a bodice ripper, I know they don't know what they're talking about, but GAH! It makes me want to rip out my hair. And yet, the effectJamie has on us is real, valid, AND telling us important things. Let's talk about the King of Men. And take my quiz, 'What gift does the story of Outlander want to give you?" www.jennywellsreads.com/quiz-1
Why We Need Alchemy in Our Life, Too - A Reaction to Discovery of Witches 103
Have you discovered this story, yet? Discovering a good story helps us live a good story.
It begins with absence and desire. Even for you. What can be YOUR magic in plain sight? You need alchemy, too.
How Fiction Like Outlander Can Give You Comfort When You're Suffering
Many of us who love Outlander have experienced loss, like Claire, or even torture in some form, like Jamie. Where is the comfort? Claire’s journey of “Faith” can help, maybe even better than a traditional book about grief.
How the Story of Outlander Can Help You Feel those Jamie Fraser Feelings
Jamie from #Outlander gives me feelings. I think that's true for most of you, too. Let's talk about what to do with them.
How Diana Gabaldon Can Help Release You to Try Something New
Diana Gabaldon is such an inspirational example of how we can try something new, no matter our age or stage. How are the stones calling to you to try something new?
My apologies! The first 90 seconds I forgot to look at the correct camera! Start there if you want the full affect.
How the Story of Outlander Can Help YOUR Complicated Family
Families are complicated. Jamie Fraser knows this well. How can we bring some of Jamie to our complicated families? Let's talk about it.
The Story of Outlander Can Help Release You to Remember: What I Wish I Could Tell the Writers
Remember who you are.
The story of Outlander wants to help release you to remember. How I wish Toni Graphia, Matthew B. Roberts, and Maril Davis would watch this! What do you wish you could tell the writers and producers about Outlander Season 4's finale?
The Story of Outlander Can Help Release You From Feeling Like You Have No Choice
Yes, Jamie. Like you told Bree, freedom is hard won. I wonder what kind of freedom Father Alexandre could of had in Episode 12 of Season 4?
Yes, Jamie. Like you told Bree, freedom is hard won. I wonder what kind of freedom Father Alexandre could of had in Episode 12 of Season 4? I wonder what advice Jamie might have given Father Alexandre instead of the advice Father Alexandre got from Roger. What do you think?
Father Alexandre felt like he had no choice but to go to the pyre because he couldn’t in good conscience baptize his own child. I have SO many thoughts about his theology. But for the sake of this discussion, I will share that I believe Father Alexandre did have a choice, he just didn’t know it. If only he had met Jamie Fraser in that idiot hut.
The name of this episode was “Providence”. The Lord will provide. What did “the Lord” provide Father Alexandre? From the Father’s perspective, God only provided abandonment and a tortuous death. What a tragedy!
What I believe the Father didn’t understand is that we cannot be independent from others. Our decisions and choices affect others and are based in love or something much more sinister (Stephen Bonnet and Black Jack, anyone?). Father Alexandre believed God would punish him so severely it would separate him from the woman he loved and the child he made with her unto death.
The key to a life of love is to live interdependently with one another. We cannot grasp for love or ignore it. Being connected to one another requires vulnerability and commitment. It also requires understanding we cannot change them against their will. The chances of pain are very high even when we love one another well.
But it’s not that kind of pain Father Alexandre thinks he is being punished with. And it’s not the pain Roger is living with, though Roger at least has a chance still. Roger doesn’t understand interdependence yet, either He has grasped for, chased, and lashed out in anger at Bree. He has not shown her his vulnerability yet and taken the chance she will love him anyway. He can’t yet receive the gift of Bree. He is still dependent on her being something else to him than what she’s been able to give him so far. This is what unhealthy dependence vs. interdependence in relationships can look like.
The priest believed he had to live out his faith all by himself and without God’s help. He prayed for freedom from his desire for the woman he loved. His prayer wasn’t answered the way he thought it had to be. If only he could have believed in a God of relationship and connection!
The God of relationship and connection is the god Jamie believes in. I’m reminded of the season finale of Season 2 when Jamie and Claire say goodbye at the stones. From Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon:
“I will find you," he whispered in my ear. "I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you - then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest."
His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper, and his arms tightened around me.
Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.”
I think Jamie, even as a Papist who understands the vow of celibacy for priests, would have told the priest that he cannot live out his faith on his own. God helps those that help themselves? No. Instead God does send us one another for love, help, and connection.
We always have a choice, even you, Father Alexandre. What could your choice of love been?
Discovering a good story helps us live a good story. Outlander has changed you and me. Can the magic of Outlander be more than a fantasy? Yes. When we pay attention to the emotions Outlander stirs in us, we can see reflections of our own stories. Our stories are still being written. What can your story be?
If you’re not sure what gift the story of Outlander wants to give you, take the quiz! Then let me know in the comments if you resonate with your result.
Dinna Fash, Sassenach. “The Lord” will provide. It just might not look like you might think.
The Story of Outlander Can Release You to Live Fully Awake.
Let's talk about Claire living her best life despite hardships in "Savages", Episode 5 of Season 4 of Outlander.
What would it take for YOU to live fully awake?
Discovering a good story helps us live a good story. Has a story “changed your life”? Let’s get specific.
Let's talk about Claire living her best life despite hardships in "Savages", Episode 5 of Season 4 of Outlander.
What would it take for YOU to live fully awake?
Discovering a good story helps us live a good story. Has a story “changed your life”? Let’s get specific.
The Story of Outlander Can Release Us to the Healing Power of Beauty
Let's talk about the beauty that the creators of the Outlander show, like Terry Dresbach (costumes) and Jon Gary Steele (Set Design) and Bear McCreary (Music Score) give us and why it matters.
Let's talk about the beauty that the creators of the Outlander show, like Terry Dresbach (costumes), Jon Gary Steele (Set Design) and Bear McCreary (Music Score) give us and why it matters.
The Story of Outlander Can Help Release You to be Your Own Master
In Season 4 Episode 3 of Outlander, Jamie, Ian, and Bree all decide to be their own master. Discovering a good story helps you live a good story. Let's intersect the story you love with the life you want to live.
In Season 4 Episode 3 of Outlander, Jamie, Ian, and Bree all decide to be their own master. Discovering a good story helps you live a good story. Let's intersect the story you love with the life you want to live.
The Story of Outlander Can Release You from Having to be Right.
What angle can I share about Episode 2 Season 4 and the themes of slavery as a middle aged white woman, as someone who adores Outlander? Here you go.
What angle can I share about Episode 2 Season 4 and the themes of slavery as a middle aged white woman, as someone who adores Outlander? Here you go.
The Story of Outlander Can Release You to Forgive.
So much forgiveness needed in Episode 8 of Season 3. Even though it was one of my favorites from Season 3, I even had to forgive the writers!
Outlander Can Release You to Fight For What You Believe In. Even the "Lost Causes".
Reader and Friend, the story of Outlander can release you to fight for what you believe in, even when it feels like a lost cause. Video’s focus: “Prestonpans” Episode 10 from Season 2.
Outlander Can Release You to Experience Comfort
There's so much that we could talk about from Episode 7 of Season 2, “Faith”.
Outlander Can Release Us to Always Hope
Can those of us who face the dark know hope better than those of us who try to ignore it? I truly think so.
Outlander Can Release Us From FOMO
Feelings of missing out during Outlander Live Events are real. What were yours? What could we do with those feelings? How could we use those feelings to help us experience more?
Outlander Can Release Us To Return "Home" Well
Let's talk about Jamie's return to Lallybroch in Episode 1.12.