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Danica Swanson
@danicaswanson
Time for a re-intro. I'm a GenX writer, eldergoth, senior editor, and music journalist. I've lived solo in a studio in Portland, OR for 16 years. I was born in NW Illinois but grew up in Honolulu, Hawai'i. I'm long-divorced, feminist, queer-identified, and have no kids or pets. My life pretty much revolves around reading, writing, learning, music, home decorating, and religion. I'm basically a monastic without a monastery. The majority of my interests probably qualify as niche. Here are some interests I’ve rarely casted about, but would gladly do so more often in the right contexts + cozy corners. - gift economy and culture - dark ambient music - "shop talk" for professional editors - cottages and tiny homes - goth home decor - darkness retreats/meditation - car-free living - dance (especially bellydance) - subterranea (basements, caves, etc.) - right-to-die movements - my Swedish + German ancestry and family history - monasticism in modern polytheistic religion - philosophy of work and leisure
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Daniel McGlynn
@danielmcglynn
Very cool, I especially liked this: "I'm basically a monastic without a monastery."
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Danica Swanson
@danicaswanson
Thanks. It's true! In fact, for a brief window of time I wrote a column called "Monastic Without a Monastery." Perhaps I'll revive it someday. I've actually been trying to bootstrap an IRL monastery for many years. I've long wished I could live even more like a monastic than I already do. My habits already fit the bill. I don't smoke, drink alcohol, or watch TV, for example. Never wanted to be a parent. And I often wear long black abayas, head wraps, and "nun shoes." In my youth I was the opposite of the nun archetype, so people who meet me today sometimes have a hard time believing the stories I tell about my "adventurous" youth... lol. But I've always enjoyed reading, writing, and solitude.
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TrishD
@trishd
Was the column on one of your former places on the web like Substack or for a Pagan publication, etc.?
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Danica Swanson
@danicaswanson
Originally the column was planned to launch during the time when I was writing for a short-lived site called Pagan Bloggers (which started as an alternative to Patheos Pagan). But none of the columns actually got published before the site shut down. So I shelved the idea and figured I'd take it up again elsewhere someday.
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