Why You Should Care About Creative Nonfiction

In 1909, G. K. Chesterton published a short piece of writing in which he rails against philosophers or agents of productivity who cast judgement upon those who like to lay in bed. As a weary junior, I myself must confess that I enjoy the occasional midafternoon nap. However, each time I allow my weary eyes to close during the day, I wake up with overwhelming guilt for the time I wasted not being productive. If you are not familiar with Chesterton, he was an English author, philosopher, and comedic essay-writer. For the purposes of this article, we will use him as an example of a superb author of creative nonfiction.

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Creation and Stewardship of the Small Things

Coming to Covenant has reignited my interest in tiny critters, particularly insects. I would go look around at night to find moths flying around in the Mills stairwell and around the chapel building. I was always fascinated by them, but never got the chance to find any in the dense urban city that is Jakarta, where I’m from in Indonesia. This felt like the first opportunity I’ve had to witness how beautiful God’s creation is in all its glory, but it also brought me to introspection. How come I’ve only started to appreciate creation now? Has everything around me for every day that I’ve lived not come from God?

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Processing Grief

This feels vulnerable to write, but now that I have my name on a chapel slide about grief the secret is out: I am co-leading a grief group on campus. How I ended up here is a long story, but it involves the sudden and traumatic death of a close friend of mine during my senior year of highschool. Her death was excruciating — the reactions, words, and lack of support by those around me (especially those who were supposed to care) made the pain worse.

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Community is Hard, Community is Beautiful

While preparing to come to Covenant, I heard a lot about the community. So, when I came in, wide-eyed and innocent, I expected it to be something that just happened. It quickly became apparent that this would not be the case. I found myself alone in my room even at times when I wanted to be around others. I knew there were people around, but I didn’t know how to reach out to them. Because I’d heard so much about Covenant’s community, I hadn’t really considered I’d have to.

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Representation Matters

Earlier this year, Warner Brothers announced that they were currently developing a new Superman movie for the DC Cinematic Universe. JJ Abrams is set to produce it, and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is also on board. This new film would replace Henry Cavill, who has been the latest actor to portray the character since his 2013 debut in Man of Steel. It’s ‘rumored’ that the new film will take a turn from the original comic storyline, and change some things to make the story feel more ‘modern.’ One of the biggest changes that WB announced was that the famous Clark Kent would now be black.

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Frog and Frog: Why Toads Don't Exist

Toads are a fairytale used by parents to frighten their children into obedience. They are used to conjure up images of an evil witch threatening to turn you into a toad. Now, at this point, you might be thinking: but, of course toads are real! You probably even think that you have seen a toad before, maybe even touched one. But let me tell you why you’re wrong.

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Dancing with the Stars

Let me begin by saying this — what I’m about to share with you is the future of modern music experience. Imagine a world without expensive tickets, near death mosh pit encounters, nosebleed seats, or volume that is too loud (or too quiet). Imagine a world where you can dance with the stars.

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Disabled Is Not a Bad Word

Last month, I wrote an article for The Bagpipe about ableism (defined as discrimination in favor of able-bodied people) in Hollywood and the negative affects of a movie released that supposedly had a positive review from autistic people (Sia’s movie “Music”). My experience of writing this article was a mediocre one—I enjoyed doing the research and speaking to other autistic people about what they believed about the movie, but after the release of the article in The Bagpipe, I had people come and discuss the article with me.

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Thoughts on Modesty

Modesty is a topic that immediately gets people wary and ready to be offended, especially women and girls. This topic has so often been used as a way to belittle and objectify women and often is tied to purity culture that sees purity solely in sexual terms, which I am sure most of us already know is fairly toxic, and does not follow the more holistic Biblical understanding of purity.


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