I've had a bit of a fascination with the peculiar for as long as I can remember. When I was a child the first distinctly bizarre thing I remember being interested in was Darth Maul from Star Wars. But maybe before that I was often drawn to media that was more unsettling and television shows that I wasn't allowed to watch. (Which, looking back, I do think was probably the right move by my parents in many cases) But as I've grown and tried to make sense of these tendencies, I think I have a better idea why. I think it has to do with perspective and imagination.

The first time I ever saw the movie Princess Mononoke I was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. In the beginning of the movie, there's a boar who has been turned into a demon. It was the first time I had ever seen something that was so foreign, so unique, that I couldn't have imagined ever thinking it up myself. It took me a while to completely internalize what I had seen, but in that moment I felt like the walls of my imagination had been expanded, and I could feel and dream bigger than I could before.

What a rush.

The feeling of your heart widening for a greater depth of emotion. Your mind expanding to see and feel shapes you hadn't thought of before. This is one of my favorite things about good (and bad) art.