Why ‘The Witch’ Is My New Life Inspiration
When my husband and I went to see The Witch recently, I expected to feel a lot of things, mostly variations on absolute terror. I don’t handle scary movies well, and The Witch is being hailed as one of the scariest in recent years. And while that’s definitely true, I didn’t leave the theater terrorized. Instead, I left feeling inspired to live my best damn life.
How, you may be asking. How does a horror movie set in colonial New England and predicated on an entire family going slowly insane as they are stalked by an unseen nightmare lurking in the woods inspire someone? The answer lies in one simple question posed near the end: Dost thou wish to live deliciously? Think about that question and dare tell me The Witch isn’t more inspiring than Eat, Pray, Love.
When was the last time you asked if your life is delicious? Leaving the theater, I realized that I had never once asked myself that question in my 27 years on Earth. It never occurred to me that a delicious life is possible. Happy? Sure. Fulfilling? Okay. But delicious? Who am I, Marie Antoinette? But the more I thought about that line — and dear reader, I thought about it non-stop for a straight 48 hours — I came to understand that a life lived deliciously is really all anyone could ask for.
Women unabashedly chasing their own delicious indulgences is still seen as taboo.
Of course, there are a lot of things in The Witch that are not necessarily all that delicious, like driving 17th century Puritans insane or blighting the crops of isolated farmers. That’s very rude, and rudeness is not the key to deliciousness. Deliciousness is about asking yourself what adds that extra zest to life and leaning into it. Unless that zest comes from taking bad advice from goats. Don’t lean into that at all.
It’s telling that, in the context of the film, women living their lives deliciously is the ultimate nightmare for the Puritans. Women who “like the taste of butter” and want “pretty dresses” bucked the minimalist, shame filled lives laid out for them by giving into indulgence and pleasure without guilt. Although a few centuries have passed since the 1600s, women unabashedly chasing their own delicious indulgences is still seen as taboo. Whether they are indulging in sex or food or fine clothing, women are shamed to this day, as sluts or gluttons or selfish. Although the world of teen Puritan Thomasin may feel light years away, in practice we haven’t come so far that we should be breaking our arms patting ourselves on the back.
Think of living deliciously as the boss bitch answer to the KonMari method.
To live deliciously doesn’t mean to swing full bore towards the other, extreme end of the indulgence spectrum. Living deliciously can be as simple as slowing down on a walk, or sleeping in an extra hour, or taking yourself out for wine and oysters. Deliciousness, in life as in food, shifts meaning from person to person. What’s delicious for me (hazelnut lattes and lemon tarts, for example) may not be delicious for you, and that’s okay. Together we can create a varied bouquet of deliciousness, a rainbow of delights that reflect the many ways women can give into their more delicious side.
Let’s not be coy: Living deliciously is about more than just self-care. Do you think a badass group of naked witches in the woods would turn to each other and say, “Really, Brenda, you have to take care of yourself. Do some self-care, and then come back to our fire dance when you’re ready?” Hell no. That sauce is too weak to be delicious.
Think of living deliciously as the boss bitch answer to the KonMari method, but a million times better because delicious living is better than minimalist living or uncluttered living or whatever is it that KonMari is about, I don’t know because I haven’t actually read that book. Look at the things in your life and ask if they are delicious. Is work delicious? Is your food delicious? Is your cardigan delicious? If the answer is no, make it delicious. And just like that, you’re living the delicious life and you didn’t even have to sign a goat’s autograph book!
In 2016, as we head into the most delicious spring and summer, I’m taking a page from The Witch. Yes, I do like the taste of butter. Hell yeah, I want a pretty dress. Absolutely, I want to see the world. And hands down, without question, I want to live deliciously.
