Anime Lectio: My Dress-Up Darling Season One

                                                             1. Why do Anime Lectio? 

Anime Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I watching this anime? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace.

3. Deep Breathing

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. 

4. Open yourself to God’s Presence

Remember God places all our thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of other people you know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence.  

5. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Anime

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the anime.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me.  

Experiences in life can be transpersonal, or transformative, if you want them to be.  For example, the study of Transpersonal Psychology, which I have a Master's degree in, can be seen as the transformational study of the mind since transpersonal can also mean transformative and psychology is usually defined as a study of the mind on an individual level.  Other experiences can include, but not be limited to, cosplay and relationships, which can be seen in many ways, like in the first season of the anime series My Dress-Up Darling.  

6. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, or seeing the anime for yourself since that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

A guy who works in a shop that makes and sells hina dolls ends up helping a girl in his class with her interest in cosplay when she sees that the guy is much better at sewing than she is. While helping the girl with her first cosplay, the guy develops feelings for the girl and vice versa. After helping the girl with her first cosplay, he continues to help her with her other cosplay ideas, which includes a group cosplay with a famous cosplayer and her sister. This also helps both of them in their relationships with others, like in what they do on their own, as well as in their relationship with each other.

7.  Reflect on the anime

Has this brief and written explanation of the anime shed any light on what's been on your minds?  The following is an example of a reflection on the anime from me.

A while ago on this blog, I created a post where I posted some examples of anime research I did during graduate school in my studies of Transpersonal Psychology. In one of these anime research papers, I talk about the idea of cosplay as transpersonal based on what cosplay can be according to a professional cosplayer. I also wrote something on this blog more recently about the transpersonal aspect of relationships. Saying that these things are transpersonal means that they are, or rather can be, transformative.

8. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this anime.  The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can see all of the experiences in our lives as transpersonal, or transformative.