Human Soup

Human soup is…well, if you ask me, even if you don’t, it’s what we are when we’re between two things, which is, kind of, always.

Human soup is the part where who we were isn’t really there anymore, and who we are becoming next hasn’t quite solidified yet.

I got a little obsessed with the fact that caterpillars don’t just like, sleep and then wake up as butterflies. They literally dissolve into a soup-like substance. Their bodies break down completely before reorganizing into something new, which is crazy. And horrifying. And…relatable.

There is an essay where I went very hard on this metaphor. At one point, it included a long, incredibly detailed aside about the “soup maker”* in Mexico. It was cut in the interest of not being gross and weird. They say kill your darlings, I guess.

I write about soup a lot.

Anyway, the point is: being soup is misunderstood and frankly, undervalued.

So there you have it.