Faith, Fashion and Fantasy with Molly

After months of rattling around my desktop, waiting eagerly to be completed and published, this post is finally ready to share!

This is another one of my attempts to transpose a recorded interview into a blog post that is legible and not 100 paragraphs long, so you are reading the highly condensed CliffsNotes version of our conversation. Nevertheless, you get prime insight into one of my absolute favorite human beings and her dazzling mind. My darling, radiant gem of a friend, Molly, agreed to be interviewed about her favorite topics—faith, fashion and fantasy!

Do those three topics sound completely independent of each other, like there could be no thread of connection between them? Think again! Or rather, read on to see how Molly weaves these three “F’s” together with a seamless connection.

Faith

Molly wanted to talk about the first “f”—faith—before anything else. For Molly, her faith in defines who she is and impacts the way she views everything else in life. I asked her to elaborate a little bit on what that meant, and she enthusiastically explained why she believes why she does. After growing up and not exactly knowing what sort of beliefs would hold against the difficulties, unpredictabilities and complexities of life, she firmly came to the realization that nothing less than an all-sufficient savior would do.

Molly spent years wrestling through what it meant to believe in Christ and put much effort into seeking out mentors and resources that would help her truly come to understand who Jesus is and what that actually means for her. She didn’t want to simply believe certain things because her parents did or because that’s how she was raised—she wanted to come to a conclusion herself of what was true. As a result of such deep, personal seeking, Molly developed a flaming passion for Bible study, spent a season in college ministry, and presently leads a women’s Bible studies. Sharing her love of God’s word with other women is one of her priorities and greatest joys, and she truly longs for those around her to find that same delight.

Molly especially loves finding more creative, multi-sensory and non-conventional ways to soak in Scripture and commune with God. One of my favorite ways she does this is through her spiritual scrapbook, where she artistically and poetically documents her journeys with God each year. Her scrapbook is raw and includes both the joys and hardships that life brings yet still documenting how God is faithfully leading her through the whole way.

Fashion

Anyone who knows Molly can attest to one very true thing—where Molly is, there color is also.

And I don’t mean just metaphorically (although she does have a vibrant, colorful soul if I ever saw one). I mean this quite literally. Molly’s usually bright and bold outfits stand out among the crowd.

You see, Molly will be the first to tell you that she was a late bloomer in her love for fashion. She admits that she never appreciated or cared about fashion one bit throughout her teenage and college years—thinking it was frivolous, impractical and altogether irrelevant to her life. This is shocking for me to think about, as I have never known her to be anything but colorfully and stylishly adorned. Which led me to eagerly ask what changed.

It’s a fascinating story actually—Molly confesses how she didn’t start to get into fashion until working at a boutique during the long years of recovering from chronic illness. She initially got the job to pay a little cash and give her a little time to get out of the house, but didn’t realize the way it would forever change her life. Suddenly color, pattern, texture and shine began to intrigue Molly in new ways as she began to see how these elements could be a real avenue to express herself. Even though her life was still so uncertain and laden with difficulties, she began to see fashion as an opportunity to communicate and celebrate the inner hope and confidence she still harbored in Christ deep down, despite all of the hardships.

While she always had a passion for design and the history of topics in that category, she began to learn more about the psychology behind trends, colors and styles. She began to explore thrift stores and mix styles and was courageous enough to wear whatever she wanted! Because it wasn’t about impressing others or drawing attention to herself or compensating for insecurities—it was about celebrating life and expressing her inner feelings and characteristics in a new way.

Molly explained how putting together a fun, colorful and vibrant outfit, even just to run a simple errand, can lift her mood, confidence and give her a true sense of joy. She strongly advocates that fashion can have many layers, from more shallow and silly to deeper and more revealing of the state of one’s heart. Putting thought and creativity into an outfit can really showcase confidence and self-respect, even if it’s only for ourselves. Molly earnestly believes that experimenting and stretching beyond the comfort zone in our wardrobes can bring such freedom, energy and joy to our days and communicate inner confidence and vibrancy to others.

Of course following this insight I had a few burning follow up questions for her. Such as, what would she say to someone who dismisses fashion as superficial or unimportant or frivolous? And how would she encourage someone who wants to experiment more with their personal style but is on a budget or doesn’t know where to start?

Molly empathizes with people who don’t see the value. But she firmly believes that the choice to start getting creative and exploring, step at a time, can really lead to more joy and fulfillment in life and is worth experimenting with. For her, such experimenting was a huge step in taking ownership of her personal identity.

As for those who want to explore and take better care of their wardrobe but don’t know where to start, Molly advises thrifting as a great first step. She explains how thrifting is not only inexpensive, low-risk and full of great options, but is also good for the environment, as recycling used clothing keeps it from being dumped into landfills.

And now you are probably waiting to see the faith connection here. You see, Molly explains how her faith, and the security it brings, gives her the confidence to express herself creatively as an act of gratitude, joy and celebration. My favorite quote: “Fashion is a way to celebrate life every day.”

Fantasy

And now for my personal favorite topic to discuss—fantasy. I realize this topic is rather broad. I asked Molly to narrow in on the particular types of fantasy that tickle her fancy. She is a huge fan of any type of fantasy that helps her escape into another world.

She particularly loves the local theatre—how humans portray emotions, stories and various aspects of the human experience in such a raw, unedited way. Molly frequents local theaters and really appreciates creative and unconventional adaptations of shows that allow her to escape from daily life and her own personal experience for that time.

Of course fantasy has many outlets and another of Molly’s favorite avenues for fantasy is….drumroll…Dungeons and Dragons! As a natural world-builder and imaginative genius, Molly relishes the opportunity to bring these make believe, fantastical worlds to life with those she loves most. She explains D&D as a great way to participate in terrains that only the imagination can create. While I’ve never played the game, I have to admit that she makes quite a compelling case for giving it a try!

At the end of the day, Molly credits her love of fantasy—whether that’s theater performances or diving into crazy worlds with her friends—as a way to remember that this life is not all there is. She is firmly convinced that our imaginations, which find so much energy and joy from conceiving ideas and lifestyles that transcend our modern life, reveal the innate understanding that eternity has indeed been stamped within our hearts by a transcendent and imaginative Creator.

In Conclusion

I absolutely love discussing all of these ideas with Molly. From playing grown-up dress up in funky outfits, to discussing Greek mythology retellings and crazy make-believe worlds from our dreams, I find that we are able to practically and spiritually encourage each other far more than one would guess. She is constantly challenging me to channel my creative side and allow my faith to penetrate even the most seemingly frivolous of my passions.

I hope you enjoyed glimpsing a little bit into her heart and mind and are feeling motivated to get a little more adventurous with your wardrobe and imagination!