Alice Sebold first made her name with the publication of Lovely Bones. She continued writing and published Lucky and The Almost Moon.
More posts by Donna May and more about writing, of course.
Happy Birthday
Self Knowledge
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ~Carl Jung
Another life lesson we—that is, I—have to learn over and over. Why does a friend irritate me so when she does a certain something? What is there in that that is in me? Plus, I believe that the more we learn the more difficult things become. That is, within the lessons we are to learn. Not easier in the dark to see, but more hidden and more disguised.
Did I tell you about the phone calls I used to get in my sleep? Someone would call me up to contradict a thought I’d had or a statement I’d made about my progress. I loved this and tried and tried to figure out whose voice it was. The voice was so familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. “Fear? You think you have overcome Fear? My dear, you are loaded with Fear.” Who said that? Who was calling? I knew it was my subconscious, but not the manifestation of the voice. Once I understood—it was my own voice, of course—I no longer received the calls. Damn! Too easy I guess. Growth is painful and it doesn’t happen on our timetable. It also requires work. Double Damn!
Words
Just in case there was something prior, More on words I dislike:
- Eponymous. It seems so pretentious. Why not just say what it is? The title of whatever is the same as the person I’m writing about. Well OK, in fewer words. Or maybe it just annoys me as I had to look it up so many times as I kept forgetting what it meant. The word is just plain unfriendly.
- Siblings. Hissssss. A cold word, an almost but not quite harsh word. It doesn’t sound at all like brother or sister. Maybe it’s good to use if you don’t like your family.
- Facetious. Another pretentious word. It’s rarely spoken unless it’s the only three-syllable word someone knows. And then it’s used often.
And something to note about Yeats:
- He is the only poet I’m aware of who has many poem titles longer than the poem.
- I love & adore many of his short poems. There’s none better than “When You are Old,” “The Mask,” and “A Deep-sworn Vow.” “Leda and the Swan” is so powerful it can quite make you shudder. That poem is posted in full under “Myth and Mystery” in this blog.
- Of course the Center Will Not Hold…there is no center. (This I discovered within Meditation.) Go ahead—look for your center.
And then, because there are no better words than those we receive from Rumi:
Posted by Hiral Thakkar
And thus it is I leave us for the day—to go sit on the patio, the dog and I—to watch the Thunderstorm, aye, by and by.
A View
Here’s a view from the past taken in the present. A little bit neater and cleaner than the old park walkways and fences were, and two bridges over the Mississippi river now. But I sigh a bit, and hug some past memories, and some lost time and loves.
The Mississippi river in the downtown Riverside Park. We ate our lunches there when we worked in the downtown stores. Our children played in the park and splashed in the river. Every child had to play on the cannon there. Sometimes we just went there to sit on the rocks and watch the river.
The River Queen paddle boat docked there in the summer, and we went to the Saturday night dances. There was a band and a bar (our ages didn’t matter) and we wore our formal dresses and danced with the bad boys we didn’t know and would never see again. We drank too much and had to act sober when our parents picked us up at the end of the night. It was good. We were innocent. And we were so very young then.
Needs In Time
A message to file under the “messages you get just when you need them.” I’ve gotten so tired of all the needs from every corner and all of the quarters that require tending. I’ve begun to hide the bids for my time or my money from Facebook and my in box. Especially am I tired of all the Covid news. Yes it’s important, yes we need to care, yes we need need need. I’ve done my bit but it’s never enough it seems. It’s everywhere. We can’t admire a sunset without being told it will go away if we don’t…. and …. I’ve run screaming from the metaphorical room.
Thanks, Universe. I’ll pick up again, a little at a time. Right now I’m going to practice breathing. Breathe in, Breathe out. Peace in, Love out. Life in, Death out. Tend the garden. Play the piano. Go swimming. Right now I need to tend to myself, sit on my patio amongst the flowers. Read.
Writers Ink—Writing and Stuff 