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the writer as pilgrim

Two articles leapt at my consciousness this week, both about writing. And suddenly, I know how to go forward from here.

The first, The Price I Pay to Write, by Laura Bogart and published online in Dame Magazine, reflects on the difficulties of wedging time to write within the framework of days fraught with other responsibilities having to do with caring for children, putting food on the table, and - oh yeah - doing the work you actually get paid to do.

The second, about Annie Dillard and entitled The Thoreau of the Suburbs, by Diana Saverin, didn't so much tell me things about the author's experiences in writing a Pulitzer-winning nonfiction work in her twenties as it revealed something of what I already knew. (The Dillard's home is well known to us in the Hollins community, and while it surprised me for an instant to see the somewhat nondescript brick ranch just over the little bridge where she lived while working on the book, it didn't really register what a marvelous feat of alchemy she had performed in getting most of us to believe she lived alone in the woods while writing.) As Saverin points out, it's what she left out that instills in us the knowledge of her experience. And isn't that what we're told in writing class - omit that which doesn't contribute to the story, and therefore does not need to be included? Trim, trim, and cut and trim again, until we have the fine, distilled essence of truth.

No one is ever going to know - or care, really - that you went to the grocery store, had two kids in college, and worked a rather boring but remunerative nine-to-five while crafting your massive, awesome book. Can you tell that this frightening yet exhilarating treatise on fecundity was penned while living an ordinary life in a city of about 100,000 people? No? Moreover, does it matter - does it make it any less powerful and interesting? Well, then.

Sometimes things are so subtle I miss them the first - and second and even third - times.

But here it is: you don't have to change your life to write. You just need to do it. Do it when you might otherwise be watching a movie, reading a novel, cleaning off the staircase and putting laundry away. Those things will wait, at least until tomorrow. Today, we can write. A friend noted recently that if you write only 250 words a day by the end of a year you will have 90,000 words - a decent body of writing in anyone's world. And from thence you can whittle and shape and re-arrange, much easier now through cutting and pasting than in the days before word processors when Dillard used index cards.

In these few stolen moments between phone calls I've made tea and written nearly 500 words. By the time this is done it will be closer to six hundred. This is what is called progress. Exercise the fingers, broaden the links between mind and word and screen (or paper, if you prefer). No one is picking up the tab, nobody's awarding us an honorarium for letters, and there's no housekeeper to answer the phone or the door. But we can keep going, we keep writing and we end up with words - words for tomorrow, next week, and the week after - and as they accumulate they turn from sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into essays, stories, and yes, even novels. Or nonfiction - truth, if you will - distilled from life.

Bravo! Now keep going!

Poetry Monday: The Author to Her Book

The Author to Her Book

Source: Clements Library Chronicles

Anne Bradstreet

	THOU ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
	Who after birth didst by my side remain
	Till snatched from thence by friends less wise than true
	Who thee abroad exposed to public view,
	Made thee, in rags, halting, to the press to trudge,
	Where errors were not lessened, all may judge,
	At thy return my blushing was not small,
	My rambling brat—in print—should mother call.
	I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
	Thy visage was so irksome in my sight;
	Yet being mine own, at length affection would
	Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.
	I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
	And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
	I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
	Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet.
	In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
	But naught save homespun cloth i’ th’ house I find.
	In this array ’mongst vulgars mayst thou roam,
	In critics’ hands beware thou dost not come,
	And take thy way where yet thou art not known.
	If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
	And for thy mother, she, alas, is poor,
	Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

Source:
Colonial Prose and Poetry
Edited by William P. Trent and Benjamin W. Wells
The 57 writers in these three volumes spanning more than a century and a half represent the literary and cultural trends in Colonial North America—from the confrontation with the American Indians to Puritan life to opposition to slavery. 
NEW YORK: THOMAS Y. CROWELL & Co., 1901 
NEW YORK: BARTLEBY.COM, 2010

In the earlier period men lived earnestly if not largely, they thought highly if not broadly, they felt nobly if not always with magnanimity.—Preface  Trent and Wells

Review: Blue Camellia

Blue Camellia by Frances Parkinson Keyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing work, a story so skillfully crafted that its social anachronisms seem charming and quite forgiveable in the context of their time. Powerful and based loosely on historical facts, the story of a woman who found her own way in life and carved a niche for herself that, instead of rejecting family and society, carefully selected the finest yields and stoutest promise, enfolded a heart full of love and wisdom with the best portions of her heritage and fortune to triumph over her personal nightmarish tragedy and make a life well lived.

View all my reviews

Review: Garden Styles by Kathleen S Dickason

Garden Styles by Kathleen S Dickason
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully illustrated book with many creative ideas, this is more than just a book with which to relax and dream about your next garden project. It's a definitive guide to choosing plants and arranging them for viability in your landscape. Contains reference tables on hundreds of landscape plants with complete descriptions and suggestions for using them to their best advantage. Profuse colorful illustrations of many types of gardens show the range of selected plants during all stages of growth, from young gardens through established mature ones. One of my favorite garden reference and inspiration books.

View all my reviews

5 Things that Make a Difference in a Later Career Job Search

This is the season for career moves - it's the end of the fiscal year, and companies are re-formulating business plans, testing the investment waters, and placing ads for new hires.  At the same time, individuals often look for jobs over the summer while the children are out of school, and present work demands may be slow while co-workers go on vacation.  What makes an experienced person a better choice than someone younger and perhaps more open to being molded into the employee a company is looking for?  Here are five things I've found really help to keep in mind when putting together letters of interest and polishing up your resume or vita in preparation for getting an interview for the position you really want.  These can make you stand out in a crowd of job seekers, and help you land that next important job offer:

1.  Delete all references to years over a decade.  If you wanna impress with length of time spent in a field or doing a certain skill, just say "over a decade."  Unfortunately people in positions to hire you won't be impressed if you're approaching 50, no matter how awesome you are. Fifty means higher health insurance premiums for them, possibly more sick days, and stuck-in-the-mud work habits, not to mention the all-too-real fear that older people are not as adaptable or as flexible as younger people are.  Whether or not any of this applies to you or even to 40-somethings in general, the perception is strong enough to make it logical and even smart to get them to "look the other way" and focus on why these skills make you an excellent choice, which has everything to do with your abilities, and absolutely nothing to do with how long you've been doing something.  Make them think you're in your 30s, and they'll immediately believe you are on top of things because you're clever, not because you've been doing the same thing for decades, which can just translate into "it took me this long to figure things out," not "I'm sassy and smart."

2.  Get what you want to say on paper by making a draft letter of interest that can be tailored to specific job inquiries.  State what you do and why you want the job.  Tweaking should include making the person who reads this believe you are the person they've been looking for, they just honestly didn't know you are out there.  Change that by re-stating anything with the word "if," "might," "should," or similar perhaps-words to "does," "can," and "do."  The meaning is, you're doing what they want and you're the answer to their prayers, not you and that company might be a good fit.

3.  I wouldn't state outright that you've googled them, which is what they'll think if you say, "I've looked at your website and your company Facebook profile." That should be implicit without stating it.  Just say, "Having familiarized myself with your products and services, here is what I can do for you."  Let them think you've read all their wonderful advertising, and are blown away by their wicked skilz.

4.  Link up what they do to what you do.  Like this:  "Your service X dovetails nicely with my experience Y.  We should totally hook up."  Of course you want to not say it in ValleySpeak, but you get the idea.

5.  State things you really want to happen as if they're already true, because hai, they are (or certainly should be).  Example:  Instead of "I'm looking for ways to blend art and music into my graphic arts/administrative professional type career," try saying "I combine my passion for art and music into everything I do.  It keeps me tuned to the importance of communication and creativity when dealing with clients, and makes me keenly aware of nuances that others may miss."  See?  They'll wonder how they got by without you.

This way you're more likely to have multiple job offers so that you can choose the one you like best.

I'll write more later, but chew on these for a bit and let me know what questions bubble to the surface.

Finally:  REMEMBER YOU ARE AWESOME AND THAT YOU'RE ALMOST ANYBODY'S DREAM COME TRUE.  You just need to find the Anybody(s) who is/are YOUR dreams come true!

Staying Connected

Justine Musk, a novelist who blogs about the creative process, wrote this very helpful article recently about developing your creative process. When I find the words difficult to write, even thoughts difficult to form, images and music often get me going again, if I'll take the time to tap into them.

Then there are the times when I've creative thoughts aplenty, but no time to set them down. Sometimes I leave myself little notes, or record a memo in my cell phone in an attempt at capturing the impetus while it's fresh, hopefully to preserve it so that it may be applied later. Sometimes this works, other times the fragments mystify me.

Winter is a time when activity slows, when thoughts range over our personal histories, experiences, and we often feel compelled to examine wants and needs. Often these produce something wonderful which presses through the outlet of our mind onto paper or screen. When we capture something whole from within ourselves and share it with the world it is a re-affirmation of the whole experience of living, a reconnection of the mundane with the divine spice of creativity itself.

Enter your inner world with a candle lit against the dark, humming a tune you love, and watch the shadows lift as the prisms catch the beautiful wonder of your own mind. Be at peace, reflect, teach your soul to dance.

21 Things I Learned from Lorelai Gilmore

1. There are very few pains that cannot be cured with a liberal application of Rocky Road ice cream, eyeliner, and martinis.
2. You can run from your troubles, but eventually you’ll run back. Otherwise you’ll never get over them.
3. Laughter is the best medicine.
4. Real love never ends.
5. Good things only get better. Sometimes this happens when you’re not looking.
6. Celebrate birthdays, weddings, and the life of your neighbor’s cat with the same warmth and enthusiasm.
7. The first snowfall of the season is a living, breathing, sacred thing. No matter when it happens, go outside and greet it with effusive joy.
8. Your first duty is to your children. Everything else can wait.
9. Even weirdo freaks have souls.
10. Coffee is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Beer runs a close second. Sorry, Ben.
11. Say you’re sorry as soon as you can, and mean it.
12. Wait. Time heals all wounds.
13. Show up. Look smashing.
14. Be yourself. No one else can pull it off.
15. Appreciate everyone, including obnoxious picky French men, gossipy busybodies, aging drama queens, control freaks with bad toupees, and grouchy hermits. If nothing else they keep life interesting and amusing, and sometimes they are exactly the right person for something very special.
16. Never underestimate the inexpressible importance of the perfect shoes, scarves, and handbags. Also, Hello Kitty. Pink sweaters with ruffles and flowers. Black mini skirts. Tulle. Skinny jeans. And pearls.
17. Movie nights are for eating, philosophy and social commentary. In that order.
18. Your first love will always be special. Your first real love even more so.
19. There are a lot of amazing female role models. After you’ve followed their example for awhile, be one.
20. Take others much more seriously than you take yourself.
21. Read. Often, or not. There’s a lot to be learned from books. But if you don’t read, surround yourself with people who do. Some of that wisdom will rub off.

Humility and a Secure Future

Reading "God Never Blinks." Regina Brett has so much to offer to a world down on its luck, seemingly running out of time, with so much to worry about. With plans scattered like so many specks of dust to places invisible, it's much too easy to forget our basis for faith, and how to reach out and hold on to what has kept us going in the past. Taking one more step forward sometimes feels too damned hard, and hardly worth it. After all, why wake up to one more day of struggle? Isn't it better to just roll over and hit the snooze button? "Forget about life for awhile"?

Why yes, actually. Sometimes that's exactly what we should do.



Life of Agony reminds us exactly what it's like to be worn out and in dire need of escape, maybe with a bit more of an edge than Billy Joel did, but the message is the same. Sometimes we do need to just get it all out in order to forget how bad it all is. And that's okay. But after that, there's something else that's the spiritual and emotional equivalent of clearing the air so we can breathe again.

It's called forgiveness.

Ms. Brett has a bumper sticker that says, "God Bless the Whole World. No Exceptions." She goes on to tell us "Forgive Everybody Everything." I can vouch for the goodness in that. There is nothing anyone's done to me that's worth the spiritual and emotional turmoil of holding a grudge. Nobody's worth eating up my liver over. Nobody gets to be that powerful over me and my life, and as far as I know, nobody really wants to be.

This is not to say nobody's mistreated me. Far from it. Like a lot of people, I'm one of the "walking wounded." But you know what? That just means I've learned a few things. It doesn't mean anyone owes me anything. That honor belongs to - you guessed it - just me.

For about five minutes, it does me good to get angry and rant and spout out all the venom and bile that some peoples' actions incite. But after that, it's good to just put all that away and move on, looking around to see the good things that are still surrounding my world and reminding me that it's never too late to put down that burden and step forward into the light. In fact, if I don't, it's just going to get heavier and heavier the longer I forget to do so.

"Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past. At first that sounds harsh, but once you let go of what you wanted the past to be, you can start changing the present and create a better future," Ms. Brett writes in Lesson 28. Well, duh. Why didn't I figure that out already? Sometimes we need people to point out the obvious, so we can clear the smudges from our eyes and actually see what we're looking at. You can't move beyond something, or stop being a victim, until you stop calling yourself a loser, and take back your own power over situations. Forgive, and then forget. Choose life, and remove yourself from that pain. Put it down. Let it go.

Here's a gem of real value, and I'm putting it here where I'll remember to come back and read it from time to time:

Humility is perpetual quietness of heart.
It is to have no trouble.
It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me.
It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and about is seeming trouble.
--Dr. Bob, co-founder of AA and the Twelve-Step Program

Well then. Today is my lucky day. Yours, too! Go out there and forgive somebody. And then treat yourself to a big slice of that pie called Life. There's very little you can do that will more strongly ensure control of your own destiny. And what's more secure than that?

eyeing the soapbox

you all know i am not a pundit. i do not run my mouth (or my fingers) very much about politics. i can't predict the immediate future, only basic trends over time. so i'm never very much good at saying anything useful about mundane things like political primaries.

but after yesterday, i just have to say: YOU GO, GIRL. Here are the numbers. for the first time, we are sending a woman to the convention who has an actual chance of making it.

this is important.

our society has a history of squashing women who do not fit the mold we make for them. hilary, unfortunately, too often for my taste DOES fit that mold. she's a tough, unyielding bitch. good for her. we made her that way. but you know what makes me happiest, and makes me really feel good about liking her?

she didn't forget how to feel, when it mattered. thank you, mrs. clinton, for NOT being too big to cry. you had me worried there for a bit, i was sure you were too much one of the boys to remember how to find your own feelings. here's a hug, and a pat on the back.

congratulations, you earned it.

the unbroken circle

my sister sent the above picture to me with a reminder of how we really don't need to wear makeup.... and neither did she (who happens to be the wife of artist andrea del sarto, c. 1513 or so). don't you love the gentle way her head is crowned?

saw a fascinating movie the other night: 'iron jawed angels,' about the work of suffragettes and how women finally obtained the right to vote in america (after england and several other european nations had granted it decades before). highly recommended --and great hats!

another fascinating woman, recently the subject of a documentary on the sc public tv network: eleanor roosevelt. i was lucky enough to visit valkyll in hyde park, ny during the time it was being restored in the early 1980s. need to remember her lessons. i had always thought of her as rather dowdy but from all the original reels of news footage & photographs, that just isn't so. very often she was the only gracefully dressed person in the room, a veritable orchid surrounded by drab mens' suits. she also had some wonderful chapeaux.... whatever happened to us, that we don't dress completely anymore?

past precedents

Today through Saturday I have the unique opportunity to assist as a docent and guide at the re-enactment of the raids of Gen. Edward Potter at Spring Hill, near Stateburg (Sumter), South Carolina. Dr. David Decker, professor of history at USC-Sumter (SC), has over the past two years done a remarkable amount of work in preparation for the first re-enactment of the late April 1865 skirmishes between confederate and yankee around the Stateburg area.

Overview of Events this week for schools and the public:

http://www.uscsu.sc.edu/special/pottersraid.shtml

Official Potter's Raid Site:

www.pottersraid.com

In my own preparation for this event I have been brushing up my rusty knowledge of the roles that southern women played both before and during the War. Some recommended resources:

Books containing a significant amount of primary resources reprinted from journals, diaries, letters and period articles:

The War the Women Lived: Female Voices from the Confederate South, by Walter Sullivan

Motherhood in the Old South, by Sally G. McMillen

Within the Plantation Household, by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

The Plantation Mistress, by Catherine Clinton

Mary's World, (studies of the journals and letters of Mary Motte Alston Pringle), by Richard N. Cote

Your Affectionate Daughter, Isabella (studies of the journals and letters of Isabella Torrance Reid), by Ann Williams

Journal of a Residence on a Southern Plantation (journal & letters with post-war commentary and memoirs), Fanny Kemble Butler

When I can Read my Title Clear, by Janet Duitsman Cornelius

Reprinted period journals, diaries, letters, with or without editor commentary:

Growing up in the 1850s: the Journal of Agnes Lee, Mary Custis Lee deButts, ed.

Diary from Dixie, by Mary Chesnut

A Blockaded Family, by Parthenia Hague

The Diary of Clarissa Adger Bowen

Sarah Morgan: the Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman, Charles East, ed.

Journal of a Secesh Lady: the Diary of Catherine Devereux Edmondston 1860-1866

Before Freedom, When I Can Just Remember: 27 Oral Histories of former South Carolina Slaves, Belinda Hurmence, ed.

Long Ago at Liberty Hill, by Mary Ellen Cunningham

Studying the ruminations and outpourings of heart in these pages paints an overwhelming picture of a society's reluctance to say goodbye, of holding on to the past, of carrying bits of remembered happiness forward into the future, and a reticence toward accepting blatantly necessary change, whether out of respect and love for what was good, or out of a lack of understanding of how to separate and preserve the good from the bad. Something we've been hearing alot of in the past week. Mayhap there is something to be learned here.... I'll be listening for it, this weekend.

four tenets from a wise woman

Meditations for today:

Economy, prudence, and a simple life are the sure masters of need, and will often accomplish that which their opposites, with a fortune at hand, will fail to do.

The surest test of discipline is its absence.

I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man's work for less than a man's pay.

I have an almost complete disregard of precedent and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done... I defy the tyranny of precedent. I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind. I go for anything new that might improve the past. --Clara Barton

When I need reminding that we have come some distance from overwhelming public stupidity, I look at the war women waged in the nineteenth century to regain some of what they had lost in the late eighteenth: respect, purpose, and the ability to have some input, for good or aught, into the direction of society. In doing so they eventually went beyond what they had achieved before, and gained sufferage, some semblance of their own economic worth, and at least some recognition of their ability to contribute to the betterment of the world. So we do not give up, we do press on, and march in time to the need of our day.