I did something this morning that I've been telling myself I needed to do for weeks, perhaps months. Cleaned the aquarium. This involves a siphon and a tube that runs over the side and into a bucket. It vacuums up goldfish waste. What a surprise that I don't get around to it too often.
But every time I've walked up or down the stairs in recent weeks, I've looked at that tank and thought: Gotta do that!
Bold would be to do it when it first came to mind,when it was first needed. At the same time, what a nice feeling that I get to walk upstairs tonight and congratulate myself on having gotten it done.
I dare you to tackle one of your own fish-tank-type chores.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Family History Mania Update
I just put in the mail the family history I threw together over five intense days; sent it to my Mom for her birthday. Now I feel like I finished exams, even more so than I do when finishing the draft of a book.
I worked on this little 30 page item like a madwoman. It's the story of my mother's father's family. It's no dissertation; I used mainly secondary sources and included stories that have been handed down, and a file of old clippings and notes that others had amassed, and internet sources, such as websites done by other people chasing Tuckers and Woffords, and ancestry archives.
I did write one email to someone who'd done a Tucker site, asking him a question about a man named John Tucker who was in Virginia or Maryland in about 1750. Turned out the wife of the man at that website is my second cousin. Astounding to all concerned! She and I are both descended from the son of a Civil War captain who died at the Battle of Second Manassas at the time that his son, our most recent ancestor, was two years old.
The impact of this frenzied chronology exercise on me is that I learned in a gut way how hard life used to be, how hard it was until fairly recent decades. I knew intellectually, of course. But now I feel it. I think it burned up more boldness just to live daily life not so very long ago.
For one thing, I discovered that my generation is the first in this side of my family not to go to war. For hundreds of years on end, the men fought and the women usually had six or nine babies. A lot of those babies died. And the men so often died early, leaving the women with all those kids.
This is such old news. But it feels new whenever it strikes emotionally.
I'm glad I get to use my store of courage for edgy writing and such, not, as one of my foremothers did, by driving a covered wagon across three states with six small daughters in tow after her husband disappeared. This sort of thing can easily put problems that occur at a desk into perspective.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
I worked on this little 30 page item like a madwoman. It's the story of my mother's father's family. It's no dissertation; I used mainly secondary sources and included stories that have been handed down, and a file of old clippings and notes that others had amassed, and internet sources, such as websites done by other people chasing Tuckers and Woffords, and ancestry archives.
I did write one email to someone who'd done a Tucker site, asking him a question about a man named John Tucker who was in Virginia or Maryland in about 1750. Turned out the wife of the man at that website is my second cousin. Astounding to all concerned! She and I are both descended from the son of a Civil War captain who died at the Battle of Second Manassas at the time that his son, our most recent ancestor, was two years old.
The impact of this frenzied chronology exercise on me is that I learned in a gut way how hard life used to be, how hard it was until fairly recent decades. I knew intellectually, of course. But now I feel it. I think it burned up more boldness just to live daily life not so very long ago.
For one thing, I discovered that my generation is the first in this side of my family not to go to war. For hundreds of years on end, the men fought and the women usually had six or nine babies. A lot of those babies died. And the men so often died early, leaving the women with all those kids.
This is such old news. But it feels new whenever it strikes emotionally.
I'm glad I get to use my store of courage for edgy writing and such, not, as one of my foremothers did, by driving a covered wagon across three states with six small daughters in tow after her husband disappeared. This sort of thing can easily put problems that occur at a desk into perspective.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Boldest Business
I'm alarmed and saddened by the ongoing disaster in the newspaper industry.
Yesterday was a sort of Black Monday here in Raleigh, another long list of very good reporters and editors got their pink slips at The News & Observer. In the last few weeks, one major American paper has died and another has cut back to a very trimmed-down online existence. Newspapers' very continuation is threatened.
I'm frightened by the thought of an America without serious daily news reporting. Imagine what some of our sneakier administrations would have gotten away with if no one were looking. Blogging, as we now know it, is not enough. Blogging is rarely more than comments on recycled news. And the advertising on blogs will not support the kind of news gathering operation that is adequate to covering what's going on. Who knows when that revenue rise, if ever? Our country can't go a minute without reporters.
Reporting is the bold business of poking into places that often tell you to stay out. We need that as much as we need police and firemen and a whole lot of other basic services.
I'm hoping someone will come up with a bold solution fast to SAVE THE NEWSPAPERS.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Yesterday was a sort of Black Monday here in Raleigh, another long list of very good reporters and editors got their pink slips at The News & Observer. In the last few weeks, one major American paper has died and another has cut back to a very trimmed-down online existence. Newspapers' very continuation is threatened.
I'm frightened by the thought of an America without serious daily news reporting. Imagine what some of our sneakier administrations would have gotten away with if no one were looking. Blogging, as we now know it, is not enough. Blogging is rarely more than comments on recycled news. And the advertising on blogs will not support the kind of news gathering operation that is adequate to covering what's going on. Who knows when that revenue rise, if ever? Our country can't go a minute without reporters.
Reporting is the bold business of poking into places that often tell you to stay out. We need that as much as we need police and firemen and a whole lot of other basic services.
I'm hoping someone will come up with a bold solution fast to SAVE THE NEWSPAPERS.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Following a Mania
For the last three days, I've worked enormous numbers of hours on an unlikely-for-me project: a bit of genealogy that I'm turning into a riveting story of one line of my family: the Tuckers and Woffords. Months ago my mother gave me a folder about her father's family, a bunch of bits and pieces, and said, "Here you take this." So I decided to flesh it out, and finally got serious on Saturday and am trying to get it ready to mail to Mom in time for her 87th b'day this weekend.
Inevitably, answering a few questions led me to a few more questions and I took the research back 200 more years, into the late 1500s in England--and quite a number of juicy details. Now I see why people do this. It satisfies the lifelong need created by reading Nancy Drews.
Joseph Campbell advises: "Follow your bliss." I take that to mean being really committed to the pursuuits that are really important to me; and I've structured my life to be able to do that. But this has a sudden fire to it that says: Do this now! Don't stop! Don't eat! It's exciting. And, as of this moment, exhausting.
Have you had this experience? And did it involve chasing ancestors? I'm more measured about writing books and articles, I've been doing it so long. It's nice to feel this kind of fire. Wipe-out refreshing.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Inevitably, answering a few questions led me to a few more questions and I took the research back 200 more years, into the late 1500s in England--and quite a number of juicy details. Now I see why people do this. It satisfies the lifelong need created by reading Nancy Drews.
Joseph Campbell advises: "Follow your bliss." I take that to mean being really committed to the pursuuits that are really important to me; and I've structured my life to be able to do that. But this has a sudden fire to it that says: Do this now! Don't stop! Don't eat! It's exciting. And, as of this moment, exhausting.
Have you had this experience? And did it involve chasing ancestors? I'm more measured about writing books and articles, I've been doing it so long. It's nice to feel this kind of fire. Wipe-out refreshing.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Nature Setting a Good Example
Here are a few more blossoms to remind you to spring forth with your own brilliant creations.
Even though the climate might create some obstacles.
Years ago, I said to my therapist about the market for literary novels: "you don't know what's it's like, it's working in a cage with a tiger." (Not the most apt comparison, but the basic idea is: difficult situation.)
He said: "How much good is it going to do you to spend your time watching the tiger?"
So I'm keeping an eye on the flowers, as I work.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Blooming Season
Spring is without question the boldest time of year, sending tender shoots and delicate flowers up into iffy weather. March is a bit like a writer sending out a manuscript, or anyone who's hunting for a new job in a tough economy.
As T.S. Eliot wrote in "The Waste Land" about the cruelly unpredictable and lovely April: spring does the bold work of "breeding/
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing/
Memory and desire, stirring/
Dull roots with spring rain."
If daisies and such can keep dusting off their dull roots, venturing upward and blossoming, so can we. Consider letting the flowers you see today inspire and re-encourage you. Even if the sky is overcast.
(Full disclosure: these were shot in May--in the mountains of Mexico at the spa Rancho La Puerta--but I think they still make my point.)
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Transgressive Writing
Because I (and others) consider my novel-in-progress to be a transgressive book involving transgressive sex, I was very struck when I received a comment about this sort of thing in an email conversation with my friend George. (I should mention that George, a visual artist and poet, doesn't like capital letters.)
"i consider (Updike) to be one of those who substantiate my idea that the theme for 20th century art is transgression.....perhaps it is always the operant theme....for success."
As Burger King ads have argued, "Sometimes you've gotta break the rules."
Two thoughts of my own on this subject:
*First know the rules and then break them, as needed, for good reasons. To be worthwhile the breakage must accomplish something.
*Know that there are likely to be be some costs involved.
I'm hoping that useful transgression will also be a theme of the early twenty-first century.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
"i consider (Updike) to be one of those who substantiate my idea that the theme for 20th century art is transgression.....perhaps it is always the operant theme....for success."
As Burger King ads have argued, "Sometimes you've gotta break the rules."
Two thoughts of my own on this subject:
*First know the rules and then break them, as needed, for good reasons. To be worthwhile the breakage must accomplish something.
*Know that there are likely to be be some costs involved.
I'm hoping that useful transgression will also be a theme of the early twenty-first century.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Cheeky Georgia O'Keefe and Friend
If there were ever a person who went her own way, it was the famously abrupt Georgia O'Keefe.
The Smithsonian Journeys blog has a charming story about an encounter with the painter: "The Day I Met Georgia O'Keefe."
The boldest individual involved is the author who tells of the day she approached O'Keefe's house in Abiquiu, New Mexico, carrying a handful of wilted lilacs. Many a bold individual would have dropped the lilies and run.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
The Smithsonian Journeys blog has a charming story about an encounter with the painter: "The Day I Met Georgia O'Keefe."
The boldest individual involved is the author who tells of the day she approached O'Keefe's house in Abiquiu, New Mexico, carrying a handful of wilted lilacs. Many a bold individual would have dropped the lilies and run.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Show Up, Speak Out
When I started my first full-time job after college as a news reporter, I met at the NC Legislature a red-headed woman who was always there working on behalf of good causes. The League of Women Voters is the one I recall from back then, 39 years ago. Her name was Betty Ann Knudsen, and she kept on and on and on with her efforts.
This morning I saw by chance the Facebook page of documentary moviemaker Erica Rothman that a movie has been made about Knudsen: Show Up, Speak Out Perfect title, perfect person to represent that philosophy.
Here's the promo: "Betty Ann Knudsen was born six years after women gained the right to vote. Her parents were staunchly-conservative Republicans but she grew up to become a liberal Democrat, a feminist, and one of the most effective grassroots organizers in North Carolina. She was the first female head of the Wake County Commission; ran for the office of NC Secretary of State in 1984; and traveled all over North Carolina training and mentoring hundreds of women who later ran and won public office or political appointments. In 2008 she earned the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor in North Carolina, recognizing a lifetime of extraordinary service to the state. This film is a document and a tribute to her many accomplishments." www.mygalaxycinema.com
The premiere of this movie from Vivian Bowman, who teaches at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, is at Galaxy Cinema in Cary, NC, on Monday, March 16,from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Brava, Betty Ann Knudsen! And those who document her accomplishments.
This morning I saw by chance the Facebook page of documentary moviemaker Erica Rothman that a movie has been made about Knudsen: Show Up, Speak Out Perfect title, perfect person to represent that philosophy.
Here's the promo: "Betty Ann Knudsen was born six years after women gained the right to vote. Her parents were staunchly-conservative Republicans but she grew up to become a liberal Democrat, a feminist, and one of the most effective grassroots organizers in North Carolina. She was the first female head of the Wake County Commission; ran for the office of NC Secretary of State in 1984; and traveled all over North Carolina training and mentoring hundreds of women who later ran and won public office or political appointments. In 2008 she earned the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor in North Carolina, recognizing a lifetime of extraordinary service to the state. This film is a document and a tribute to her many accomplishments." www.mygalaxycinema.com
The premiere of this movie from Vivian Bowman, who teaches at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, is at Galaxy Cinema in Cary, NC, on Monday, March 16,from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Brava, Betty Ann Knudsen! And those who document her accomplishments.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Being Scared of Something Small
I went to a birthday party this weekend where the adult being so honored didn't want to come into the house and greet the waiting party. And he knew this get-together was going to happen. So he stood around in the driveway, then on the porch, for quite a while. The buffet spread was out--and he was still not in. Finally he made the leap, came through the door.
The problem was: he just doesn't like the moment of coming into a party and greeting people. Really, really doesn't like it. Once he's inside, he's fine.
My point: everybody I've ever known has had some some phobia, some oddly particular thing they're unreasonably spooked by. I don't much care for millipedes, power saws, or used bandaids. Maybe we all choose a hook or two to hang death anxiety on, or performance anxiety.
My philosophy: tolerate those quirks in myself and others. They don't constitute the whole picture; for example, this particular birthday boy is overall a pretty gutsy person. Maybe the odd and intense hangup keeps the real fear--from our precarious and finite position on the planet--handily bound up in a place where it doesn't much get in the way.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
The problem was: he just doesn't like the moment of coming into a party and greeting people. Really, really doesn't like it. Once he's inside, he's fine.
My point: everybody I've ever known has had some some phobia, some oddly particular thing they're unreasonably spooked by. I don't much care for millipedes, power saws, or used bandaids. Maybe we all choose a hook or two to hang death anxiety on, or performance anxiety.
My philosophy: tolerate those quirks in myself and others. They don't constitute the whole picture; for example, this particular birthday boy is overall a pretty gutsy person. Maybe the odd and intense hangup keeps the real fear--from our precarious and finite position on the planet--handily bound up in a place where it doesn't much get in the way.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, March 06, 2009
To Twitter Boldly?
Just when I get blogging down and have ever-so-confusedly waded into Facebook, here comes the rolling thunder of Twitter. It has been around. But never so publicly and famously as in recent weeks, or so it seems to me.
Months ago I made some move to sign up for it, but have done nothing with it.
Then just in the last few weeks, I read a large feature on it in New York magazine. And someone running a boat near that miraculous New York plane crash in the Hudson saw what was happening and, of all things, tweeted about it. Legislators were twittering from the floor of Congress while they listened to Obama give a live speech in front of them. And Jon Stewart did a snarky riff, "Twitter Frenzy", on his Daily Show; seems he thinks it's dumb. "This new technology sounds adorable!...I have no idea how it works or why it is."
.
The whole idea is sorta like this: you text-message a friend list a thought that can run up to 140 characters.
But today I learned about something going on on Twitter that I want in on. But jeez, I'm tired of these time-consuming new systems cropping up. However, I may have to learn the art of tweeting. Because there's an item going around called Queryfail; agents and editors are posting bits from bad query letters they've received (w/o any names.) A lot of readers are saying that seeing these errors is teaching them how to do it right. So that's a valuable resource. And I suppose I need to jump in. See you there. I guess.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Months ago I made some move to sign up for it, but have done nothing with it.
Then just in the last few weeks, I read a large feature on it in New York magazine. And someone running a boat near that miraculous New York plane crash in the Hudson saw what was happening and, of all things, tweeted about it. Legislators were twittering from the floor of Congress while they listened to Obama give a live speech in front of them. And Jon Stewart did a snarky riff, "Twitter Frenzy", on his Daily Show; seems he thinks it's dumb. "This new technology sounds adorable!...I have no idea how it works or why it is."
.
The whole idea is sorta like this: you text-message a friend list a thought that can run up to 140 characters.
But today I learned about something going on on Twitter that I want in on. But jeez, I'm tired of these time-consuming new systems cropping up. However, I may have to learn the art of tweeting. Because there's an item going around called Queryfail; agents and editors are posting bits from bad query letters they've received (w/o any names.) A lot of readers are saying that seeing these errors is teaching them how to do it right. So that's a valuable resource. And I suppose I need to jump in. See you there. I guess.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Four Tips for Getting Rid of Shame
Dealing with feelings of shame can be divided into steps that help mightily to defuse the whole miserable state of mind.
This thinking comes from a book noted in an earlier post here: Brene Brown's I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't): Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power. It's quite a good and useful book.
One of her techniques is "practicing critical awareness," which is looking hard at the trigger for the shame. Here's her procedure:
1. "Contextualize (I see the big picture)" This means noticing how economic, social, and political forces are involved in the situation. Doesn't mean to shift the responsibility for solving a problem, but it does take the edge off the shame.
2. "Normalize (I'm not the only one)" If you're not the only one, then there's less basis for feelings of personally inadequacy.
3. "Demystify (I'll share what I know with others)" Talk about the problem. And ask questions to get the info that will help. It may turn out several others in the neighborhood are keeping the same dark secret. We can help each other, or at least enjoy the company of people who understand.
One other tidbit of wisdom from this source: When other people say dumb things about the painful situation, don't counterattack. "That doesn't get us anywhere." Instead say something on the order of: that hurt my feelings. "It seems counterintuitive, but telling someone how we feel takes more courage and is often more powerful than verbally attacking them."
A small personal application: I've railed repeatedly here about some bad treatment at the "hands" of a health insurance company. One part of this reaction is that I'm ashamed that I can be taken advantage of. One of my buried assumptions is that part of my job in life is to have the savvy to keep this from happening. When I fail at this, I feel like a schlump.
Looking at this with the Brene Brown system:
1. The context: the entire healthcare payment system is in severe disrepair, to the point of national crisis. One piece of that is that our medicine is so advanced that we have tests and treatment that almost no one can afford. That's the big picture.
2. God knows, I'm not the only one.
3. I'm sure talking about it.
I still have the stupid assumption that I should be capable of throwing over such problems, and I haven't. But this critical thinking process does take away some of the feeling of failure, embarrassment and shame. And getting rid of those probably makes me more capable of dealing with a problem.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
This thinking comes from a book noted in an earlier post here: Brene Brown's I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't): Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power. It's quite a good and useful book.
One of her techniques is "practicing critical awareness," which is looking hard at the trigger for the shame. Here's her procedure:
1. "Contextualize (I see the big picture)" This means noticing how economic, social, and political forces are involved in the situation. Doesn't mean to shift the responsibility for solving a problem, but it does take the edge off the shame.
2. "Normalize (I'm not the only one)" If you're not the only one, then there's less basis for feelings of personally inadequacy.
3. "Demystify (I'll share what I know with others)" Talk about the problem. And ask questions to get the info that will help. It may turn out several others in the neighborhood are keeping the same dark secret. We can help each other, or at least enjoy the company of people who understand.
One other tidbit of wisdom from this source: When other people say dumb things about the painful situation, don't counterattack. "That doesn't get us anywhere." Instead say something on the order of: that hurt my feelings. "It seems counterintuitive, but telling someone how we feel takes more courage and is often more powerful than verbally attacking them."
A small personal application: I've railed repeatedly here about some bad treatment at the "hands" of a health insurance company. One part of this reaction is that I'm ashamed that I can be taken advantage of. One of my buried assumptions is that part of my job in life is to have the savvy to keep this from happening. When I fail at this, I feel like a schlump.
Looking at this with the Brene Brown system:
1. The context: the entire healthcare payment system is in severe disrepair, to the point of national crisis. One piece of that is that our medicine is so advanced that we have tests and treatment that almost no one can afford. That's the big picture.
2. God knows, I'm not the only one.
3. I'm sure talking about it.
I still have the stupid assumption that I should be capable of throwing over such problems, and I haven't. But this critical thinking process does take away some of the feeling of failure, embarrassment and shame. And getting rid of those probably makes me more capable of dealing with a problem.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Boldly Sexual
Bold isn't just for the boardroom. One can also take this admirable quality home to bed. Here's an encouraging item that showed on up on my Compuserve screen yesterday: "Six Habits of Highly Sexual Women."
It includes such wisdom as:
"Carnal Custom #2: Let Loose
... Sex is not rocket science. It won't cure cancer or promote world peace, or change lives. So getting all worked up and stressed out about it makes about as much sense as worrying that you're not eating your chocolate cake right...."
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
It includes such wisdom as:
"Carnal Custom #2: Let Loose
... Sex is not rocket science. It won't cure cancer or promote world peace, or change lives. So getting all worked up and stressed out about it makes about as much sense as worrying that you're not eating your chocolate cake right...."
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
I'm Giving Some New Workshops
It's once again time for a bit of boldly shameless self-promotion. Here's my flyer for one Saturday afternoon class and three separate Friday lunchtime sessions. If the Raleigh-Chapel Hill area is in reach for you, I hope you'll consider coming to one or more:
I'm offering a new half-day workshop for anyone interested in writing. This class -- and the lunch-time meetings described below -- are based on my experience as author of books from three major publishers, as well as articles for many national magazines and most of the major American newspapers.
Dig A Book Idea Out of What You Already Know
This four-hour Saturday class will focus on nonfiction books, and include:
*How to look at your expertise (hobbyist or pro) as a book resource
*How to formulate and develop an idea
*Basics of the book proposal
*Info on resources to help you proceed
The class will be held at my home (in the woods beside a pond) near Jordan Lake in Chatham County.
March 21 1-5 p.m. $65
Maximum of 20 participants
-- and--
Writing Business Lunches
During the month of March, I’m holding three Friday lunch-time meetings in my downtown Raleigh office, with up to seven participants in each. You’re invited to attend any one or two, or all three.
The topics:
The business of writing nonfiction books. March 13
Literary agents March 20
Getting started writing a novel March 27
Fee: $35 each
The format: Each of these is entirely devoted to a question-and-answer session. Bring your questions on the particular topic, and I’ll do my best to answer them on the spot. Other participants often have useful info to contribute as well.
The time: 12:30 to 1:30. Bring your sack lunch and drink with you, if you like. The office is smallish. It'll be cosy and companionable, which makes networking even easier.
Location: 410 Morson Street in Raleigh’s Oakwood.
My background: I'm author of the novels Sister India (a New York Times Notable Book) and Revelation, co-author of the nonfiction book The Healing Power of Doing Good (a Literary Guild pick). I also wrote a book on Tanner Companies and the Doncaster clothing company. My books have been published in five countries. I've written for More Magazine, Travel+Leisure, Ms. Magazine, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, etc., as well as The New York Times, The Washington Post and most of the major American newspapers. I spent a semester teaching fiction at Duke as a Scholar-in-Residence, and given classes or talks at locations including the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Auburn Seminary in New York, Banaras Hindu University in India, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Rancho La Puerta in Mexico, and others.
For more information on my writing and my manuscript consultation services for writers, please visit my website.
The fine print: For the Saturday workshop, I need check and confirmation in advance. I refund for cancellations only if I have someone waiting for the space. For the lunch sessions, I need confirmation in advance, and require payment for any cancellations later than 24 hours before the meeting. Do ask me, if you have any questions.
If you'd like to sign up now for the Saturday workshop, please mail your contact info and check to me at 410 Morson St., Raleigh, NC 27601. For the lunches, simply email me your confirmation. And if none of this fits into your schedule, do come back to this blog and visit again.
Thanks. I hope this is useful to you and/or any of your writer friends or students.
Peggy
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
I'm offering a new half-day workshop for anyone interested in writing. This class -- and the lunch-time meetings described below -- are based on my experience as author of books from three major publishers, as well as articles for many national magazines and most of the major American newspapers.
Dig A Book Idea Out of What You Already Know
This four-hour Saturday class will focus on nonfiction books, and include:
*How to look at your expertise (hobbyist or pro) as a book resource
*How to formulate and develop an idea
*Basics of the book proposal
*Info on resources to help you proceed
The class will be held at my home (in the woods beside a pond) near Jordan Lake in Chatham County.
March 21 1-5 p.m. $65
Maximum of 20 participants
-- and--
Writing Business Lunches
During the month of March, I’m holding three Friday lunch-time meetings in my downtown Raleigh office, with up to seven participants in each. You’re invited to attend any one or two, or all three.
The topics:
The business of writing nonfiction books. March 13
Literary agents March 20
Getting started writing a novel March 27
Fee: $35 each
The format: Each of these is entirely devoted to a question-and-answer session. Bring your questions on the particular topic, and I’ll do my best to answer them on the spot. Other participants often have useful info to contribute as well.
The time: 12:30 to 1:30. Bring your sack lunch and drink with you, if you like. The office is smallish. It'll be cosy and companionable, which makes networking even easier.
Location: 410 Morson Street in Raleigh’s Oakwood.
My background: I'm author of the novels Sister India (a New York Times Notable Book) and Revelation, co-author of the nonfiction book The Healing Power of Doing Good (a Literary Guild pick). I also wrote a book on Tanner Companies and the Doncaster clothing company. My books have been published in five countries. I've written for More Magazine, Travel+Leisure, Ms. Magazine, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, etc., as well as The New York Times, The Washington Post and most of the major American newspapers. I spent a semester teaching fiction at Duke as a Scholar-in-Residence, and given classes or talks at locations including the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Auburn Seminary in New York, Banaras Hindu University in India, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Rancho La Puerta in Mexico, and others.
For more information on my writing and my manuscript consultation services for writers, please visit my website.
The fine print: For the Saturday workshop, I need check and confirmation in advance. I refund for cancellations only if I have someone waiting for the space. For the lunch sessions, I need confirmation in advance, and require payment for any cancellations later than 24 hours before the meeting. Do ask me, if you have any questions.
If you'd like to sign up now for the Saturday workshop, please mail your contact info and check to me at 410 Morson St., Raleigh, NC 27601. For the lunches, simply email me your confirmation. And if none of this fits into your schedule, do come back to this blog and visit again.
Thanks. I hope this is useful to you and/or any of your writer friends or students.
Peggy
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Extravagant, Generous, Bold Art
If you've ever felt you wasted time by writing ten pages -- or a whole lot more -- that didn't work, take a look at the extravagant generosity of this Zen-type artist and you may feel better.
Scott Wade reproduces Old Masters and does his own original work IN DUST on the windows of cars. Here's a man who recognizes the dust-to-dust situation we're in. I couldn't do it. I'm still working on what Ernest Becker in The Denial of Death refers to as my "immortality project." Making my permanent mark.
Though I'm not going to take up dust art (so much like the sand mandalas that Buddhist monks make and then destroy), I do find it curiously refreshing to look at what this man does and to marvel.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Scott Wade reproduces Old Masters and does his own original work IN DUST on the windows of cars. Here's a man who recognizes the dust-to-dust situation we're in. I couldn't do it. I'm still working on what Ernest Becker in The Denial of Death refers to as my "immortality project." Making my permanent mark.
Though I'm not going to take up dust art (so much like the sand mandalas that Buddhist monks make and then destroy), I do find it curiously refreshing to look at what this man does and to marvel.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
A French Town with a Vivid Imagination
Don't miss the dazzling photos of the Menton Lemon Festival on the blog called Imagine from floral designer Kenju.
It sounds garish, but it's not: a house-sized Taj Mahal made of lemons and oranges, a castle, a towering lemon girl, and more.
I'd never heard of Menton or its lemon festival. And now I must go there. Il faux que j'y aille. (Je pense que c'est pres d'exact.) ). Menton is a beach town in France that has five times won an award for best garden city in that country of the fleur-de-lys. A beach, flowers, citrus fruit, and they speak French. It's now on my list.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
It sounds garish, but it's not: a house-sized Taj Mahal made of lemons and oranges, a castle, a towering lemon girl, and more.
I'd never heard of Menton or its lemon festival. And now I must go there. Il faux que j'y aille. (Je pense que c'est pres d'exact.) ). Menton is a beach town in France that has five times won an award for best garden city in that country of the fleur-de-lys. A beach, flowers, citrus fruit, and they speak French. It's now on my list.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
"Painting into Light"
"Painting into Light" is an art exhibition at Guilford College in Greensboro, a one-man show by my friend George Wingate.
Thursday night Bob and I went to the campus to hear the artist talk about his work. George was his intriguingly digressive, imaginative, thoughtful self, before a packed SRO house. I didn't take notes and couldn't begin to quote from his outpourings.
But there was a line on the wall in his artist's statement that is well worth passing on:
"It took a long time to discover that one can't make a career out of being somebody else. I still have to fight being somebody else. The artist even has to fight to not be what he/she was yesterday."
George was in high school with Husband Bob, which would make him approximately 67 years old. And he has been a full-time artist for decades, with his work on the cover of American Artist and well and lengthily reviewed in the New York Times. He's still engaged in a daily wrestle.
If you are too, you're in good company.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday night Bob and I went to the campus to hear the artist talk about his work. George was his intriguingly digressive, imaginative, thoughtful self, before a packed SRO house. I didn't take notes and couldn't begin to quote from his outpourings.
But there was a line on the wall in his artist's statement that is well worth passing on:
"It took a long time to discover that one can't make a career out of being somebody else. I still have to fight being somebody else. The artist even has to fight to not be what he/she was yesterday."
George was in high school with Husband Bob, which would make him approximately 67 years old. And he has been a full-time artist for decades, with his work on the cover of American Artist and well and lengthily reviewed in the New York Times. He's still engaged in a daily wrestle.
If you are too, you're in good company.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Fueling Fiction With Gossip
A bit of frivolity that I've recently found to help my writing: stopping now and then to glance at one of my favorite gossip blogs.
Lately while working on revisions on my novel, I've found myself fairly frequently taking five-minute breaks to look at Jossip or Gawker, two of my vices.
On the face of it, this seems like a stupid thing to do. But the kind of revising I'm doing is tackling one small knotty problem after another. And about every third one, I hit a wall. So I indulge in a few minutes of gossip. And often I've come back to my novel with a new perspective on what I'm writing. In a few instances, a good specific usable idea has come to me while I indulged in media-celebrity gossip.
I'd been allowing myself to do this recently with good results. And then by chance, while looking for an endorsable link on procrastination, I found and linked to a site yesterday that makes a pitch for this kind of small break. I'm not the only one to find that it works. So here's the link again on what's billed here as "work avoidance behavior," even though it's not.
BTW, it's not gossip websites I'm necessarily promoting, instead the fact that small seemingly self-indulgent and procrastinatory breaks can be very productive.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Lately while working on revisions on my novel, I've found myself fairly frequently taking five-minute breaks to look at Jossip or Gawker, two of my vices.
On the face of it, this seems like a stupid thing to do. But the kind of revising I'm doing is tackling one small knotty problem after another. And about every third one, I hit a wall. So I indulge in a few minutes of gossip. And often I've come back to my novel with a new perspective on what I'm writing. In a few instances, a good specific usable idea has come to me while I indulged in media-celebrity gossip.
I'd been allowing myself to do this recently with good results. And then by chance, while looking for an endorsable link on procrastination, I found and linked to a site yesterday that makes a pitch for this kind of small break. I'm not the only one to find that it works. So here's the link again on what's billed here as "work avoidance behavior," even though it's not.
BTW, it's not gossip websites I'm necessarily promoting, instead the fact that small seemingly self-indulgent and procrastinatory breaks can be very productive.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Best Business Practice
What's the best bold action I could take today? That's the question I just now asked myself. First, not getting into a dither about what constitutes best.
Then what?
Here's what it comes to: working on my novel, as I did yesterday and the day before.... Each day briefly unnerving to begin. Sometimes that sensation is no more than a hair wide. Sometimes larger. But always within twenty minutes the creaky hesitation goes away, and I wonder how I could have ever felt it and am sure that I'll never encounter it again.
Likely that companionable moment of unease is just a signal that this is what's important for me to do. Higher stakes than running a load of laundry or getting together the numbers for my taxes. So maybe I should welcome that friendly agitating signal.
And now to my novel, my dharma... I doubt if any of us have to search very long to discover the real work of the day.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Then what?
Here's what it comes to: working on my novel, as I did yesterday and the day before.... Each day briefly unnerving to begin. Sometimes that sensation is no more than a hair wide. Sometimes larger. But always within twenty minutes the creaky hesitation goes away, and I wonder how I could have ever felt it and am sure that I'll never encounter it again.
Likely that companionable moment of unease is just a signal that this is what's important for me to do. Higher stakes than running a load of laundry or getting together the numbers for my taxes. So maybe I should welcome that friendly agitating signal.
And now to my novel, my dharma... I doubt if any of us have to search very long to discover the real work of the day.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Not Bold: Identity Theft
Someone extremely close to me just had his identity stolen, his email hacked into, and his address list dunned for money. The message that went out to his whole list claimed he was stranded in London and so please wire $4,000 immediately.
One good clue: The letter-writer clearly wasn't entirely at home in English.
Then a second identity theft message said: this is not a scam, I'm seriously in trouble, send the money.
Well, I can't imagine anyone did--though he did get thoughtful responses from his friends, patients, children, ex-wife, and someone he hadn't seen since high school.
Turns out that the creative letter-writer is in Nigeria with a bank account at the ready in London. (Why is Nigeria the world scamming-business headquarters, when there are a number of other places with some dishonest people who need money? See L.A. Times profile "Nigerian Cyber Scammers." For a non-cyber view: a friend of mine grew up in Nigeria and still misses the country. see her wonderful book: The Gods of Noonday, which is one of the most beautiful tributes to a river I've ever read.)
Here is my message to these multi-national Nigeria-based Keystone Krooks: Get your own identity and then maybe some money will follow. Be yourself. Long-term, it's a much better strategy.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
One good clue: The letter-writer clearly wasn't entirely at home in English.
Then a second identity theft message said: this is not a scam, I'm seriously in trouble, send the money.
Well, I can't imagine anyone did--though he did get thoughtful responses from his friends, patients, children, ex-wife, and someone he hadn't seen since high school.
Turns out that the creative letter-writer is in Nigeria with a bank account at the ready in London. (Why is Nigeria the world scamming-business headquarters, when there are a number of other places with some dishonest people who need money? See L.A. Times profile "Nigerian Cyber Scammers." For a non-cyber view: a friend of mine grew up in Nigeria and still misses the country. see her wonderful book: The Gods of Noonday, which is one of the most beautiful tributes to a river I've ever read.)
Here is my message to these multi-national Nigeria-based Keystone Krooks: Get your own identity and then maybe some money will follow. Be yourself. Long-term, it's a much better strategy.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
House Guest Heroism
I think it takes a fair amount of the ordinary daily kind of boldness to be or to host a house guest.
Not everyone feels that way, I know. (My office partner, for one, is ever keeping visiting actors or musicians or exchange students for weeks and months at a time without even thinking to mention it at lunch.)
But for those several of us who retain any shred of worry about being fully known or (worse for me) the possibility of imposing on someone, the house guest business does take some gathering of nerve.
The last couple of days, Husband Bob's best buddy from his youth has been visiting from Wenham, Mass. A painter, George Wingate has an art show at nearby Guilford College. Hanging with George has been delightful. Imagine if the hyper-articulate and thoughtful Wm. Buckley had been liberal and better-looking. George is fascinating to talk with. I was very sorry to see him go.
At the same time, I always feel that I, and anyone faced with the state of my towels and Bob's insistence on reusing tea leaves, deserve some sort of human relations merit badge. It's good practice for larger negotiations.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Not everyone feels that way, I know. (My office partner, for one, is ever keeping visiting actors or musicians or exchange students for weeks and months at a time without even thinking to mention it at lunch.)
But for those several of us who retain any shred of worry about being fully known or (worse for me) the possibility of imposing on someone, the house guest business does take some gathering of nerve.
The last couple of days, Husband Bob's best buddy from his youth has been visiting from Wenham, Mass. A painter, George Wingate has an art show at nearby Guilford College. Hanging with George has been delightful. Imagine if the hyper-articulate and thoughtful Wm. Buckley had been liberal and better-looking. George is fascinating to talk with. I was very sorry to see him go.
At the same time, I always feel that I, and anyone faced with the state of my towels and Bob's insistence on reusing tea leaves, deserve some sort of human relations merit badge. It's good practice for larger negotiations.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Blood Done Sign My Name
Saturday night I went to see a one-man play based on the nonfiction book Blood Done Sign My Name, the story of a racial conflict and killing of a young black man in Oxford, NC, back when author Tim Tyson was living there as a young son of a liberal minister.
His book, a bestseller that deserves to be, began when he, now an American studies historian at Duke, went back to Oxford to do some research and dig into what happened.
First example of boldness: to go to the small town where the white accused was acquitted and interview people about what they saw. (The anger at Tyson is still hot.)
Second example of boldness: to be the liberal minister (Vernon Tyson) holding a bi-racial service in a town divided by segregation and violence.
Third example of boldness: to live day to day as the mother of young black men, as does psalmist Mary D. Williams who sang gospel for the play. To be one of any minority group that isn't surprised by injustice.
Seeing the play made me think again about my rage when Blue Cross treated me unfairly recently. That kind of treatment I think of as simply unacceptable; as my mother used to say to her misbehaving children, "We're not going to have that." (That edict extended even to having diseases and once to having a hurricane.) My daily expectation is that injustice is behavior that "will not do."
For myself, I unthinkingly expect straight-up dealings because I have always been so privileged. Any exception to that is a shocking event.
And yet I grew up seeing and not-seeing and being a silent part of that kind of injustice during legally segregated years in Wilmington (where the racial violence occurred that makes up the last section of Blood Done Sign My Name.)
I read the book years ago, after my brother Harry read it and said: you have to read this. If you haven't already, do. And if Mike Wiley's one-man performance of 17 different roles in this story happens to play near you, be sure to see it. If you're like me, your eyes need constant re-awaking.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
His book, a bestseller that deserves to be, began when he, now an American studies historian at Duke, went back to Oxford to do some research and dig into what happened.
First example of boldness: to go to the small town where the white accused was acquitted and interview people about what they saw. (The anger at Tyson is still hot.)
Second example of boldness: to be the liberal minister (Vernon Tyson) holding a bi-racial service in a town divided by segregation and violence.
Third example of boldness: to live day to day as the mother of young black men, as does psalmist Mary D. Williams who sang gospel for the play. To be one of any minority group that isn't surprised by injustice.
Seeing the play made me think again about my rage when Blue Cross treated me unfairly recently. That kind of treatment I think of as simply unacceptable; as my mother used to say to her misbehaving children, "We're not going to have that." (That edict extended even to having diseases and once to having a hurricane.) My daily expectation is that injustice is behavior that "will not do."
For myself, I unthinkingly expect straight-up dealings because I have always been so privileged. Any exception to that is a shocking event.
And yet I grew up seeing and not-seeing and being a silent part of that kind of injustice during legally segregated years in Wilmington (where the racial violence occurred that makes up the last section of Blood Done Sign My Name.)
I read the book years ago, after my brother Harry read it and said: you have to read this. If you haven't already, do. And if Mike Wiley's one-man performance of 17 different roles in this story happens to play near you, be sure to see it. If you're like me, your eyes need constant re-awaking.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, February 20, 2009
You Gotta Be Bold to Be Old
I've just come back from taking care of my mother for a couple of days after some minor surgery. I was struck once again by the courage required to face the various adventures of aging.
Mom's actually quite sturdy at 86; the stories she tells are what make me aware of the perilous nature of being old. She's developed a sort of gallows humor to deal with some of it: tells a very funny and hair-raising and sad story about going out to lunch with two friends, one with Alzheimer's and the other with emphysema, breathing oxygen from a tank.
Bottom line: while she was trying to get the forgetful one to her house, the other one started running out of oxygen, and they were still ten miles from that woman's home. So Mom drove the ten miles at enormous speed hoping that a cop would see them and help, or that they'd get there in time.
They got there in time. The friend who got the oxygen lived several more months.
You gotta be bold and tough: either to be the one who's air or mind is running out, or the one seeing her friends fall all around her. As stages of life go: it looks at least as hard as the worst of ninth grade.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Mom's actually quite sturdy at 86; the stories she tells are what make me aware of the perilous nature of being old. She's developed a sort of gallows humor to deal with some of it: tells a very funny and hair-raising and sad story about going out to lunch with two friends, one with Alzheimer's and the other with emphysema, breathing oxygen from a tank.
Bottom line: while she was trying to get the forgetful one to her house, the other one started running out of oxygen, and they were still ten miles from that woman's home. So Mom drove the ten miles at enormous speed hoping that a cop would see them and help, or that they'd get there in time.
They got there in time. The friend who got the oxygen lived several more months.
You gotta be bold and tough: either to be the one who's air or mind is running out, or the one seeing her friends fall all around her. As stages of life go: it looks at least as hard as the worst of ninth grade.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
"Ordinary Courage"
A politician once told me, in talking about a panel he'd been on where some too-amazing stories were told, that he "hadn't had the opportunity to rescue any children from burning buildings lately."
Most of us haven't.
And yet, most of us do run into plenty of opportunities and needs for courage.
I just ran into a blog and website called "Ordinary Courage." I highly recommend it. Very different style than mine: Brené Brown, the head encourager there, writes with great warmth and at length, whereas I take a shorter and pithier approach to the some of the same subjects. But we share a philosophy.
From Ordinary Courage: "...speaking honestly and openly about who we and about our experiences (good and bad) is the ultimate act of courage. Heroics is often about putting your life on the line. Ordinary courage is about putting your vulnerability on the line. In today's world, that's pretty extraordinary. For me, practicing ordinary courage means telling my story with all of my heart."
Me, too.
Brown is the author of I Thought It Was Just Me , which is about shame, which can seriously get in the way of boldness.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Most of us haven't.
And yet, most of us do run into plenty of opportunities and needs for courage.
I just ran into a blog and website called "Ordinary Courage." I highly recommend it. Very different style than mine: Brené Brown, the head encourager there, writes with great warmth and at length, whereas I take a shorter and pithier approach to the some of the same subjects. But we share a philosophy.
From Ordinary Courage: "...speaking honestly and openly about who we and about our experiences (good and bad) is the ultimate act of courage. Heroics is often about putting your life on the line. Ordinary courage is about putting your vulnerability on the line. In today's world, that's pretty extraordinary. For me, practicing ordinary courage means telling my story with all of my heart."
Me, too.
Brown is the author of I Thought It Was Just Me , which is about shame, which can seriously get in the way of boldness.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Secret of Happiness (Bold Title, Yes?)
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” --Charles Kingsley, nineteenth century English minister who wrote The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, as well as being chaplain to Queen Victoria.
Quoted on The Happiness Project
(The very thought of water babies makes me both happy and enthusiastic. And I'm not even a huge fan of "cute," but I do find delightful the idea of chubby young things paddling about in exotic mysterious realms.)
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Quoted on The Happiness Project
(The very thought of water babies makes me both happy and enthusiastic. And I'm not even a huge fan of "cute," but I do find delightful the idea of chubby young things paddling about in exotic mysterious realms.)
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Deep Sea Explorer
How many women who graduated in 1955 wind up a full-half century later as National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, a founder of a company that is designing an undersea vehicle to allow "full working access to the world's oceans?"
Often referred to as "Her Deepness," Sylvia Earle is highly likely the only one. And she is an outstanding example of BOLD. She has:
*done research 100 feet underwater while pregnant
*led an all-female group of researchers who lived underwater for two weeks (after being shut out of an earlier expedition with men because the organizers couldn't handle the coed deepsea dorm idea)
*explored sunken battleships of the South Pacific
*in 1979, "walked untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth than any living human being before or since"
*raised three children and published a dozen-plus books
If you want to make a small bold move on behalf of protecting oceans (like the Atlantic at Wrightsville Beach where I grew up): here are ten actions to choose from. Or do them all.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Often referred to as "Her Deepness," Sylvia Earle is highly likely the only one. And she is an outstanding example of BOLD. She has:
*done research 100 feet underwater while pregnant
*led an all-female group of researchers who lived underwater for two weeks (after being shut out of an earlier expedition with men because the organizers couldn't handle the coed deepsea dorm idea)
*explored sunken battleships of the South Pacific
*in 1979, "walked untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth than any living human being before or since"
*raised three children and published a dozen-plus books
If you want to make a small bold move on behalf of protecting oceans (like the Atlantic at Wrightsville Beach where I grew up): here are ten actions to choose from. Or do them all.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Hostess and Guest
My 22 year-old nephew Walker and his girlfriend Caitlin, both UNC students, came over for lunch today. She had never been to our house.
From 9:30 until 1, Bob and I madly scurried, getting ready. Mostly that meant near-renovating our house. He took more than a wheelbarrowful of papers and books out of the kitchen and den, that all might have a place to sit.
I wouldn't call it hostess anxiety, but it was definitely host-and-hostess hurryup.
And I realized that when I was that age and going to visit boyfriend's family, it never occurred to me, while obsessing over what to wear, that BF's family might be engaged in the same minor uproar.
Similarly, when I was teaching at Duke in 07, I was nervous before class fairly often, very much so at the start of the semester. When I was a student at Duke in the 60s, it never crossed my mind that a professor might be scared. What a ridiculous idea!
I find it calming now to flip the situation around, to remember that the other person may also be in a dither.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
From 9:30 until 1, Bob and I madly scurried, getting ready. Mostly that meant near-renovating our house. He took more than a wheelbarrowful of papers and books out of the kitchen and den, that all might have a place to sit.
I wouldn't call it hostess anxiety, but it was definitely host-and-hostess hurryup.
And I realized that when I was that age and going to visit boyfriend's family, it never occurred to me, while obsessing over what to wear, that BF's family might be engaged in the same minor uproar.
Similarly, when I was teaching at Duke in 07, I was nervous before class fairly often, very much so at the start of the semester. When I was a student at Duke in the 60s, it never crossed my mind that a professor might be scared. What a ridiculous idea!
I find it calming now to flip the situation around, to remember that the other person may also be in a dither.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Rejection!
Oh, dear, oh, dear, I lost a Follower.
What that means is: there's some cyberspace way people can sign up to be Followers of particular blogs. I guess that means subscribers.
On my blog "dashboard," I can see how many this blog has.
Well, today I saw that this blog is DOWN ONE Follower.
I was stung.
Now this is ridiculous. I myself jump all over the web, I play the cyberfield without a second thought. Also, after 37 years as a freelance writer, I can get a book rejection and not even blink.
But here's the difference: this is new. I never lost a Follower before. It almost reminds me of the early shocks of my first manuscript rejections. Of not being asked to dance in eighth grade.
I'm glad I know from experience that rejection can become simply part of the process, without rocking me.
In the meantime, Follower, where are you? Is it something I said?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
What that means is: there's some cyberspace way people can sign up to be Followers of particular blogs. I guess that means subscribers.
On my blog "dashboard," I can see how many this blog has.
Well, today I saw that this blog is DOWN ONE Follower.
I was stung.
Now this is ridiculous. I myself jump all over the web, I play the cyberfield without a second thought. Also, after 37 years as a freelance writer, I can get a book rejection and not even blink.
But here's the difference: this is new. I never lost a Follower before. It almost reminds me of the early shocks of my first manuscript rejections. Of not being asked to dance in eighth grade.
I'm glad I know from experience that rejection can become simply part of the process, without rocking me.
In the meantime, Follower, where are you? Is it something I said?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
About Creative Genius
A delightful discovery, recommended by friend Sabine: the TED site and its speaker series...and the talk on "A different way to think about creative genius" by Elizabeth Gilbert, the wildly successful author of, among others, Eat, Pray, Love, three verbs whose order I regularly forget.
TED is a conference that aims to present "the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes)." I never heard of it before today and I now feel I've hit pure cyberchocolate.
Gilbert's talk is about the burden of fear and responsibility that a lot of artists and writers carry because the culture no longer believes in muses and daemons, but puts the whole weight of performance on the poor struggling individual. She considers this situation "odious...and dangerous" and is very funny on the subject.
She compares her situation of writing another book at forty with her greatest success likely behind her to the difficulty of starting out as a writer, when the people you run into all say: aren't you terrified...?
She describes herself as a writer "as a mule," she just keeps on pulling.
The idea is: instead of having to be a genius, just do your job of writing, painting, or whatever; and welcome whatever inexplicable assistance shows up in the form of the genius that can occasionally visit any of us.
Go listen to her on the site. She makes this very relieving idea charmingly hilarious and companionable.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
TED is a conference that aims to present "the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes)." I never heard of it before today and I now feel I've hit pure cyberchocolate.
Gilbert's talk is about the burden of fear and responsibility that a lot of artists and writers carry because the culture no longer believes in muses and daemons, but puts the whole weight of performance on the poor struggling individual. She considers this situation "odious...and dangerous" and is very funny on the subject.
She compares her situation of writing another book at forty with her greatest success likely behind her to the difficulty of starting out as a writer, when the people you run into all say: aren't you terrified...?
She describes herself as a writer "as a mule," she just keeps on pulling.
The idea is: instead of having to be a genius, just do your job of writing, painting, or whatever; and welcome whatever inexplicable assistance shows up in the form of the genius that can occasionally visit any of us.
Go listen to her on the site. She makes this very relieving idea charmingly hilarious and companionable.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Jump in Soul First
"The authentic self is the soul made visible."
Sarah Ban Breathnach
It does take courage to make one's soul visible. But why cover it up with something much less interesting and alive?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sarah Ban Breathnach
It does take courage to make one's soul visible. But why cover it up with something much less interesting and alive?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Kick of Giving
Just read a new book that could radically change the world if enough people paid attention. Could certainly do good things for the world of any one reader.
Kickback by Robert Urbanowski is a philosophical cousin of a book I co-authored, The Healing Power of Doing Good. Note Kickback's subtitle: "A remarkable new law reveals how you get what you want by putting others first."
It's short, persuasive, inspiring, and practical. Shows exactly how to live by this principle.
Here are a couple tidbits I particularly like:
"Successful people purposefully contribute to others in order to help people accomplish their objectives...In this way, contributors literally surround themselves with success. They can do this because they don't see other people as threats--they see other people as resources. This is true of very high achievers."
"We do not defeat evil--we displace evil by doing good."
"...The common element keeping us from contributing is fear. We are afraid that if we contribute, someone else will benefit more than us, we won't get a fair return for our efforts....However, what we fail to realize is that by failing to contribute all we can, we fail to become the person we can be."
If we do our "networking" with an eye toward how to help, we might even stimulate the economy.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Kickback by Robert Urbanowski is a philosophical cousin of a book I co-authored, The Healing Power of Doing Good. Note Kickback's subtitle: "A remarkable new law reveals how you get what you want by putting others first."
It's short, persuasive, inspiring, and practical. Shows exactly how to live by this principle.
Here are a couple tidbits I particularly like:
"Successful people purposefully contribute to others in order to help people accomplish their objectives...In this way, contributors literally surround themselves with success. They can do this because they don't see other people as threats--they see other people as resources. This is true of very high achievers."
"We do not defeat evil--we displace evil by doing good."
"...The common element keeping us from contributing is fear. We are afraid that if we contribute, someone else will benefit more than us, we won't get a fair return for our efforts....However, what we fail to realize is that by failing to contribute all we can, we fail to become the person we can be."
If we do our "networking" with an eye toward how to help, we might even stimulate the economy.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Facebook 25: A Self-Portrait
On Facebook, which I find baffling, I've been "tagged" to tell 25 random facts about myself. (Facebook reminds me of the floor of the NC House of Representatives the first time I went there to cover a story as a reporter: people popping up randomly all over the place in one big room, busily clustering here and there, no main focus of interest.)
The person who tagged me, my dentist, sent her own list of 25 items--one of these being the lengthy list of body parts on which she has had cosmetic work done. Well, I'm not going to go that far, but I'm going to put my list of 25, such as they are, here, which is not exactly private. (Bold, yes?) Here goes:
1. I love celebrity gossip magazines.
2. I like to take shortcuts, through parking lots and over little walls, etc. (on foot,I mean.)
3. Oh why not, here goes: when I was 25, I had my ears "pinned back" because they stuck out even more than those of Prince Charles who is also my age.
4. First thing when I get home at night, I need a crossword puzzle and a coconut popsicle.
5. I lived in Varanasi, India for three months once to do novel research and it felt like an entire separate lifetime tucked into this one.
6. I have twin brothers.
7. I like sorting things.
8. Oldies, swing, and marching bands are my favorite music.
9. I listen better if I'm doodling.
10. I'm sick of self-improvement and may give it up.
11. I still think I'm immortal and permanently healthy, even though I'm 60 years old.
12. I've always felt, without evidence, that I'm Irish and Jewish, and have recently learned that the Ireland part, at least, is true.
13. My house and yard are full of things I've painted flowers and designs on: morning glories on my car, tall frond-y weeds on the propane gas tank, the eyes of Buddha on the shed, ivy on the hot water heater, etc.
14. Millipedes give me the creeps. Also, power saws.
15. I love public speaking, off-the-cuff.
16. I'm a pro-porn feminist.
17. I like sparkly stuff.
18. If I've had previous lives, one was as a rabbi on the Lower East Side involved in the early 20th century labor movement. The other was as a fat sullen blonde French woman, living in a small town.
19. One of my books-in-progress, I've been working on on-and-off for 22 years.
20. I'm tres lefty in my politics.
21. Once a week, I get together with a friend and speak bad French for half an hour.
22. I was head junior varsity cheerleader at NHHS in 1963 and decided I wasn't cut out for management.
23. For a mild and civilized person, I'm uncommonly in touch with my more primitive and murderous side.
24. I'm either a chatty show-off introvert or an extrovert who needs hours alone almost every day.
25. I could talk about myself all day!
How about you? Add your own 25 in the comments. It's a very interesting exercise. I have just tagged you. That includes you, Julie Tomlin, and Toby Bloomberg, and Richard Krawiec, and Karen Tam. And especially you who are my regular companions here.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
The person who tagged me, my dentist, sent her own list of 25 items--one of these being the lengthy list of body parts on which she has had cosmetic work done. Well, I'm not going to go that far, but I'm going to put my list of 25, such as they are, here, which is not exactly private. (Bold, yes?) Here goes:
1. I love celebrity gossip magazines.
2. I like to take shortcuts, through parking lots and over little walls, etc. (on foot,I mean.)
3. Oh why not, here goes: when I was 25, I had my ears "pinned back" because they stuck out even more than those of Prince Charles who is also my age.
4. First thing when I get home at night, I need a crossword puzzle and a coconut popsicle.
5. I lived in Varanasi, India for three months once to do novel research and it felt like an entire separate lifetime tucked into this one.
6. I have twin brothers.
7. I like sorting things.
8. Oldies, swing, and marching bands are my favorite music.
9. I listen better if I'm doodling.
10. I'm sick of self-improvement and may give it up.
11. I still think I'm immortal and permanently healthy, even though I'm 60 years old.
12. I've always felt, without evidence, that I'm Irish and Jewish, and have recently learned that the Ireland part, at least, is true.
13. My house and yard are full of things I've painted flowers and designs on: morning glories on my car, tall frond-y weeds on the propane gas tank, the eyes of Buddha on the shed, ivy on the hot water heater, etc.
14. Millipedes give me the creeps. Also, power saws.
15. I love public speaking, off-the-cuff.
16. I'm a pro-porn feminist.
17. I like sparkly stuff.
18. If I've had previous lives, one was as a rabbi on the Lower East Side involved in the early 20th century labor movement. The other was as a fat sullen blonde French woman, living in a small town.
19. One of my books-in-progress, I've been working on on-and-off for 22 years.
20. I'm tres lefty in my politics.
21. Once a week, I get together with a friend and speak bad French for half an hour.
22. I was head junior varsity cheerleader at NHHS in 1963 and decided I wasn't cut out for management.
23. For a mild and civilized person, I'm uncommonly in touch with my more primitive and murderous side.
24. I'm either a chatty show-off introvert or an extrovert who needs hours alone almost every day.
25. I could talk about myself all day!
How about you? Add your own 25 in the comments. It's a very interesting exercise. I have just tagged you. That includes you, Julie Tomlin, and Toby Bloomberg, and Richard Krawiec, and Karen Tam. And especially you who are my regular companions here.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Bold Money Management in Tough Times
Lately I've been wondering if it's better for all of us if I cut back and spend as little as possible, or continue spending as usual, or do what I can of next year's Christmas shopping now in order to spur the woeful economy. So far my own income has held steady in these trying times, so it's not a matter of having to decide between food and prescriptions, the situation that many are encountering.
Of course my decision is quite small-scale, but if everyone who could made an extra purchase or two now, it seems to me the economy would be quite stimulated.
So far,though, I've instinctively been cutting back. Most everyone seems to be doing the same thing, whether from need or caution. Not sure that's the best approach. Certainly it's not the boldest approach.
What do you think?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Of course my decision is quite small-scale, but if everyone who could made an extra purchase or two now, it seems to me the economy would be quite stimulated.
So far,though, I've instinctively been cutting back. Most everyone seems to be doing the same thing, whether from need or caution. Not sure that's the best approach. Certainly it's not the boldest approach.
What do you think?
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
A Sip of Bold Action
Today's little spark of inspiration comes from a milk carton. This morning as I took the chocolate Silk soymilk out of the fridge, I noted the advice on the side: "Take A Sip Forward," a sentence that, by the way, is trademarked.
The idea is that drinking soy milk is "one small step toward living at your best." The carton also told me to laugh, eat chocolate, and get exercise. But what struck me is the idea of progress measured in sips.
I've heard it said to people wanting to lose weight that "everything you put in your mouth counts."
The reverse of that is that each small good thing that any of us do, in any area of life,counts. Small actions that are creative, generous, courageous, add up and ripple outward.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
The idea is that drinking soy milk is "one small step toward living at your best." The carton also told me to laugh, eat chocolate, and get exercise. But what struck me is the idea of progress measured in sips.
I've heard it said to people wanting to lose weight that "everything you put in your mouth counts."
The reverse of that is that each small good thing that any of us do, in any area of life,counts. Small actions that are creative, generous, courageous, add up and ripple outward.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Persistence and a Technological Triumph
Allow me to crow. After two and three quarters hours of fiddling, husband Bob and I have succeeded in getting wireless to work at our house on my laptop. We've never even been able to use a cellphone here. We're in the woods and apparently hard for signal to find.
This miraculous computing capability was accomplished with a little AT&T gizmo that installed its own software. So far the process is dreadfully slow, but still it allows me to tap out a few lines, just short of midnight, by standing at an upstairs window with the machine held up in the air to the spot that gets enough signal. May sound clumsy, but just remember the Wright Brothers' first flights were pretty clunky too. Maybe tomorrow I'll be on the roof with this thing, or up a tree. At any rate, I'm thrilled with tonight's progress.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
This miraculous computing capability was accomplished with a little AT&T gizmo that installed its own software. So far the process is dreadfully slow, but still it allows me to tap out a few lines, just short of midnight, by standing at an upstairs window with the machine held up in the air to the spot that gets enough signal. May sound clumsy, but just remember the Wright Brothers' first flights were pretty clunky too. Maybe tomorrow I'll be on the roof with this thing, or up a tree. At any rate, I'm thrilled with tonight's progress.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Start A Business
When I was a kid, my mother used to drop pieces of advice on me as they happened to occur to her. One day, she said, somewhat out-of-the-blue: Never buy a business; you'll come out much better if you start your own.
I did do exactly that, when I was twenty-two and started freelancing full-time. Now, decades later I've discovered a series of books aimed at people wanting to start various highly specific businesses.
I stumbled onto Entrepreneur Magazine's Startup Series when I saw their book on blogging: Start Your Own Blogging Business, which is quite good, very thorough and detailed. The previous publications page showed 36 other books,
Start Your Own Bar and Tavern
Start Your Own Import/Export Business
Start Your Own Medical Claims Billing Service
or Car Wash, or Gift Basket Service, or Growing and Selling Herbs and Herbal Products, and so on.
If you're thinking about starting a business, do check the Startup Series to see if your specialty is included. I felt a spark of interest in starting something just from looking at the list.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
I did do exactly that, when I was twenty-two and started freelancing full-time. Now, decades later I've discovered a series of books aimed at people wanting to start various highly specific businesses.
I stumbled onto Entrepreneur Magazine's Startup Series when I saw their book on blogging: Start Your Own Blogging Business, which is quite good, very thorough and detailed. The previous publications page showed 36 other books,
Start Your Own Bar and Tavern
Start Your Own Import/Export Business
Start Your Own Medical Claims Billing Service
or Car Wash, or Gift Basket Service, or Growing and Selling Herbs and Herbal Products, and so on.
If you're thinking about starting a business, do check the Startup Series to see if your specialty is included. I felt a spark of interest in starting something just from looking at the list.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Boldly on Hold
Seems to me that though there's a lot of scrambling going on in these difficult economic days, in some sense the country is on hold. Lots of decisions, actions, expenditures have been delayed. (Yesterday a writer told me about her novel, which was close to sold in October. A well-known editor at a major house loved it, needed only a committee's expected approval, said it could take as much as a week. The writer is still waiting. Her agent says it's going to happen but not soon because, "Things are a mess here.")
This brought to mind a question: how does one best handle being on hold? A lot of that depends on money of course: whether, primarily, to focus on writing another novel or on finding a job bagging groceries. However, there's a psychological part of the response that is also important. It's a question of keeping on with what's important anyway.
Once in my early pre-email years of freelancing, I had a few days when I didn't have enough money to buy stamps. I just kept writing the letters, so I'd have them ready to send, when I got hold of the stamps. It was only letters, and it was only a few days, so no big deal. But now, we face something like that situation nationwide, and I think it's important that we keep on with our important work, even while on hold.
And maybe there are ways that being boldly on hold can offer something new and useful to the process. I also remember a screenwriter talking about how upbeat and productive she was during a writer's strike of many months. She had a sense of freedom, because she knew the phone wasn't going to ring, knew already that she wasn't going to sell anything today; and so she worried less and felt free to concentrate on her work.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
This brought to mind a question: how does one best handle being on hold? A lot of that depends on money of course: whether, primarily, to focus on writing another novel or on finding a job bagging groceries. However, there's a psychological part of the response that is also important. It's a question of keeping on with what's important anyway.
Once in my early pre-email years of freelancing, I had a few days when I didn't have enough money to buy stamps. I just kept writing the letters, so I'd have them ready to send, when I got hold of the stamps. It was only letters, and it was only a few days, so no big deal. But now, we face something like that situation nationwide, and I think it's important that we keep on with our important work, even while on hold.
And maybe there are ways that being boldly on hold can offer something new and useful to the process. I also remember a screenwriter talking about how upbeat and productive she was during a writer's strike of many months. She had a sense of freedom, because she knew the phone wasn't going to ring, knew already that she wasn't going to sell anything today; and so she worried less and felt free to concentrate on her work.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
ORGANIZING FOR THE CREATIVE PERSON
My friend Sabine was helping a mutual friend overhaul the inside of her house. They'd been hard at it all morning and then met me for lunch (I, who had merely been sitting at a computer.) Their dust-stirring industry was inspiring to hear about.
Sabine had learned a lot of her techniques, she said, from Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals by Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Cotter Lamping.
My first reaction: what a persuasive title. It begins by flattering the reader: I may be a heap, but I'm an imaginative one. The flattery sticks because there's truth to it, for most anyone who would pick it up. (Aside: another book that did that welcome-to-the-book gesture well was first published in Europe with the title Prisoners of Childhood. It went on to succeed in this country under the title Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self. What a difference a few words can make.)
Anyway, back to my point. I've found some good stuff here:
*you don't have to get rid of a particular objet, just find a place for it
*a pile of papers is a pile of unmade decisions (get BOLD and make those decisions)
*if you're intensely engaged in doing something you value, you're an instant success (this can be helpful for writers who ask themselves: will it sell? will it be good? am I wasting my time?)
*little bits of regular effort add up; regularly set a timer for 15 minutes and spend that long on one troublesome problem
And I haven't even finished reading it; my husband got hold of it, which is just fine with me. If we both did a bit of straightening, there's no telling what treasures we might find. (I found five lost items just yesterday: earring, purple jacket, camel pin, checkbook, and a notebook.) More on camel pin another day.
Happy organizing, you bold and creative person. Do feel free to report results here.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sabine had learned a lot of her techniques, she said, from Organizing for the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time, and Reaching Your Goals by Dorothy Lehmkuhl and Dolores Cotter Lamping.
My first reaction: what a persuasive title. It begins by flattering the reader: I may be a heap, but I'm an imaginative one. The flattery sticks because there's truth to it, for most anyone who would pick it up. (Aside: another book that did that welcome-to-the-book gesture well was first published in Europe with the title Prisoners of Childhood. It went on to succeed in this country under the title Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self. What a difference a few words can make.)
Anyway, back to my point. I've found some good stuff here:
*you don't have to get rid of a particular objet, just find a place for it
*a pile of papers is a pile of unmade decisions (get BOLD and make those decisions)
*if you're intensely engaged in doing something you value, you're an instant success (this can be helpful for writers who ask themselves: will it sell? will it be good? am I wasting my time?)
*little bits of regular effort add up; regularly set a timer for 15 minutes and spend that long on one troublesome problem
And I haven't even finished reading it; my husband got hold of it, which is just fine with me. If we both did a bit of straightening, there's no telling what treasures we might find. (I found five lost items just yesterday: earring, purple jacket, camel pin, checkbook, and a notebook.) More on camel pin another day.
Happy organizing, you bold and creative person. Do feel free to report results here.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Chasing Updike
My one meeting, some years ago, with my hero John Updike involved a very small bit of boldness, which turned out well in its modest way. It took place not long after my first novel Revelation had come out. I wrote about the incident at the time for a Research Triangle newspaper. I'm "the local novelist" of the story. Here it is, in memory of an extraordinary writer who died last week:
Author Mobbed, Politely
The afternoon book signing had been underway for twenty-five minutes, and the line was now stretched, more than two hundred strong, from the deep recesses of Duke's Gothic Bookshop across the wide traffic area inside the Bryan Student Center.
Seated in the back of the store was the focus of this throng, John Updike, signing copies of his books.
As the line moved slowly into the store, a local novelist, proud author of one published book, arrived to take her place in the waiting crowd. Ten minutes passed before the line appeared to move at all.
People waited quietly, many of them reading. The line inched forward as Updike fans continued to arrive, some with big sacks of his books. The local novelist carried in her stack a copy of her own book to give to her longtime hero. She and Updike were inextricably linked, she knew: Her own writing had been compared with his in many of her book's reviews.
An hour passed. People began to check their watches more often. The glass doors of the store were still several feet away.
A store official came out and warned: He probably won't get to you. More than one hundred remained, politely refusing to hear any such thing.
The local novelist did make it through the doors. Updike was in clear view now, his famous beak of a nose and his great pile of silver hair. Then, as those nearest watched, Updike stood up and left, vanished out the back door.
The local novelist turned to find that behind her was an equally disappointed local poet who had brought a volume of his own to offer as a gift.
The crowd broke for dinner, then reassembled later in front of Page Auditorium, to wait an hour to get good seats for the reading.
Updike read and talked to a crowded house. He was witty, hyperintelligent, genuine--everything that the assembled body had come to hear. Then he finished and left the stage. Again the chance to meet him had passed--until one student raced up onto the stage and back into the wings and was quickly followed by dozens more.
Good-humoredly, Updike started signing books again. Again the line moved slowly. Finally the local novelist stood before the long-awaited Updike--just as a student official interrupted, saying, "I'm sorry. We have to clear the stage."
The local novelist, about to miss out the second time, was suddenly wild-eyed. She shoved her book at the surprised Updike with both hands. "Here," she said. "This is a present. I wrote this."
Updike stared for a moment and blinked. "Follow me," he said.
"Keep your place in line," he called out to the whole crowd, "and follow me."
Single file then, Pied Piper-style, he led several dozen people in a circuitous route, out through the wings, down the flight of steps, out of the auditorium, across a stretch of campus, back into the student center. The line followed him faithfully as he searched for a place to sit.
Then the line waited again. Updike signed more books. He accepted the book, finally, from the local novelist, who forgot to mention their intertwined fates. He accepted the volume of verse from the poet. At 10 p.m. the crowd dispersed for the last time, six hours after it had begun to form. Fans of a different sort might have rioted. But for these New Yorker-reading groupies, gathered to honor a novelist of marriage, manners, and morals, a ruckus like that never would have done.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Author Mobbed, Politely
The afternoon book signing had been underway for twenty-five minutes, and the line was now stretched, more than two hundred strong, from the deep recesses of Duke's Gothic Bookshop across the wide traffic area inside the Bryan Student Center.
Seated in the back of the store was the focus of this throng, John Updike, signing copies of his books.
As the line moved slowly into the store, a local novelist, proud author of one published book, arrived to take her place in the waiting crowd. Ten minutes passed before the line appeared to move at all.
People waited quietly, many of them reading. The line inched forward as Updike fans continued to arrive, some with big sacks of his books. The local novelist carried in her stack a copy of her own book to give to her longtime hero. She and Updike were inextricably linked, she knew: Her own writing had been compared with his in many of her book's reviews.
An hour passed. People began to check their watches more often. The glass doors of the store were still several feet away.
A store official came out and warned: He probably won't get to you. More than one hundred remained, politely refusing to hear any such thing.
The local novelist did make it through the doors. Updike was in clear view now, his famous beak of a nose and his great pile of silver hair. Then, as those nearest watched, Updike stood up and left, vanished out the back door.
The local novelist turned to find that behind her was an equally disappointed local poet who had brought a volume of his own to offer as a gift.
The crowd broke for dinner, then reassembled later in front of Page Auditorium, to wait an hour to get good seats for the reading.
Updike read and talked to a crowded house. He was witty, hyperintelligent, genuine--everything that the assembled body had come to hear. Then he finished and left the stage. Again the chance to meet him had passed--until one student raced up onto the stage and back into the wings and was quickly followed by dozens more.
Good-humoredly, Updike started signing books again. Again the line moved slowly. Finally the local novelist stood before the long-awaited Updike--just as a student official interrupted, saying, "I'm sorry. We have to clear the stage."
The local novelist, about to miss out the second time, was suddenly wild-eyed. She shoved her book at the surprised Updike with both hands. "Here," she said. "This is a present. I wrote this."
Updike stared for a moment and blinked. "Follow me," he said.
"Keep your place in line," he called out to the whole crowd, "and follow me."
Single file then, Pied Piper-style, he led several dozen people in a circuitous route, out through the wings, down the flight of steps, out of the auditorium, across a stretch of campus, back into the student center. The line followed him faithfully as he searched for a place to sit.
Then the line waited again. Updike signed more books. He accepted the book, finally, from the local novelist, who forgot to mention their intertwined fates. He accepted the volume of verse from the poet. At 10 p.m. the crowd dispersed for the last time, six hours after it had begun to form. Fans of a different sort might have rioted. But for these New Yorker-reading groupies, gathered to honor a novelist of marriage, manners, and morals, a ruckus like that never would have done.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Self-Doubt in the Great
Recently, in discussing the writer's self-doubt in the comments with writer Greta, I speculated that even my hero the recently passed John Updike probably had such moments.
In one of the tributes to Updike in The New Yorker since, I found proof of this. In a letter to novelist E.L. Doctorow, Updike wrote that as a young man he was busily unfolding his own stories with techniques learned from others (which, may I say, he utterly transformed.) But, writing one day in his later years, he said: "now I am almost paralyzed by thinking of the great number of contemporary writers who know things I don’t know and can do things I can’t."
Doctorow's comment: "The self doubt of this prodigious talent moved the hell out of me."
But he wasn't paralyzed. He kept writing and publishing. He kept at it, in spite of any wobbles.
(Tomorrow: a piece I wrote years ago about my one encounter with Updike.)
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
In one of the tributes to Updike in The New Yorker since, I found proof of this. In a letter to novelist E.L. Doctorow, Updike wrote that as a young man he was busily unfolding his own stories with techniques learned from others (which, may I say, he utterly transformed.) But, writing one day in his later years, he said: "now I am almost paralyzed by thinking of the great number of contemporary writers who know things I don’t know and can do things I can’t."
Doctorow's comment: "The self doubt of this prodigious talent moved the hell out of me."
But he wasn't paralyzed. He kept writing and publishing. He kept at it, in spite of any wobbles.
(Tomorrow: a piece I wrote years ago about my one encounter with Updike.)
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Getting Up the Nerve to Be Genuine
I've just come from my friend Laurel's 70th birthday brunch, held by the members of her Thursday afternoon writer's class/group, which I have been a member of for 26 years.
In advance of the day, we put together a small album in which we each had six pages to use as we wish to express our appreciation to her. As I said in this book, these kinds of productions make me nervous. Too much untempered emotion, I suppose. But I got into it. We all did. She was overwhelmed. It was very satisfying for everyone involved.
Regularly and easily expressing emotion of the warm fuzzy kind-- for me that would be truly bold. What takes courage is so different for each of us. I tell myself that when I see someone go bonkers over a spider.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
In advance of the day, we put together a small album in which we each had six pages to use as we wish to express our appreciation to her. As I said in this book, these kinds of productions make me nervous. Too much untempered emotion, I suppose. But I got into it. We all did. She was overwhelmed. It was very satisfying for everyone involved.
Regularly and easily expressing emotion of the warm fuzzy kind-- for me that would be truly bold. What takes courage is so different for each of us. I tell myself that when I see someone go bonkers over a spider.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Importance of Sweating the Small Stuff
Response to my Wednesday's post about dealing with a Blue Cross coverage malfunction leads me to impassionedly say more.
The ideas a couple of people expressed -- which I welcome! -- include the view that others are worse off, I shouldn't sweat the small stuff, and that I think about what Gandhi would do .
Yes, there are people horrifically worse off. My difficulty is minor. I agree.
And that is why it's important for me to speak and act. I do a disservice to many if I take the easier route and become one more person who doesn't go to the trouble of protesting when a big company doesn't do right by an individual.
It's only the well-off who can afford to blow off the loss of $200. And only the well-off can afford to say, "This won't do. It has to stop." If I, with my advantages, look the other way (which is so tempting) I will have failed myself. And failed anyone else whom my taking action might have helped.
About Gandhi. I think of him often. He's the guy who said it's each person's responsibility to refuse to cooperate in his own oppression. Noncooperation was his chief alternative to violence. And he dealt with the little injustices (problems with salt) as well as the large. Little things ignored grow large, particularly as they multiply across a population.
My philosophy for myself is: sweat and don't fret. I write instead of fretting. Gandhi's version of that is to do the work full tilt and don't hang your peace of mind on the results. (And of course: breathe!)
I welcome and encourage your further thoughts here on this.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on get="_blank">Digg. Thanks so much.
The ideas a couple of people expressed -- which I welcome! -- include the view that others are worse off, I shouldn't sweat the small stuff, and that I think about what Gandhi would do .
Yes, there are people horrifically worse off. My difficulty is minor. I agree.
And that is why it's important for me to speak and act. I do a disservice to many if I take the easier route and become one more person who doesn't go to the trouble of protesting when a big company doesn't do right by an individual.
It's only the well-off who can afford to blow off the loss of $200. And only the well-off can afford to say, "This won't do. It has to stop." If I, with my advantages, look the other way (which is so tempting) I will have failed myself. And failed anyone else whom my taking action might have helped.
About Gandhi. I think of him often. He's the guy who said it's each person's responsibility to refuse to cooperate in his own oppression. Noncooperation was his chief alternative to violence. And he dealt with the little injustices (problems with salt) as well as the large. Little things ignored grow large, particularly as they multiply across a population.
My philosophy for myself is: sweat and don't fret. I write instead of fretting. Gandhi's version of that is to do the work full tilt and don't hang your peace of mind on the results. (And of course: breathe!)
I welcome and encourage your further thoughts here on this.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on get="_blank">Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
My Little Health Insurance Hell: Part Two
So after my first efforts failed, I (boldly) talked with a Blue Cross rep by phone who kindly told me the name of a drugstore where I could get a vaccination that would be covered.
The next day I went to the drugstore. They give the anti-shingles shots, but said my insurance wouldn't cover it. I reported that I'd been told to come there specifically. The pharmacy man said Blue Cross is telling people that they can get the shots there, with coverage, but that BC hadn't yet given the store the infrastructure and info needed to do it.
He said people are coming to that store on a daily basis, expecting to get the vaccine with Blue Cross coverage, and then not being able to get that.
So, fuming in my car in the mall parking lot, I (boldly) called Blue Cross again and was told that all the info I'd received on the previous day about the drugstore was incorrect.
Now seethingly considering my next (bold) action.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
The next day I went to the drugstore. They give the anti-shingles shots, but said my insurance wouldn't cover it. I reported that I'd been told to come there specifically. The pharmacy man said Blue Cross is telling people that they can get the shots there, with coverage, but that BC hadn't yet given the store the infrastructure and info needed to do it.
He said people are coming to that store on a daily basis, expecting to get the vaccine with Blue Cross coverage, and then not being able to get that.
So, fuming in my car in the mall parking lot, I (boldly) called Blue Cross again and was told that all the info I'd received on the previous day about the drugstore was incorrect.
Now seethingly considering my next (bold) action.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Problem Solving
Lately I've been feeling indomitable in the matter of solving the kinds of little problems that often I'm tempted to let sit a few days. Like dealing with getting an acknowledgment of purchase for an order I'd just cancelled. Or finding someone to give me a vaccination in the manner that my insurance company requires. All those paperwork-y, this-is-not-what-we-agreed-on, 800-number type things.
And I've rediscovered (for the millionth time) that solving one such problem, even if the outcome isn't ideal, makes the next little project easier.
So I Googled "solving small problems" to see what others had to say. Some results, which I heartily endorse:
"Get control of the office by solving little problems quickly. Don't let little issues now turn into bigger ones later. Tackle them immediately for a sense of control."
"But avoiding them can leave you feeling like you have little control and that just adds to stress. ... Feeling capable of solving little problems builds the inner confidence to move on to life's bigger ones - and it and can serve you well in times of stress."
"Make it a goal to have at least one new idea everyday; this will get you to be more creative. Create your own mathematical or physical problems and try to solve them. Get in the habit of solving little problems all day, for instance finding the quickest way around town...."
Note: I don't need to create any more mathematical or physical problems. I'll bet you also have enough on hand to open up the creative channels and add muscle to your solving ability.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
And I've rediscovered (for the millionth time) that solving one such problem, even if the outcome isn't ideal, makes the next little project easier.
So I Googled "solving small problems" to see what others had to say. Some results, which I heartily endorse:
"Get control of the office by solving little problems quickly. Don't let little issues now turn into bigger ones later. Tackle them immediately for a sense of control."
"But avoiding them can leave you feeling like you have little control and that just adds to stress. ... Feeling capable of solving little problems builds the inner confidence to move on to life's bigger ones - and it and can serve you well in times of stress."
"Make it a goal to have at least one new idea everyday; this will get you to be more creative. Create your own mathematical or physical problems and try to solve them. Get in the habit of solving little problems all day, for instance finding the quickest way around town...."
Note: I don't need to create any more mathematical or physical problems. I'll bet you also have enough on hand to open up the creative channels and add muscle to your solving ability.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Dealing Boldly With Blue Cross
Oboy. Health insurance Catch-22,000.
Here's what I emailed to my friend Angela Friday when this happened:
"I ordered the $200 serum for the shingles vaccine after checking to see that it was covered. When I went to get it to take to my doc, the pharm. said they hadn't covered it because it had to be ordered by the doctor from the serum company not by prescription to be picked up by the patient.
So I left it at the drugstore and went to my doc's and they called BCBS and said our patients always get it at the drugstore. (According to the nurse,) BC said, well, that's changed now.
My doc's office continues to work on it.
So irksome. Driving around Cary all afternoon for nought. My mother had her shingles shot scheduled and woke up with shingles on the morning she was to get the shot. Bob pointed out to me that at least I wasn't dealing with insurance at the same time I was terribly sick. (Like Obama's mother. He has talked a lot about her spending her last months upset about insurance.)
Thank you for allowing me to vent."
Update: So this morning my doc called and said she doesn't order serum through her office. She did kindly offer to administer the shot at no charge, once I get the serum.
I have to pay the drugstore, because after having been told by BC that my policy covered it, I agreed to. (I'm not going to claim that my own policy toward paying bills has changed to not paying them, or now includes a disclaimer that says I don't have to if I don't want to.)
And now to discover my appeals possibilities, with BC BS and the Department of Insurance person.
I don't like this. And it's not right. Am all over it. (Meaning "in action," not "recovered.") Will keep you posted.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Here's what I emailed to my friend Angela Friday when this happened:
"I ordered the $200 serum for the shingles vaccine after checking to see that it was covered. When I went to get it to take to my doc, the pharm. said they hadn't covered it because it had to be ordered by the doctor from the serum company not by prescription to be picked up by the patient.
So I left it at the drugstore and went to my doc's and they called BCBS and said our patients always get it at the drugstore. (According to the nurse,) BC said, well, that's changed now.
My doc's office continues to work on it.
So irksome. Driving around Cary all afternoon for nought. My mother had her shingles shot scheduled and woke up with shingles on the morning she was to get the shot. Bob pointed out to me that at least I wasn't dealing with insurance at the same time I was terribly sick. (Like Obama's mother. He has talked a lot about her spending her last months upset about insurance.)
Thank you for allowing me to vent."
Update: So this morning my doc called and said she doesn't order serum through her office. She did kindly offer to administer the shot at no charge, once I get the serum.
I have to pay the drugstore, because after having been told by BC that my policy covered it, I agreed to. (I'm not going to claim that my own policy toward paying bills has changed to not paying them, or now includes a disclaimer that says I don't have to if I don't want to.)
And now to discover my appeals possibilities, with BC BS and the Department of Insurance person.
I don't like this. And it's not right. Am all over it. (Meaning "in action," not "recovered.") Will keep you posted.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Courage to Face the Times' Crossword Puzzle
Major bold move of this weekend so far: I bought a new crossword puzzle book, having done all I could with the last one. The ones I currently go for are the New York Times easy-to-hard collections. I once threw away an unfinished one that was all Sunday Times crosswords. (Times puzzles are easiest on Monday and get harder all week.)
Perhaps you are thinking that this doesn't seem like a bold move. But being a not-so-serious cruciverbalist can be humbling. It's like getting an achievement test score every day, when you took the test on not enough sleep.
I've been dabbling at it on and off for years and I've gotten somewhat better at it--can pretty well whip through Monday through Wednesday. And I remember the time when Monday was a test. Recently I read about a fellow who won't do the Mon-Wed puzzles because they're simply too easy for him to be engaging. I fancy myself fairly clever and well-read and up on cultural references (weak on rivers and athletes) but I may never get to that league.
Still,last night I sharpened my pencil once again. And there's little that's so delicious as a good pencil and a clean puzzle.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Perhaps you are thinking that this doesn't seem like a bold move. But being a not-so-serious cruciverbalist can be humbling. It's like getting an achievement test score every day, when you took the test on not enough sleep.
I've been dabbling at it on and off for years and I've gotten somewhat better at it--can pretty well whip through Monday through Wednesday. And I remember the time when Monday was a test. Recently I read about a fellow who won't do the Mon-Wed puzzles because they're simply too easy for him to be engaging. I fancy myself fairly clever and well-read and up on cultural references (weak on rivers and athletes) but I may never get to that league.
Still,last night I sharpened my pencil once again. And there's little that's so delicious as a good pencil and a clean puzzle.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Between Semesters
Looks like I'm finished with a large writing project. There may be a few more details, but probably not much more than that.
I like the weightless feeling that getting something done gives me. On the other hand, this was extremely interesting: revising a book on a topic that fascinates me. I'll miss it.
But I haven't arrived at that mood yet: still in the weightless period, making calls I'd put off making, spending a little more time on my novel, doing smaller critiques, not rushing back from lunch, and feeling pleasantly open to surprises.
My horoscope today on Daily Om : "Feelings of boldness and a sense of self-assurance are your likely companions as you walk through life today." Yes, indeed!
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
I like the weightless feeling that getting something done gives me. On the other hand, this was extremely interesting: revising a book on a topic that fascinates me. I'll miss it.
But I haven't arrived at that mood yet: still in the weightless period, making calls I'd put off making, spending a little more time on my novel, doing smaller critiques, not rushing back from lunch, and feeling pleasantly open to surprises.
My horoscope today on Daily Om : "Feelings of boldness and a sense of self-assurance are your likely companions as you walk through life today." Yes, indeed!
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bold Even in the Details
I was so happy with yesterday's inauguration, in large ways and small. I do feel that we begin fresh again, perhaps as we have never done before.
Here in central North Carolina, we woke up to see new fresh deep snow, as we've not seen here in quite a long while. Everything looked pristine.
And then I saw (on TV) the hundreds of thousands of flags waving on the Mall, and Obama himself, and the line-up of former presidents and defeated contenders gathered to witness the "peaceful transfer of power" and I felt a confidence in us that I haven't felt in a while.
I was also thrilled by one little detail. At the moment of word bumbling in the oath: Obama didn't get flustered! He didn't let a small problem lead to a bigger one. He was graceful and the awkward moment passed.
Hooray for a leader who can smoothly handle an awkward moment in front of a high percentage of the people in the planet -- and who also thinks straight and means well. This is the best combo I can imagine.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Here in central North Carolina, we woke up to see new fresh deep snow, as we've not seen here in quite a long while. Everything looked pristine.
And then I saw (on TV) the hundreds of thousands of flags waving on the Mall, and Obama himself, and the line-up of former presidents and defeated contenders gathered to witness the "peaceful transfer of power" and I felt a confidence in us that I haven't felt in a while.
I was also thrilled by one little detail. At the moment of word bumbling in the oath: Obama didn't get flustered! He didn't let a small problem lead to a bigger one. He was graceful and the awkward moment passed.
Hooray for a leader who can smoothly handle an awkward moment in front of a high percentage of the people in the planet -- and who also thinks straight and means well. This is the best combo I can imagine.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Monday, January 19, 2009
V.S. Naipaul and M.L. King
Here it is MLK Day and I'm not at the march just down the street; instead I'm obsessed with V.S. Naipaul.
Now, Martin Luther King is one of the people I admire most in all of human history. Never has boldness been put to better use than in the creation of the nonviolent civil rights movement.
But this past week I've been obsessively reading The World Is What It Is, the biography of Nobel laureate writer Naipaul by Patrick French. Never have I been more engrossed in a book.
First, Naipaul is the author of one of my two favorite books, Enigma of Arrival, and I'm a devoted admirer of almost all of his work. I agree with the assessment of many that Naipaul is the best living writer of English, and an extremely perceptive observer of the world. From what I've read, I also agree with the assessment of many that he has been a world-class jerk to quite a number of people.
In my view, these two outstanding facets of the man neither excuse nor diminish each other. His work "is what it is," no matter what he has done otherwise. At the same time, the fact that his books are extraordinary, that he exerts a brilliant charm, does not make it okay to mistreat people, to act in a manner that has often seemed mean and petty and prejudiced and fiercely elitist. (When I described some of the incidents to Husband Bob, he summed up his response in an off-the-cuff couplet: "Don't mess/With V.S.")
But, as so many have been, I'm fascinated by the combo. Some would call it bold to be as unapologetically self-centered as his authorized biography shows him. I don't see it that way.
But his work is bold; it fits no categories, which is an enormous risk for a writer who wants to be published. His language and insight are of such quality that he got past that obstacle.
By contrast, Martin Luther King's view of people was bold. He wanted--and brought closer--justice and opportunity for "all of God's children."
(If Naipaul, a Trinidadian Indian, making his way alone and poor in London had not faced so much prejudice himself, he might have emerged more accepting.)
Both people have achieved something extraordinary and enduring. Neither was/is a perfect individual.(King appears to have been a less than ideal husband.) Tremendous achievement doesn't take away the less admirable aspects of a person. But when I'm feeling less than admirable, I find the example of landmark-achievement-by-flawed-human a good one to keep in mind.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Now, Martin Luther King is one of the people I admire most in all of human history. Never has boldness been put to better use than in the creation of the nonviolent civil rights movement.
But this past week I've been obsessively reading The World Is What It Is, the biography of Nobel laureate writer Naipaul by Patrick French. Never have I been more engrossed in a book.
First, Naipaul is the author of one of my two favorite books, Enigma of Arrival, and I'm a devoted admirer of almost all of his work. I agree with the assessment of many that Naipaul is the best living writer of English, and an extremely perceptive observer of the world. From what I've read, I also agree with the assessment of many that he has been a world-class jerk to quite a number of people.
In my view, these two outstanding facets of the man neither excuse nor diminish each other. His work "is what it is," no matter what he has done otherwise. At the same time, the fact that his books are extraordinary, that he exerts a brilliant charm, does not make it okay to mistreat people, to act in a manner that has often seemed mean and petty and prejudiced and fiercely elitist. (When I described some of the incidents to Husband Bob, he summed up his response in an off-the-cuff couplet: "Don't mess/With V.S.")
But, as so many have been, I'm fascinated by the combo. Some would call it bold to be as unapologetically self-centered as his authorized biography shows him. I don't see it that way.
But his work is bold; it fits no categories, which is an enormous risk for a writer who wants to be published. His language and insight are of such quality that he got past that obstacle.
By contrast, Martin Luther King's view of people was bold. He wanted--and brought closer--justice and opportunity for "all of God's children."
(If Naipaul, a Trinidadian Indian, making his way alone and poor in London had not faced so much prejudice himself, he might have emerged more accepting.)
Both people have achieved something extraordinary and enduring. Neither was/is a perfect individual.(King appears to have been a less than ideal husband.) Tremendous achievement doesn't take away the less admirable aspects of a person. But when I'm feeling less than admirable, I find the example of landmark-achievement-by-flawed-human a good one to keep in mind.
If you like this post, please bookmark it on del.icio.us, share it on StumbleUpon, vote for it on Digg. Thanks so much.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Blogroll, Book Links, etc.
PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITE:
PeggyPayne.com
To Buy My Books:
American gathers courage in a Hindu holy city
A preacher-mystic dares to tell about the voices
Giving can heal and empower the giver
A business encourages bold thinking
Using This Blog
Elaine Neil Orr