Keep on keeping on
"so much that's worthy occurs by accident"
I did a 21-day meditation thing with Alicia Keys and Deepak Chopra. It was good guidance for me, as my meditation practice slips and needs reinforcements now and then. I’m not feeling so good lately — in body and soul, to tell you the truth. I’m not going to muse and mull over reasons like I might have in the past. They are actually quite obvious and go beyond the pandamnic. My own navel-gazing doesn’t much interest me. My good friend said yesterday, You should write about it. We are fully bodies, aren’t we, and I am a body hunted by a hunter hare-brained with a stupid gun and deadly aim.
I marvel at the faithful.
I fantasize nearly every day these days about a reading retreat. The things I want are to be alone with woods nearby, rain, a pile of New Yorkers, a book or two. I’d like three nights. I don’t want this recreated at home. I don’t know if this is possible. Send me a box of rain.
Reader, what are you reading? I am working on a re-read of Jane Eyre and then Wide Sargosso Sea, preparing for a scholarly class in late July. Doesn’t that sound deeply satisfying? I’m considering a class on capitalism — on unhooking from it. The class is led by two women, one of whom, Jen Lemen, has taught me so much over the last year that I can’t even write about it, yet. I have finished a sometimes laugh out loud, fairly light but beautifully written novel called Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny. I’m also re-reading with my various students: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and some magical realism. I was struck by this poem by Stephen Dunn the other day. It’s called “The Contrarian’s Advice to Himself” and it was published in the online magazine “Rattle.” Here’s the link. I love that last bit:
And if you believe that genetics
has given you one face
but your job is to create
for yourself another, try not to worry
when you fail. So much that’s worthy
occurs by accident. The Bible
couldn’t have been written by people
who thought they were writing the Bible.
I’ve said it before, but reading is my only constant.
Sophie looks terrific and still reminds me of my Haya, who's now 26.. We're trying the Keto Diet these days for the second time around - a real challenge. But we're still dreaming of seizure- free days. Cannabis didn't do it and since our supplier temporarily stopped supplying CBD oil a few months ago we were forced to wean Haya off it. Surprisingly, that didn't upset her. I trust Sophie isn't seizing these days.
My son just supplied me with a few Tony Hillerman murder mysteries: I've begun with "Skeleton Man" which was quite good.
Rainy reading retreat, even the words are soothing! I am working my way through all of Louise Erdrich's novels, re-reading in the order of publication. I fell in love with her characters years ago and wanted to check how we have aged. I still love them.
As a "proper task", I am tackling one chapter of Moby Dick a day, I do that in the bathroom wrapped in the towel after my morning shower. This idea of a chapter a day actually came from you some years ago when you suggested reading War&Peace that way over one year as it has 365 chapters. I actually did that and it was really fabulous, I even followed Napoleon's troops to Austerlitz on google earth.