From the short shorts packet I enjoyed Morning News the most. Not to be morbid or anything, I found the story to be touching and I felt a personal connection while reading it the first time.
In 2010 I lost my grandmother to cancer, my grandmother, her husband as well as the rest of the family had to go through the process of deciding what to do in her final moments. We all knew she would go fairly quickly and that she wanted to be comfortable. Yet, we all wanted to do more for her. Her great granddaughter, my cousin, would often lay with her or color for her. There came a time however where she had no idea who she, or any of the grandchildren were. I was often called my mothers name, I look and sound similar to her so I understood. Needless to say her biggest concern was leaving us all to fend for ourselves, especially my grandfather.
Going back to the summer we lost her and reading this short story opened my eyes, we all spend so much time talking and thinking about what we are going to do when we get that kind of news. It's unavoidable it seems these day. Yet, in the end it doesn't make a damn bit of difference. You will be gone, you will be missed and there will be a gap. That is what it comes down to.
It's nice to think we can rely or jump to religion when we are full of fear and hopelessness, but can we really? Is that right, after not believing a word of it a day in your life? No.
I found it ironic but also freeing that instead of going on this gran crusade or having a wondrous last meal, the man in the story went out with his wife and splurged on a television. It won't matter after he is gone but at least she will have the memories and be able to look back and laugh about the day they bought it.
It was touching that his first reaction after the expected shock, was not to be worried about himself, but worried about his wife. We all meet those who mean the world to us and we never want to be the first to go but sometimes it's best. It was sweet that though he was embarrassed the doctor delivering the news took the time to help him up instead of staring at him or laughing.
Overall I felt the story to be eye opening and it gave me a new perspective. Stop living for the future, we can't plan everything. Live in the now and don't waste the time we are given looking to what could be better, Accept your circumstances, and do the best you can. When it is time to go you'll know you've done the best you can and there won't be a need to consider "What now?".
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Writing Down the Bones Pt. 2 2/12/15
This week we read and discussed more from writing down the bones. I mentioned in my last post about the book how much I enjoyed reading from it and how relate-able she is in her stories.
For this weeks discussion I chose "Don't use writing to get love" being a writer in my free time I completely understand where she is going with this. I often give my poems or stories to people looking for feedback and I get " It was good I really liked all of it" or " I like the way this made me feel". While being able to get positive feedback is always nice, I find myself wanting to know what my readers didn't particularly like. Or even if they felt what I was trying to get them to feel. It's nice to have at least some emotion sparked, but is it what I was looking for? It is in a persons, especially a writers nature to look for love and acceptance but also criticism, this point is something Goldburg really hammers home.
She also makes a big point to go with your gut instinct and to find that balance of humility and confidence. If you aren't in the least bit confident, how will you move forward? But, that isn't to say that if you are overly confident you'll make it to the moon or wherever you may be trying to go. you need to be able to take good and bad criticism without going off the deep end or being cocky. Taking positive criticism is one of the hardest things we must learn to do.
I also liked her chapter " Be specific" the need for precise details is very prominent in many writing pieces. Many writers will generalize allowing the reader to make the details up along the way. What they don't realize is that many readers love being shown the scenes that are in our heads. Having a picture painted with a thousand words is much more satisfying than having a picture placed in front of us. Or even having twenty words thrown about giving us the gist but not that wonderful scene.
For this weeks discussion I chose "Don't use writing to get love" being a writer in my free time I completely understand where she is going with this. I often give my poems or stories to people looking for feedback and I get " It was good I really liked all of it" or " I like the way this made me feel". While being able to get positive feedback is always nice, I find myself wanting to know what my readers didn't particularly like. Or even if they felt what I was trying to get them to feel. It's nice to have at least some emotion sparked, but is it what I was looking for? It is in a persons, especially a writers nature to look for love and acceptance but also criticism, this point is something Goldburg really hammers home.
She also makes a big point to go with your gut instinct and to find that balance of humility and confidence. If you aren't in the least bit confident, how will you move forward? But, that isn't to say that if you are overly confident you'll make it to the moon or wherever you may be trying to go. you need to be able to take good and bad criticism without going off the deep end or being cocky. Taking positive criticism is one of the hardest things we must learn to do.
I also liked her chapter " Be specific" the need for precise details is very prominent in many writing pieces. Many writers will generalize allowing the reader to make the details up along the way. What they don't realize is that many readers love being shown the scenes that are in our heads. Having a picture painted with a thousand words is much more satisfying than having a picture placed in front of us. Or even having twenty words thrown about giving us the gist but not that wonderful scene.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)