Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Give sustenance to the truth
I often exchange letters with friend of mine from the MFA program at BGSU back in 1989, and we discuss what it means to be "a writer." In my last letter to her, I sent along a copy of the Granta Confessional and suggested she read the essay "Envy." My friend said that after reading it she felt, "This is where I belong." She tells me her own truths scare her. She feels a dichotomy between "the person who confesses" (her inner, true self) and the outward life she is leading. She is afraid no one will like the inner self. I believe this is the threshold we all must cross and we must learn to value the inner, real self. That is where our art comes from. That is the part of ourselves we must sustain.
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4 comments:
Came here after you linked in the message boards, Theresa. Nice start to your journal! I hope to read more! Sheila (who is also in Ohio)
Nice journal. I write, too, tho not professionally published yet. I wrote fan fiction for 15 years and have been working on a science fiction novel for the last 3 years. I've never thought about inner truths or what being a writer means or anything like that. I just write the stories that come to me. You offer an interesting perspective. http://journals.aol.com/ShellyS555/CyberChocolate and my writing blog, Presto Speaks! http://prestoimp.blogspot.com
THIS PROMISES TO BE A GREAT JOURNAL!
Oh my gosh...this is so true...my inner self scares me too. I find myself, on a daily basis, trying to be what I think others expect me to be...and after perfecting this task in my 48 years, I feel I have lost myself totally. There is a part of me that needs to know that self, but I am so afraid that to know my true self is to live in that self and then all those other people I have been pleasing will no longer like what they see. I have been thinking so much lately that maybe I could "reach" my true self through writing...and that is why I have begun my journalling. I only have 3 entries, but please check it out sometime...http://journals.aol.com/tj62156/WhenIrishEyesAreSmiling...your comments would be very welcome and I would love to have your help on my writers journey if you have both the time and desire to mento me.
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