Saturday, April 17, 2010

Little Gnome, Little Mice

Current Fortnightly Post:
"Play With This!"
I can appreciate Anne Lamott's anecdote about the evening when her son Sam hugged her good-night and they both suddenly realized how much taller than her he had grown: "Wow," he said, stepping back, "When did this happen? You're like a little gnome to me now."
(PLAN B, 150)
Speaking of which, in above photo:
My Younger Son Sam, Me [Little Gnome], My Older Son Ben
March 2010, Formby Pine Woods, Merseyside, England

Lamott on quieting the voices in your head: "Close your eyes and get quiet for a minute, until the chatter starts up. Then isolate one of the voices and imagine the person speaking as a mouse. Pick it up by the tail and drop it into a mason jar. Then isolate another voice, pick it up by the tail, drop it in the jar. And so on. Drop in any high-maintenance parental units, drop in any contractors, lawyers, colleagues, children, anyone who is whining in your head. Then put the lid on . . . imagine that there is a volume-control button on the bottle. Turn it all the way up for a minute, and listen to the stream of angry, guilt-mongering voices. Then turn it all the way down . . .and get back to your shitty first draft" (Bird by Bird, 27).

Another Safe Place: Little Mice in Cookie Jar
(click & scroll down)

Lamott on caution / conscience / consciousness: "Don't be afraid of your material or your past. Be afraid of wasting any more time obsessing about how you look and how people see you. Be afraid of not getting your writing done. . . . Don't worry about appearing sentimental. Worry about being unavailable; worry about being absent or fraudulent. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it" (Bird by Bird, 226).

FOR MORE ON ANNE LAMOTT'S NON-FICTION

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS:
A JOURNAL OF MY SON'S FIRST YEAR (1993)
BIRD BY BIRD:
SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE (1994)
TRAVELING MERCIES: SOME THOUGHTS ON FAITH (1999)
PLAN B: THOUGHTS ON FAITH (2005)
GRACE (EVENTUALLY): THOUGHTS ON FAITH (2007)

READ THE LATEST POST ON MY BOOK BLOG:
"CATCHING UP ON ANNE LAMOTT"

KITTI'S BOOK LIST
www.kittislist.blogspot.com

4 comments:

  1. Oh my you little gnome! Amazing. Who are those "men" in that picture with you? Are those our little boys who wore red wellies and help you sweep up Ginko leaves? All those guys are so big, how do you get to keep 'your space?' I know! You're a Gemini and they never know what you're really thinking! Great pics as always...

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  2. PS The quieting of voices - as you know, I've been practicing 'the still point' now for 3 months. Meditation practice is the hardest thing I have ever done and some days seems impossible! But today, just once in awhile, I get a glimpse of what stillness practice can be and even Mimi felt it and curled up quietly in my sitting lap to meditate!

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  3. Charlie Brown: "I keep having these tiny self doubts . . .
    do you think this is wrong?"

    Lucy: "Of course it's wrong, Charlie Brown . . . "

    see also:
    http://dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com/2011/02/prognosticators-dilemma.html

    and:
    http://dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com/2015/09/dawn-or-doom2.html

    ReplyDelete