Standing the Test of Time

“He was never lonely because he was beginning to write. He had discovered that in communing with his own mind he was in communication with life.”

                    The Eternal Wonder by Pearl S. Buck

                                Page 2162 Kindle edition

The sun is shining for the first time in days. The blue of the sky is a brilliant contrast to the white of the snow.

This quote says it all. Sometimes there is something magical about the writing process. In the past, I have guarded my writing time with a passion. Presently I am in an ideal situation, spending the winter in a beautiful setting in the Ponderosa Pines near the Columbia River, and this winter I have the house to myself. I feel quite luxurious, with my laptop, my books, my notebooks, pens strewn all over and the whole days to work on my projects. Certainly, I am not lonely.

I imagine that writers throughout the centuries have felt transported as they created their works. I have been discouraged many times over the years but I keep coming back to what sustains me. I have many good writers that I admire and are a source of inspiration.

Pearl S Buck was a Nobel Prize winner and was awarded the Pulitzer for A Good Earth. The Eternal Wonder, her last book, was lost for 40 years and was published in 2013.

https://www.npr.org/2013/05/25/186318860/a-lost-and-found-wonder-pearl-s-bucks-final-novel

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1938/buck-bio.html

WHO ME?

WRITING MEMOIRS

           Why I want to write my memoirs?  The most obvious is the fact not only do I like to write, I am compelled to write and over the years have learned that my strengths are NOT in fiction writing, and although I can occasionally write a short story, essays, personal journaling, poetry are more to my liking. And now I have discovered memoir writing. A big difference here, too, is that I no longer care about the impressing the world at large. I am doing this for myself and for my family.

         My main inspiration is to leave a legacy for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. My grandfather and my father inspired me, as each of them has written about their own lives as their families homesteaded and grew up in the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington. My father also recounts his experiences in WWII in which he landed on the beaches of France. I appreciate the value of these stories and I have the desire to write memoirs of my own; to share a part of myself with the people I love the most.

         One of the first things I had to get firmly in my head was the DIFFERENCE between an autobiography, a journal, and a memoir. An autobiography is a broader description of one’s life and more linear. For example, where you were born, when you got married, etc. A journal tends to be records of thoughts, daily growth, and reflections. A memoir, as I understand it, captures the “slice of life” moments in our lives; the events that change us.

        Three resources are I use are Shimmering Images by Lisa Dale Norton , The Memoir  Project by Marion Roach Smith and MEMOIRS OF THE SOUL  By Nan Phifer.

Wish me luck and stay tuned! Comments and reflections are welcome.

Compassionate Abiding

Living in a place where the winter is deep and white has proven to be both a quietly joyful and heart wrenching journey this year. Today I am alone with my thoughts and my feelings but this solitude is also comforting. In the aftermath of some deep emotional challenges the past couple of years I learn different ways to cope and to process the events of life.
I have been blessed with the time and the space to slow down and live one day at a time. I sit by the warmth of the woodstove and watch the snow falling past the window. Every once in awhile there is a loud thud as the snow slides down off the roof and lands in a big pile.

Along with books, movies,  and my journal, I also have the benefit of the internet which is a great tool, my “window to the world”. Recently I discovered an interview of Pema Chodron done by Oprah, two of my favorite teachers.  I feel compelled to give it a home here on my blog. Enjoy!

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/02/pema-chodron-exercise-suffering-discontent_n_6255410.html