'The world's bright loveliness...' so begins my translation of Rudolf Steiner's Calendar of the Soul verse for this week, specifically in the mood of St. John. And truly, no phrase could better express this morning and the glorious blooming of flowers and tree growth around me.
I was going to write 'etiolation' but that word always takes me back to when I first discovered it, specifically, to Lawrence Durrell, who used it in The Alexandria Quartet. I read this years ago when I worked in the library of the French Institute in London. Yes... lots of tempting books. But this I was reading in English on my lunch break when one of my French colleagues remarked, 'Ah she's reading 'Cleo'.' I've never tried to read them again and wonder what I'd think of them now.
On another, different note, I put my teeshirt on inside out this morning. My mother used to say 'don't change it because this means you'll get a letter'. For me proof of this saying was usually lacking. But I was thinking, these days I wouldn't need to keep the garment on inside out because of course, there's email!
And the cadence to this post is: sorry, but my website is down for a week. So don't go looking for me!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Summer Solstice
This time last year I was on vacation at the beach. Here's a poem I wrote then
A green snake came
to visit
slithering onto
the stones
that paved the
surround
of the swimming
pool.
The green snake
reminds
me of Goethe...
but where is the
beautiful lily?
Is she my beloved,
elderly friend
whom I held so
tenderly still
in my arms,
in my dream,
last night that I
woke,
wondering,
if she lay dying?
I'm born in the
Year of the Snake,
Yes. So it's my
totem animal?
Yet I find it
hard
to overcome
revulsion
and consider
instead
the small head,
the curiously curving
movements,
the slender line
of its flexible body.
Why did it visit?
Where did it want
to go?
What did it want
to say?
I'll never know.
Monday, June 11, 2012
What does it mean to be romantic?
A friend who'd just about finished reading my novel (http://www.bit.ly/NN86F1) was bubbling over with enthusiasm. She said to me, "I didn't know you were so romantic!"
So then I started to wonder, What does it mean, to be romantic? The answer, I realized, is much more profound than at first it appears. Some claim that the world is split between those who have a romantic outlook and those who have a classical. A quick check on the web suggests most art is a mixture between the two, but usually tending more towards one than the other. Well, think of the romantic poets! But it's not only art. This also exists in physics.
I suppose it goes back to Greek and Roman times. When I look back over my life, I can see how the tendency of my soul was always towards romance. The first story I ever wrote had to do with one of King Arthur's knights, and although I know a fair bit of the German language, it's the romance languages that call to me: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian... I love listening to them, and my ear easily becomes attuned to their lilt.
The classical outlook of course tends more towards order and less towards chaos. Sure, I prefer order in my life and in my surroundings. But as far as philosophy goes? Call me a romanticist any time.
How about you?
So then I started to wonder, What does it mean, to be romantic? The answer, I realized, is much more profound than at first it appears. Some claim that the world is split between those who have a romantic outlook and those who have a classical. A quick check on the web suggests most art is a mixture between the two, but usually tending more towards one than the other. Well, think of the romantic poets! But it's not only art. This also exists in physics.
I suppose it goes back to Greek and Roman times. When I look back over my life, I can see how the tendency of my soul was always towards romance. The first story I ever wrote had to do with one of King Arthur's knights, and although I know a fair bit of the German language, it's the romance languages that call to me: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian... I love listening to them, and my ear easily becomes attuned to their lilt.
The classical outlook of course tends more towards order and less towards chaos. Sure, I prefer order in my life and in my surroundings. But as far as philosophy goes? Call me a romanticist any time.
How about you?
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Transit of Venus today!
And it's going to happen in my zodiac sign, which is supposed to be incredibly auspicious. Let's hope so.
Do you believe that the movements of the planets have an influence? I certainly do, although I know astrology is supposed to be totally unscientific. But so many of us carry an interest and follow predictions or have our charts read (I haven't done the latter).
When I was in hospital recently, my husband brought me a newspaper so that I could amuse myself with the crossword. A nurse seized the paper with glee and immediately turned to the horoscope page. She read hers aloud to us all. After that, of course, the whole ward wanted to know what was going on with their sign.
Interesting, huh?
Now I'm off to send a copy of my book 'Cape Town' to Oprah. I'm sure she'd be interested if it actually manages to get into her hands. Again, let's hope so!!
Do you believe that the movements of the planets have an influence? I certainly do, although I know astrology is supposed to be totally unscientific. But so many of us carry an interest and follow predictions or have our charts read (I haven't done the latter).
When I was in hospital recently, my husband brought me a newspaper so that I could amuse myself with the crossword. A nurse seized the paper with glee and immediately turned to the horoscope page. She read hers aloud to us all. After that, of course, the whole ward wanted to know what was going on with their sign.
Interesting, huh?
Now I'm off to send a copy of my book 'Cape Town' to Oprah. I'm sure she'd be interested if it actually manages to get into her hands. Again, let's hope so!!
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