AVOIDING THE WRITERS LIFE, by (me!) Sandra, tvgp
Of course it's an intentional play off of Natalie goldberg's book, wild mind: living the writers life, which I read many, many years ago.. But, everyday that I work in Danville, I cross paths with the location where you can take a shuttle to Eugene o'neills Tao house... I read the sign.. I'm like, Eugene o'neill? Eugene o'neill? ..a name so familiar, but until I researched it, I couldn't tell you why.. It was not tucked in my accessible memory bank that he is "Americas only Nobel prize winning playwright." and until I researched a little, couldn't have told you a name of one of his plays or books..but I'm pretty confident I have read, and have somewhere in my boxes of books (still waiting to be liberated again one day..); Long day's journey into night.. But I couldn't tell you what it was about... I perhaps will one day re-read it.. The point I want to make today however is this: as I read about his personal life.. Several times I was saying to myself.. 'how awful... That must have been terrible..' and it brought to my mind a whole cluster of memories of biographies, autobiographies, interviews, documentaries, I've watched and read over the years where you have that combination of a very successful writer who is living, behind the scenes and pages, a very sad, dysfunctional life. Alcohol or drug problems, horrific relationship problems, superiority complexes, inferiority complexes, highly destructive, sometimes fatal head on collisions with fame/sudden popularity, or as suddenly.. Abandonment by fans, or publishers.. Such a high rate of suicides..On and on, etc, etc. and I can't say exactly when or exactly where.. But I decided at some point.. It was much more important to me to be a successful person, than a successful writer. They are not one in the same. And for me.. The definition of success has changed several times over the past several decades, and morphed and evolved into this current definition: bearing the fruits of the spirit: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. And as I have mentioned on more than one occasion, I do not believe human evolution is going from a monkey to an NBA champion, as Darwin or American capitalism would have you believe..but rather, from a self-centered/flesh centric human being into a humanitarian/spirit lifting human being. -that is the track I am on... The only ladder I wish to climb. The path I pray for my children, and in fact, pray for everyone. In Jesus name, amen.
posted by SHE @ 8:09 AM
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