I know it's been a while, but I can't apologize for my extended absence. Just as a conversation with friends is a blessing, sometimes so is silence. The time and space to think is ridiculously valuable these days, when I can't seem to escape technological stimuli. And my job this year, with some really wonderful troubled children, has left me with much to process, and little to share.
Still, I am more than ever aware of the need to put thoughts into words, even in small chunks, and even privately. I don't know if this is something that every human is compelled to do, but it feels right, so that makes it a fact in my book. (My book would be the opposite of science, though.) My observation has been that writing has the potential to heal the past and put the future into perspective. One of my old professors called it "telling your life as if it were a story." What words would you use to narrate your life?
One of my teenage students in this residential program was missing his mom terribly, so he bought a lovely leather-bound notebook and began to write his favorite poems in it. He gave it to his mom the next time he saw her, and she returned it with a poem or two of her own. They have continued to exchange this book for over a year now, taking turns writing thoughtful and uplifting quotes, poems (sometimes original) and observations in very neat lettering for each other to read and be comforted.
I thought it was such a beautiful idea: a collection of comforts. Communicating via poetry. Modern-day handwritten letters, preserved. And a testimony to the difficulty of his past year in our program. I can't believe my student allowed me to read something so personal.
I had a professor once who was intrigued by the things that people communicate via postcards. Sure, many of them say "wish you were here" and variations of that, but how does one condense an experience into a couple of sentences and a photo? They are their own poetry, in a way.
Exhibit A of the postcard phenomenon:
PostSecret.
The combination of art and poetry, along with unabashed intimacy, is purely stunning. And knowing some secrets of others offers reassurance in humanity, in the potential of people as a community.
How do you communicate best?
2 comments:
I used to send postcards to random strangers with no greeting or closing and just a sketch of a story. For example:
"With the Navy in town for the festival, Julie brought over 3 CPOs for dinner and we treated them to that great trick with the hamburger that you taught us. For ever after, they will smile at 'crossing the bar.'
The collection I've been cataloging has a lot of old postcards from circa 1890-1940; I find it fascinating to read what people wrote! For the most part, they were used for general correspondence, not so much for vacation musings (making it even more interesting!).
I take great pleasure in communicating with my grandmother (in Germany) via letters.
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