Well, yet again - I echo everything that you say here, exactly. I have also read and re-read that May Sarton book when I was much younger but found it relatable and somehow reassuring even then: her everyday habit of rising as usual, feeding the parrot, etc. Like you, I am always fascinated with how women coped with the onset of WW2 especially. I think a big factor was, (not unlike the Pandemic for us), they had no idea how long it was going to go on.
Had we been told at the onset, there's going to be *years* of this ahead, it would have been (even more) unbearable. Like those who lived during a war, we were all *forced* to live one hour at a time whilst plodding through with the every day bits of life that need tending to, waiting for updates.
And it's happening again, unfortunately - and, also, ridiculously, unnecessarily.
I loved this line: "I need to clear a path through the shrill panic and write it all down."
Absolutely brilliant.
(Excuse me while I get my own brush ... and a pen!)
A terrific post. My mother gave me a biography of Origo years ago. I will find it and read it then seek out the journal. Interestingly, my best friend of many years and a writer herself, has been re-reading Sarton's journals. She is doing something very interesting. She reads an entry and then, in her own journal, responds to it. This "conversation" has become especially important to her as time grinds forward.
Thanks, Betsy! Origo wrote a second diary, "War in Val d'orcia, 1943-1944" that I'd like to read (though I'm sure it's depressing). I love that conversational approach to Sarton, what a wonderful way to engage with a text.
I read Sarton's Solitude when I was in my early twenties and loved it but also always thought I'd go back to it when I was old enough to understand it a little better. You're not the first person I've noticed mention it recently and I think it means it's time I return!
Picking up the dropped stitches, so stabbingly true. I've been struggling with this as well, finding myself all of a sudden turning inward and writing about things other than current events. Somehow dancing around the obvious. To write about what's happening in the world is almost too painful. Too, thank you for putting words to this strange phenomenon of needing to rise, cook and love while the world burns.
This is one of the best, if not the best, written pieces on the overall mental climate of this world.
Thank you! 😊
Well, yet again - I echo everything that you say here, exactly. I have also read and re-read that May Sarton book when I was much younger but found it relatable and somehow reassuring even then: her everyday habit of rising as usual, feeding the parrot, etc. Like you, I am always fascinated with how women coped with the onset of WW2 especially. I think a big factor was, (not unlike the Pandemic for us), they had no idea how long it was going to go on.
Had we been told at the onset, there's going to be *years* of this ahead, it would have been (even more) unbearable. Like those who lived during a war, we were all *forced* to live one hour at a time whilst plodding through with the every day bits of life that need tending to, waiting for updates.
And it's happening again, unfortunately - and, also, ridiculously, unnecessarily.
I loved this line: "I need to clear a path through the shrill panic and write it all down."
Absolutely brilliant.
(Excuse me while I get my own brush ... and a pen!)
Timely, thoughtful and beautifully written.
A terrific post. My mother gave me a biography of Origo years ago. I will find it and read it then seek out the journal. Interestingly, my best friend of many years and a writer herself, has been re-reading Sarton's journals. She is doing something very interesting. She reads an entry and then, in her own journal, responds to it. This "conversation" has become especially important to her as time grinds forward.
Thanks, Betsy! Origo wrote a second diary, "War in Val d'orcia, 1943-1944" that I'd like to read (though I'm sure it's depressing). I love that conversational approach to Sarton, what a wonderful way to engage with a text.
Wooowwwww. This is so perfect. You’ve put into words what I and many others have been unable to articulate. Thank you.
Thank you. RN I just feel so tired. I’m tucking this away to read again. xN
Thank you. It brings depth to our times in a way that isn't divisive or loud.
I read Sarton's Solitude when I was in my early twenties and loved it but also always thought I'd go back to it when I was old enough to understand it a little better. You're not the first person I've noticed mention it recently and I think it means it's time I return!
Picking up the dropped stitches, so stabbingly true. I've been struggling with this as well, finding myself all of a sudden turning inward and writing about things other than current events. Somehow dancing around the obvious. To write about what's happening in the world is almost too painful. Too, thank you for putting words to this strange phenomenon of needing to rise, cook and love while the world burns.
Yes. And thank you for your words.
Thanks for this, Anna! I just put a letter in the mail this morning, let's see how long it takes. 📬