Tag: JusJoJan

Life

Logic

Sally2 Comments

I know, I know — it’s ONE liner Wednesday, but I’m going to give you two quotes because they walk hand-in-hand.

“People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind. ”

William Butler Yeats

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

Albert Einstein

Writing

Messy Work Spaces

Sally14 Comments

I started a second job a couple of weeks ago working at a church. I have my own office and desk. It’s there that I realized how much I need to be surrounded by clutter to work efficiently.

Crazy, isn’t it?

There are Tidies in the world — who have clean, clear spaces in which to work. They work hard to create those spaces, and I’m sure those spaces allow them to focus on what it is they’re trying to write.

It’s refreshing for me to know that there are also Messies — who are surrounded by papers and books that aren’t in neat little stack. Even the books on the shelves behind them are in a bit of disarray.

I remembered seeing once an article about famous authors and their writing spaces. Unfortunately it’s hidden behind a paywall now, but I used my one free whatever to visit it this morning.

There were over 100 authors on the list and I wrote down 21 names of writers whose workspaces warmed my heart.

Albert Einstein was the first I came to. Is he a writer? I think of him as a scientist. Anyway, I saw the photo, and laughed. How did he get my desk?!

Albert Einstein’s office just hours after his death on April 18, 1955. (Photographer: Ralph Morse. Image Source: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.)

Carl Sandburg, one of my favorite poets, was a Messy.

Carl Sandburg Typing in His Upstairs Office at Connemara
Photograph by June Glenn

Arthur Miller, Dylan Thomas, Edward Gorey — I kept working my way through the list, scribbling down writers whose workspace mirrored mine.

Eric Carle delighted me with his. Granted, he is both writer and artist for his books, but I LOVE his space.

My list continued. I won’t bore you with every name. Jack London, J.D. Salinger (sitting naked on an upturned suitcase, writing on the open tailgate of a station wagon — not exactly how I would do it, but his space was definitely a messy space), Ray Bradbury (I went through a serious Ray Bradbury binge when I was in high school so was happy to see that we had a common bond), Truman Capote, and William F. Buckley, Jr.

I’ve never read anything by William F. Buckley, Jr — I think of him as a politician and political commentator — but I’m intrigued.

William F Buckley in his converted garage office

Somehow seeing other people’s messes makes me feel better about my own.

When I show up at my new job,i get out some notebooks and papers to which I may need to refer and spread them on the desk.

Then, and only then, am I ready to work.

family · Grief · Life

I Remember Mama

Sally6 Comments

I’ve had times when I wanted to throw in the towel. One tiny bit of advice carried me through those better than any other.

Children are a lot of work. Large families have a unique set of challenges.

For instance, when a family grows from two to three children, mom doesn’t have enough hands when walking to the library with the children. She can hold the hand of one child on her right and the other on her left, but where does the third child go?

When a family grows from three children to four children, they can’t all ride in one car, unless, I suppose, they have a bench seat in the front, which we didn’t.

When a family grows from five children to six children, they can’t fit into a mini-van. Driving a 15-passenger van is overkill, but there aren’t many choices or 12 passenger vans out there.

I had eight children. My mother-in-law had thirteen. Thirteen!

One of the first times I went to their house, she took me by the hand and we walked to their large vegetable garden. I still remember the feel of her hands, calloused and strong. She worked so hard. She earned those hands.

She was a hugger. My own mother was not a hugger. Sometimes huggy people feel awkward to those of us who haven’t always had those outward displays of affection. But it seemed such a natural extension of who she was.

Basically, she was amazing and made everything look easy.

One day I asked her when I was struggling with my two or three or six children — “How do you do it?”

In her sweet, sweet way, she said, “Oh, Sally, you just do.”

You just do. Those are hefty words to live by.

And honestly, I have failed at just doing sometimes too many times.

Still, that simple exchange was one of the most unforgettable conversations in my life.

She passed away this week.

But I remember Mama.

Mama (R) with her mother (center) and brother (L)