Wednesday Writing for future generations

 I am writing this for you because. I feel inundated with information abou other people constantly, and yet I feel that the more distracted I am from that inward journey the more  possible. It is for me to miss the point that the life of the everyday person is as momumental as that of the larger than life persona. It becomes more difficult to stay away from that type of a distraction and so lose yourself in the moment of “otherness” quickly forgetting all the inward human qualities that make us who we are: generosity, love for the other, the intention of helping others, the need to share a kind of humanness with each other and recognize that in others. It is too easy to be distracted from that goal and in so doing allow the external “news worthy” personae take over, missing the inner qualities we have with connection to the earth and to eat=ch other. The every day story, is the important one. I hope with this writing to stimulate somehow that type of thinking, that what we do every day is as important or more so than the end result and start to share that with each other. 

REFLECTION WRITE: skimming as a reader what you have just written. Anything that jumps out at you highlight and circle and a couple of bullet points, anything you notices, surprised you, bullet points to take into the future. 

In undated with information

Inward journey more possible.

Everyday person as monumental

More than the larger than life persona

“Otherness” =quickly forgetting our own qualities

Emphasize generosity of spirit

“Newsworthy” versus important to each of us.

Stimulate thinking about how we help others and pay attention and share that with others. 

writing for future generations, maybe will open up the stories  that we don’t know, I don’t remember, or I can’t remember or something like that. To clarify some things for myself before I can move forward with more sense of meaning and purpose. It feels like that at this time. Writing to which audience, like Carol, audience of parents, who may be ruining education, how to be solutions oriented and positive instead of adversaries. 

Julie building deeper connections, being audience may prompt them to jump in with their own history or memories. Seems to work, seems to develop deeper connections with others. 

FIRST CAPTURED MOMENT

WILLIAM ZINZER: Memory isn’t the summary of a life; it is the window of a life.

WILL USE A PHOTO OR MEMORY IN YOUR MIND WITH MULTIPLE PROMPTS (Look at the photo in certain ways, just really taking notes, moving on to the next way to look at it, etc.)

PHOTO OF FISHING WITH SIBLINGS

What do you know:

This is a story about childhood. Fising on Twin Lake with siblings and a cousin, on a sunny day. All the pants are rolled up, pockets handing out and everyone is looking at whoever is taking the picture, Ethan’s my grandfather, my dad’s dad, saying “don’t move”, “hold your rods up high”, “look this way” in a way that the moment is captured for the family. Probably one photo in a year, that would be developed at home, in 1929 there would have been no local photo shop.

Look at the places you don’t normally see: folds of clothing, postures, how close or far apart. 

“I never really noticed” and “Any feelings associated with that.”

I never really noticed the upside down bucket between Burrell and the cousins, perhaps where the fish were stored, the reflections in the water, the sand shorter line. the vertical deciduous trees, the sparse conifers, so tall, the overgrown beach, and maybe a child swimming in the background, perhaps the one that didn’t want their photo taken.

The cloudless sky.

The calm water. That baggy close, loosely warn, and the belts11111

LOOK AT THE EDGES OF THE SCENE: what is happening outside the border or the image, who is taking the picture, relationship of photographer to the subjects, what was happening just before the moment and what will happen next..

Outside the border, we do not see the road that leads to the lake, or whether Grandpa drove his old maroon Oldsmobile. They look like can poles with very little fishing line, maybe made of willow. Is it really my grandfather, anyone else could afford a camera, is that why my dad expressed interest in taking photos of us as kids, Next the kids will walk along the shore, maybe fight about where the fishing poles are and not to let them touch each other

TURN THE photograph over:  Look around the room and stretch

NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE, immediate thoughts and feelings

Who are these kids, only one looks like they are even middling interested in fishing and making sure everyone is paying attention, all blood hairs some curly, sun from behind to cast the shadows but all the face are visible. 

WRITE THE STORY.

THIS IS STORY ABOUT. What it was like to live on the Iron Range. The activities that children did to occupational themselves during the long summers. If you were the oldest you might have to arrange the whole time together. Make sure everyone understood the rules, especially about how to fish, how to put bait on the line and where to put the fish. How deep you could go into the water and still be safe.

“Listen everyone” Charlie’s soft voice was able to catch everyone’s attention. They all listening because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t know. Wouldn’t know what was safe, where the fish were and what were the rules.

“We’re all going to catch fish, and this is how.”

His sister Barbara, squirmed, “you put the worm on, I don’t want to touch it.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not a problem, anyone else?”

I don’t want to , that was Burrell, Barbara’s twin brother.

Not a problem, but if you don’t want to fish, you’ll have to either help out or stay on shore so I can see you.”

The cousin said “look, I got the worm on. Can I start”

Wait, we all have to be the same distance apart, and watch out, over here the sand drops off, and over by those Lily pads, that’s where the fish are waiting. It’s still not too hot, so they haven’t gone deep yet”

Everyone stopped and listened, even Burrell started to show some interest and stood closer to his older brother.

First, make sure your pants are rolled up and tucked into your belt, you don’t want them to weight you down. Somehow everyone knew what that meant, because the pants all made it up to the belt without difficulty.

The water felt cool on their legs even as the sun beat down and beads of sweat dizzled down their foreheads and made their eyes bling and, some used their elbows to wipe the salty. Sweat away, because it stung. Charlie just took the water from the lake and push his hair back from his forehead and shook it, that way it wasn’t salty anymore.

Barbarbara slqualed “I see a fish” and tried to put her hoot and worm in. The water to snag it.

“Stop” that’s a minnow, too small to catch.”

They listened and looked toward Charlie> First, let’s’ all put. Our backs together and Elaine come over here, Barbara and Burrell you can head further down the shore. Watch, see my hook, it has a worm, the line is long and I am going to drop it in the water as far away as possible, now you, Barbara, then Burrell and Elaine, let me help you. 

Lynda BarryX pages “a reliable way for stories to fund us”

STEPS 1. Word or phrase (simple nouns

            2. List of memories

            3. Lead to chose one of those memories and consider some questions

            4. Then tell your story: “I am…” as though story unfolding in the moment. X page because can be anyway on the page. In a composition notebook.  WIATING ROOM; 90 seconds, chose the first one, drew a big x and based on what was happening. 

WILL REVEAL THE WORD IS WE ARE PLAYING WITH. CAN WRITE ANYWHERE AT ALL ON THE PAGE. 

I AM…..

Riding in the front seat with my grandfather, my brother is in the back, I can taste the dust from the rusted roads and I feel the gravel underfoot, which coats the floor space of the car. My grandfather is driving, not saying much, “do you want to go fishing” is all he says, not really waiting for an answer. I try to look out the window but I have to prop myself up to see out the window, so at first all I see are the tops of some birch trees and the green of the Tamarack. My brother doesn’t say much in the back. Actually nothing at all, so I assume he knows what is going on. I look in front of me and see the dashboard and lean forward, when I do that at home, my mom’s right hand pushes me back, so I edge forward so I can see where we are, but even the dashboard in Grandpa’s car is far away and too big to look over. I wonder if this is what life will be like forever, never seeing, not really knowing, and with a silent brother/witness in the back. I am ten, and there isn’t much that makes sense to me. Especially the way mom and dad dropped us off at Grandpa’s and how he asked what we wanted to do, but it was more like a statement of what was going to happen. My brother and I really would never have come up with options. We were with an adult, they always decided.

Next week, looking at structure, different ways of looking at structure, usually try not to edit, sometimes may wan to edit, restructure story. Maybe play with X page more. Contact her anytime, check handout from last week.