Where have you been?
Marilyn from Phoenix called me. “Jeanette, where have you
been? Start blogging again!” She informed me that it’s been six weeks since my
last post and told me to begin again.
She seemed sincerely bereft so I offered, “You can read the posts
in my blog index.”
“I’ve read every one of them.”
“I am impressed." But I didn't believe her. There are too many. "You couldn’t have!”
“I read every one of them, some of them several times.” As proof,
she told me when I started the blog—2007. I was speechless. “They’re
interesting, wonderful, illuminating, just wonderful. Why aren’t you writing
more?”
After some stuttering, I listed the things that keep me busy. “Each post is an essay. It
takes me a long time to write those, and I have so many other things to do.” Often a post I intend to dash off quickly turns into
lengthy labor. I reminded her that I’m working on a memoir.
She asked me whether I was thinking of not doing any more
blogging. I confessed that I was.
“I hope I’m changing your mind.”
I said one thing keeping me from blogging is the political
situation. I’m concerned that our beloved country will actually get Donald
Trump as president. I asked how she would respond to some political posts.
“If they are connected with religion and spirituality.” But she
liked “Hillary and Donald.”
What happens now I don’t know, but I decided to post this as a
kind of pledge to Marilyn. Otherwise I might renege on my promise to continue blogging.
I’m trying to learn a new way of writing. My posts have been
educational. They come from a teacher who is lecturing—sharing knowledge,
drawing conclusions, and supporting those conclusions. In my memoir, by
contrast, I’m trying to reveal insights through my own life story and trying to
reach a less academic readership.
It’s even slower than writing essays, and delving into my own
psyche springs surprises on me.
As I reflect on my past, I realize things about myself that I’d
missed before—more revelations in my slow journey toward emotional maturity. Oh,
the joys of growing up. Never-ending.
P.S. September 30, 2016
The really astonishing thing about Marilyn reading every single post in my blog is that she went online for the first time about a month ago. Her accomplishment is remarkable.
The really astonishing thing about Marilyn reading every single post in my blog is that she went online for the first time about a month ago. Her accomplishment is remarkable.
Thank you to all who responded to “Where have you been?” Here’s one of my favorites:
And here I thought my computer had eaten them somehow!
By the way, someday you should do a piece on one of my least favorite New Testament stories, The Woman Taken In Adultery. [Jn 8:1-11] Really, adultery is a two-person sport. Where is the man taken in adultery? (I doubt it was a lesbian relationship either.)
Anyway, glad to see you're back.
Comments
Tina (Charlotte) Walz Johnstad
Good to see you back, Jeanette. Rock on ! !