"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things." ~ Mary Oliver (from "Wild Geese") Perhaps Mary Oliver's reminder is and appropriate response to midlife loneliness. After all, when "the world offers itself to your imagination", you can certainly ...
Midlife Mashup
Clowns
[W]here are the clowns? Send in the clowns Don't bother, they're here Isn't it rich? Isn't it queer? Losing my timing this late in my career But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns Well, maybe next year ...
Midlife Loneliness
Good morning, midlifers. I have an addition to your reading list that sheds a ray of hopeful light on midlife loneliness — both why it's common, and how to counter it — that I highly recommend whether or not you've personally experienced midlife loneliness. Coincidently Josh Cohen' s "Why is midlife such a lonely time?" appeared in The Guardian yesterday afternoon, about 24 hours after three ...
Icky
"People aren’t usually coming out to hear you read. They’re coming out to sort of see what you look like, and see whether your voice matches the voice that’s in their head when they read. None of it’s important. It’s icky." ~ David Foster Wallace (Source: Vulture.com) ...
Independence
Here's to a happy, healthy Independence Day, American friends! (Plus a much wider wish for independence—real, autonomy striving, responsibility ensured freedom—to creators and explorers and teachers and dreamers all around the world.) At the risk of sounding pedantic, I invite and encourage you to shoehorn a few minutes between the bunting and the barbeque, between the parade and the fireworks, a ...
Thinking of Goodbye
"I think we're all holding our breath and thinking of goodbye... hoping it's gonna turn out ok." ~ David Crosby There's so much beauty and sadness and wisdom and music in this clutter of honest, unselfconscious words shared by David Crosby about singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Crosby dated Mitchell in 1967 when he was still performing with the Byrds. The following year he helped line up her ...