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| Art by Lynda Barry |
"There are certain children who are told they are too sensitive, and there are certain adults who believe sensitivity is a problem that can be fixed in the way that crooked teeth can be fixed and made straight. And when these two come together you get a fairytale, a kind of story with hopelessness in it.
"I believe there is something in these old stories that does what singing does to words. They have transformational capabilities, in the way melody can transform mood.
"They can’t transform your actual situation, but they can transform your experience of it. We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay. I believe we have always done this, used images to stand and understand what otherwise would be intolerable."
Lynda Barry in WHAT IT IS
Well of course we create a fantasy world to be able to stay. I've said it here before and will surely say it again: Lynda Barry is one of the masters of the universe. Someday I need to make a comprehensive list.
A phrase came to me not long ago that describes why so many of the things on my imaginary list remain undone, why it may take me days to respond to email, why deadlines are unmet, all the whys of what would appear to be avoidance or neglect. I wander off. I leave this place and go somewhere else. Yes, I am lured by shiny things, or more accurately by beautiful things, optimistically resonant ideas, those elements which still and soothe and act as industrial strength Spackle for all the cracks and divots in ordinary life. Beauty may be used as a distraction but it has a strongly medicinal purpose, the tonic for what ails us. What a sweet job that would be, selling it by the bottle from the too-gaudy wagon drawn by a wearied horse, glad to stop for water and feed in another frontier town, hoping with horse-hope that a swift departure will not be necessary. Today let there be satisfied, paying customers.
Well of course we create a fantasy world to be able to stay. I've said it here before and will surely say it again: Lynda Barry is one of the masters of the universe. Someday I need to make a comprehensive list.
A phrase came to me not long ago that describes why so many of the things on my imaginary list remain undone, why it may take me days to respond to email, why deadlines are unmet, all the whys of what would appear to be avoidance or neglect. I wander off. I leave this place and go somewhere else. Yes, I am lured by shiny things, or more accurately by beautiful things, optimistically resonant ideas, those elements which still and soothe and act as industrial strength Spackle for all the cracks and divots in ordinary life. Beauty may be used as a distraction but it has a strongly medicinal purpose, the tonic for what ails us. What a sweet job that would be, selling it by the bottle from the too-gaudy wagon drawn by a wearied horse, glad to stop for water and feed in another frontier town, hoping with horse-hope that a swift departure will not be necessary. Today let there be satisfied, paying customers.
11 comments:
Oh, Marylinn. You tap directly into it - the 'it' we all need to be reminded of, shown again, live with knowledge and (more importantly?) understanding of. Your have your finger on the very best of pulses.
Horse-hope. I love this.
And 'yes' to being lured by shiny, beautiful things. Beauty is consistently and deeply healing in a world that knows, deep down, what more beauty is what it needs.
Much love and thanks
C xo
Ooops, I pushed the 'return' button before I'd finished reading.
I meant to say. . . Beauty is consistently and deeply healing in a world that knows, deep down, 'that' more beauty and more sensitivity is exactly what it needs x.
" . . . we create it in order to stay . . ."
timely post for me-- thank you.
x
as always when you write about lynda barry, i immediately order another one of her books that i havent read yet. she is in a category by herself.
because of our new memoir endeavor, i lovelovelove this quote of hers/image. thank you!!
Claire - Thank you. Horse-hope. Perhaps it is a special sort. And yes, the healing power, deep and consistent, of beauty. The world does know what it needs. If we listen, I think it tells us. xo
Sherry - I'm always grateful for good timing. Ms. Barry is not confused. xo
Susan - She is one-of-a-kind, I agree, and let's pretend it was unconscious wisdom that selected the illustration with a nod to Run, Nelly and your new enterprise (http://run-to-the-roundhouse-nellie.com./). It is a perfect fit. xo
you are our biggest booster--thanks so much!!
Susan - XOXO
The same quote resonated with me as well as Lynda Barry has a tendency to do.
Antares - Yes, pretty much anything Lynda Barry. As I've had more time to think about it, fantasy has things in common with wearing a (reasonably successful) disguise, allowing one to pass among the crowds sometimes undetected. Or I could be having a peculiar day, one in a very long line. Good wishes to you. xo
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