Opposite of Fate
Date; Jan. 20, 2005
From: MJS
I am enjoying reading “The Opposite of Fate” by Amy Tan. I really identify with so much of her experience as a writer. She describes how images or a few words bother her until she starts in using them, and then everything just flows out! She tells at length how the universe seems to conspire to give her exactly what she needs in terms of research or contacts or even time and space. I have that same experience!
But what woke me in the night was the understanding of how deadly is a total commitment to some routines I have, how they would forestall me from the creative process. For instance, it is very good that I keep the house well, provide regular healthy meals to us, exercise daily and keep up with my social life. I think I should sleep eight hours at night. But it’s also important to drop all that when the Universe gives me a push to do other things. I have already brushed my teeth and made the bed every day for sixty years. Who cares? In the long run it really won’t matter, as there are no prizes for sleeping uninterrupted through every night of life. Quite the contrary! So I am delighted to be awake inspired at 2 a.m., having the time and space to myself to think through carefully what I need to say, and to do it well, and then of course, to do it over and over again until it is as perfect as I can make it. Then there is usually yet another revision.
Routines, even good ones, are a kind of self-indulgence. They make the time pass quickly, especially if you want time to go away or if you are numbing yourself. Many people think the weather should be the same year to year, and not deviate too far from some “norm”. They feel tricked by Nature if there’s an earthquake, or they know the global temperature has risen a couple degrees in the past century. Everyone is supposed to fall within some small range of numbers regarding their blood level of cholesterol. Nature doesn’t have our attachment to keeping things the same! Those big routines are just our expectations. I am ready to be surprised! I am for life. I am for change, which is what life is all about.
Of course, I do like my daily morning paper and coffee, and living free of great disasters. But it is change, newness and possibilities that get me up every morning to see the Universe is up to now.
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Comments & Questions? Email: womenbefriends@yahoo.com
From: MJS
I am enjoying reading “The Opposite of Fate” by Amy Tan. I really identify with so much of her experience as a writer. She describes how images or a few words bother her until she starts in using them, and then everything just flows out! She tells at length how the universe seems to conspire to give her exactly what she needs in terms of research or contacts or even time and space. I have that same experience!
But what woke me in the night was the understanding of how deadly is a total commitment to some routines I have, how they would forestall me from the creative process. For instance, it is very good that I keep the house well, provide regular healthy meals to us, exercise daily and keep up with my social life. I think I should sleep eight hours at night. But it’s also important to drop all that when the Universe gives me a push to do other things. I have already brushed my teeth and made the bed every day for sixty years. Who cares? In the long run it really won’t matter, as there are no prizes for sleeping uninterrupted through every night of life. Quite the contrary! So I am delighted to be awake inspired at 2 a.m., having the time and space to myself to think through carefully what I need to say, and to do it well, and then of course, to do it over and over again until it is as perfect as I can make it. Then there is usually yet another revision.
Routines, even good ones, are a kind of self-indulgence. They make the time pass quickly, especially if you want time to go away or if you are numbing yourself. Many people think the weather should be the same year to year, and not deviate too far from some “norm”. They feel tricked by Nature if there’s an earthquake, or they know the global temperature has risen a couple degrees in the past century. Everyone is supposed to fall within some small range of numbers regarding their blood level of cholesterol. Nature doesn’t have our attachment to keeping things the same! Those big routines are just our expectations. I am ready to be surprised! I am for life. I am for change, which is what life is all about.
Of course, I do like my daily morning paper and coffee, and living free of great disasters. But it is change, newness and possibilities that get me up every morning to see the Universe is up to now.
---------------------------------------------------
Comments & Questions? Email: womenbefriends@yahoo.com
posted by MJS at 5:14 PM
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