tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post700694648241219656..comments2024-03-01T06:20:29.087+00:00Comments on qualia and other wildlife: if at first you don't succeed... try the tao of imaginationrosellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-21485774902560730082014-07-06T13:44:21.670+01:002014-07-06T13:44:21.670+01:00'It seems that all that is needed is something...'It seems that all that is needed is something to get us flying, or running with the wind blowing our hair. Letting go, trusting yourself, I suppose.' I love that phrase, Miriam - yes, that's it EXACTLY! Lots to write about that, but mainly thank you for the empathy and your heartful additions to the conversation.<br /><br />The talk was recorded, so when I can next catch up with Max, it'll either be uploaded and accessible from here, or on CD or something. Thank you!<br /><br />Which poem: for reasons I don't want to go into here, I'm keeping that close to my chest until the essay is written! ;-) Forgive.<br /><br />Love to both, and er happy writing... Rxxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-86655324343735490612014-07-05T10:02:09.610+01:002014-07-05T10:02:09.610+01:00'. . . find an angle that was rational and int...'. . . find an angle that was rational and intellectual rather than imaginative and intuitive . . . '<br /><br />Roselle, I really sympathise with that urge to dwell on the intellectual and rational at the expense of imagination and intuition. It's almost as if the former becomes a safety-net, or defense-mechanism against sounding fey, or unscientific even though it involves contradicting our best instincts. Perhaps it's partly to do with lack of confidence, self-esteem, how fear of failure can still get in the way, even when you're experienced.<br />Some time ago, in my old writing group, we were asked to write something about the Creative Process. My first instinct was to write an essay – until I had to stop from boredom and fear of sounding pompous. I'd left that behind, 30 years before, at school! And then, I found myself panning-out from a recent, rather disturbing experience, back in my birth-city of Liverpool, caring briefly for my parents – both over 80 and very ill with flu. I watched myself fleeing from the claustrophobic flat where they lived, trying for a few precious moments, to escape from the burden of expectation and responsibility. What came out of this was a far more interesting (or so I was told) piece of prose, later written as a poem, which illustrated the creative process far better than any essay I could've written. I then found I was able to add a comment at the end which seemed to complement the proceeding prose, rather than overstate or explain. It seems that all that is needed is something to get us flying, or running with the wind blowing our hair. Letting go, trusting yourself, I suppose.<br /><br />I'm just so sorry we couldn't be there to hear your talk and do hope you might feel able to post it here, or include it in any book that might come out of this blog.<br />And by the way, I'd love to know which Yeats poem it was that inspired the new route into your talk?<br /><br />And now I must try and write, still looking for better ways into my latest chapter!<br />Miriam xxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-25322575330879371882014-07-04T12:36:18.392+01:002014-07-04T12:36:18.392+01:00Frances, how lovely to read this. Thank YOU. And I...Frances, how lovely to read this. Thank YOU. And I was very touched that you made such a journey – driving to see my two sisters up there, I know that it's a good 2 hours+. And your name's 'on the list' for a cancellation on Iona 2015, and if not on 2016! xrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-28673527941714991372014-07-04T11:57:33.416+01:002014-07-04T11:57:33.416+01:00Roselle. It was wonderful to hear you give this in...Roselle. It was wonderful to hear you give this inspired talk the other night in Totnes. Since childhood I have been enchanted by the music and magic of that very Yeats poem, and I often bring it out of my head-library to dwell in it for a while. You deconstructed its symbolic and liminal significances brilliantly. It's very good for me to dip into all that Jungian animus/anima stuff - not that I entirely 'get' it, but for me it's also OK just to set that knowledge aside and take the words at face value. 'The silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun." That touches something deep. Thank you. frances x Franceshttp://www.francescorkeythompson.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-17100958559667585742014-07-03T10:33:17.302+01:002014-07-03T10:33:17.302+01:00Carrie, so glad it resonated for you. And I didn&#...Carrie, so glad it resonated for you. And I didn't know the Ruskin quote - excellent. Might pin that up as a reminder! - And it would have been a LONG drive for you - I hadn't expected you to come!<br /><br />Thank you. And love. Rxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-63568957736790211512014-07-03T10:23:23.592+01:002014-07-03T10:23:23.592+01:00Smiled when I read this, oh that struggle to get i...Smiled when I read this, oh that struggle to get it "right" only to realise, often at the last minute, that you were trying to fulfill someone else's idea of "right". I was sorry not to go to your presentation but have no doubt your integrity would have shone through.<br />"The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and to tell what it saw in a plain way.Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, and thousands can think for the one who can see. To see clearly is poetry,philosophy and religion - all in one" Ruskin.<br />Surf the currents.. CarrieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-71904366894798139452014-07-03T10:19:29.820+01:002014-07-03T10:19:29.820+01:00B, thank you very much for that! I'm so please...B, thank you very much for that! I'm so pleased it got you researching.<br /><br />Yes, I know that about salmon (though I didn't know that they're not all anadromous): I've often watched them, read about them, and they're a very important symbol in Celtic myth, which is one of the reasons I used that metaphor! ;-) - Am currently writing about them. <br /><br />There's a wonderful book, old now, by Devon writer Henry Williamson, and set partly on the stream at the bottom of my childhood garden: 'Salar the Salmon', a childhood favourite (along with his better-known book set ditto, 'Tarka the Otter').<br /><br />More anon - and as always big thanks for the affirmation. You'll be pleased to know that I'm becoming well-acquainted with that little pool ;-) - and I'm looking forward v much to seeing you! With love, Rxxrosellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971482422276765335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5055598777203654547.post-24337616130180316572014-07-03T09:26:05.902+01:002014-07-03T09:26:05.902+01:00Lovely article, Roselle!! Made me read at length a...Lovely article, Roselle!! Made me read at length about salmons (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon):<br />First of all, not ALL salmons are anadromous, and if so, their lives usually END in their natal spawning grounds:(. And prior to their run up the river, they undergo ‘profound physiological and also radical morphological changes’, preparing for the spawning event ahead.<br />Therefore it may be wise for us to follow our own physiology – keep on holing and resting in your backwater pool for another little while:)!<br />Love B xx<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com