All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.
-Toni Morrison
There's a part of the book where the main character joins a troupe of traveling misfits/performers. They all bare physical deformities, except for Penelope, and she becomes intoxicated with the freedom of their lifestyle and the sense of home she feels with them. It has been fascinating to research the stories of transient people, gypsies, circus performers, etc... To extend the water metaphor of the book, people who are in constant flow and never pool anywhere. They are bound by love of people more than any geographic sense of belonging. Some of the stories reflect this heroic sense of loyalty and love and it is within that human to human connection that they find a sense of belonging.
“The love between humans is the thing that nails us to this earth.”
― Ann Patchett
I have always felt most at home by water and in many ways the book is my journey into trying to understand that aspect of myself. This Toni Morrison quote resonates with me so deeply. What is the connection between love and water? I think they are both this matrix that is buoyant and can hold you. But there is more. I think they move through the world in similar ways. They are abundant, buoyant, all enveloping, playful, nourishing. Water and love have a lot in common and if I can find a way to articulate that through the story of my book, I hope I will feel more at home, less like hiding.
Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
-Zora Neale Hurston
I think the Tao Te Ching might help articulate my thoughts about love and water and flow. Perhaps I need to look there for some clarity. I'm surprised it has taken so long for this to occur to me:/ It's been too long.
“Love
Embracing Tao, you become embraced.
Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.
Clearing your vision, you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you become accepted.
Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
Controlling without authority,
This is love.”
― Lao Tzu, The Teachings of Lao-Tzu: The Tao-Te Ching
-Toni Morrison
There's a part of the book where the main character joins a troupe of traveling misfits/performers. They all bare physical deformities, except for Penelope, and she becomes intoxicated with the freedom of their lifestyle and the sense of home she feels with them. It has been fascinating to research the stories of transient people, gypsies, circus performers, etc... To extend the water metaphor of the book, people who are in constant flow and never pool anywhere. They are bound by love of people more than any geographic sense of belonging. Some of the stories reflect this heroic sense of loyalty and love and it is within that human to human connection that they find a sense of belonging.
“The love between humans is the thing that nails us to this earth.”
― Ann Patchett
I have always felt most at home by water and in many ways the book is my journey into trying to understand that aspect of myself. This Toni Morrison quote resonates with me so deeply. What is the connection between love and water? I think they are both this matrix that is buoyant and can hold you. But there is more. I think they move through the world in similar ways. They are abundant, buoyant, all enveloping, playful, nourishing. Water and love have a lot in common and if I can find a way to articulate that through the story of my book, I hope I will feel more at home, less like hiding.
Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
-Zora Neale Hurston
I think the Tao Te Ching might help articulate my thoughts about love and water and flow. Perhaps I need to look there for some clarity. I'm surprised it has taken so long for this to occur to me:/ It's been too long.
“Love
Embracing Tao, you become embraced.
Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.
Clearing your vision, you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you become accepted.
Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
Controlling without authority,
This is love.”
― Lao Tzu, The Teachings of Lao-Tzu: The Tao-Te Ching
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