Repeating myself until I remember
It's 7:15 am MST, and the sky is still grey in Tempe. The orange tree in my backyard is starting to drop fruit, which are extra sweet this year. I recently learned that an orange tree's average healthy lifespan is 50 years, catching myself thinking the trees would go on indefinitely.
The sky is pink, reminding me that in the Odyssey there is an epithet repeated over twenty times: "But when early-born rosy-fingered Dawn appeared…" In college, I only took one classics course, but this note comes to mind whenever I'm awake early enough for sunrise.
Emily Wilson published her translation of the Odyssey in 2017, and she writes: "In an oral or semiliterate culture, repeated epithets give a listener an anchor in a quick-moving story. In a highly literate society such as our own, repetitions are likely to feel like moments to skip. They can be a mark of writerly laziness or unwillingness to acknowledge one's own interpretative position, and can send a reader to sleep." (Blog post for more.)
Don't repeat unless it's on purpose is a piece of writing advice I've held and shared over the years. When editing, my own repetition usually shows me an idea that I'm not quite satisfied with, yet. Most often, I collect the repetitions and keep my favorite version. Other times, I make the repetition more striking so that instead of lulling someone to sleep, it alerts them to danger, strangeness, grief, or another strong feeling.
Repetition on purpose, like reliving the day that a loved one died on each anniversary, can sear into memory--the opposite of similar days that all blend together.
Repetition on purpose can keep someone close as time carries them farther away.
Reading: Hundred and Thousands: the Journals of Emily Carr (Which I found via Mason Currey's newsletter last year.) Body Work by Melissa Febos. Finished Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to learn why and how America is awful to mothers in particular. Warning: The section that goes over early pandemic-times gave me strong flashbacks. I wouldn't advise reading it right before bed.
Writing: Applying to Ann Friedman’s newsletter fellowship (due 1/15.) Applying (for the 3rd time lol) to The Sustainable Arts Foundation Award for artists/writers with children (due 2/24.)
If you know of writing/art deadlines or opportunities, reply with links and I'll share!
Cooking: Cleaning out my freezer and pantry to move, so that means lots of soup. Hambone soup. Vegetable soup. Pancakes from a mix (Below: looked better than they tasted.) Next: Julia Turshen's formula for a one pot rice meal.
