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dreams take time sometimes

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my daughter.  my first born.   We walked yesterday,  the Saturday Walk about as a whole Herd,  Caroline and the little ones.  I watched her.   In my mind,  i called up images of her as a newborn and then as Emrie's age now…almost 3.   I held those images as i watched this woman,  40 something years old.   Worked to connect them.  In my mind.

Deb G asked in comments if i'd listened to the On Being Podcast,  April 30  A Life Worthy of Our Breath with Ocean Vuong.  I had not,  but i did this morning.  It's thick….thick with Beauty and Meaning.   I came away with this quote.

"you have to articulate the world you want to live in first."

i sit with these words,  this thought.  Yes.  This is the Work for me now.  I need to do this.

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16 responses to “dreams take time sometimes”

  1. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Smiling, I chose those words too. They feel so true to me.

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  2. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    this person is so True and Good…Ocean Vuong
    his words…so good and true
    Smile back that we chose the same. Smile back, Deb.
    Thank you for the link. so much.

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  3. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    (((Grace & Deb G))) thank you for sharing this beautiful & deeply moving interview

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  4. jude Avatar
    jude

    meant to listen but was exhausted from outside work. today.
    I see so much of her in you.

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  5. Yvette Avatar
    Yvette

    She is the younger you as far as I can see
    I go to the link…..
    Love

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  6. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Thanks Deb and grace for sharing this special interview:
    I am always drawn to interviews of how people, as first generation, come to language, come to the flow of reading. How we,who are first generation, move from the expectations placed on all of us, to find our own place.
    Ocean Vuong and I come from different backgrounds but the similarity of some aspects of our lives exist especially when it comes to understanding language. What especially moved through me in this On Being interview was this quote from Ocean:
    “And when you think about how people tell stories, stories are carried in the body, and it’s edited each time the person tells it. And so what you have, by the time someone tells a story, is a masterclass of form, technique, concision, imagery — even how to pause, which you don’t really get on the page — arguably, you do, in poetry, with the line break. And this is what these women were giving me. I didn’t know how valuable that gift was.”
    I grew up with so many stories, from my mother, my father, my aunt, uncle and the other immigrants in my little town in CA. As I look back, my way of speaking, writing, has much to do with the flow of words exchanged during these times of family and friend, each contributing, each wanting to speak of their lives via circles of sharing…because that is what it was, sharing of lives and the beauty of stories told, sometimes totally in Spanish, other times in that dreamlike way of speaking partial sentences in Spanish and English.
    When my parents came to America from Spain, neither one of them knew English and it took them their whole lives to learn to speak, read and write in English. My father had a better grasp of the language because he had worked many jobs and been in the Army during WWII. It took my mother longer and I was so proud of her when in her 60’s, she took ESL classes to learn how to write English. She sent her Certificate of English Proficiency to my girls who were 8 yrs old and had helped her with her “homework” when they spent time with her. They were so proud of their GrandMa.
    Growing up, over time, I picked up some Italian and Portuguese because our family friends were immigrants from these places. People were always coming over to our home because my mother loved having people over to share a meal,to listen to music on the phonograph, to pull up the rugs and dance and most especially. to talk and story tell. These stories so lively, so colorful in word usage even when the sought after English word was hard to find, these stories so filled with expression that in the telling, the teller’s body would rock back and forth, hands and arms and fingers would click and move as if in a dance, I came to understand were the telling of life, a circle of memory and connection. I inhaled all of it and it came with me when I entered school.
    Learning English came easily to me as I could already speak some when I entered kindergarten. Going through school, I remember wanting so much to express myself in the way that I had learned from our family and friends gatherings. See I felt that my experience was different, and I wanted so much to tell of it even though my parents, wanted me to be a quiet student, to study hard and do well but stay in the background, somewhat to what Ocean Vuong was being told by his family.
    What I have come to realize and deeply appreciate, as I look at my life, is that how I communicate and connect through language, both spoken and written, the foundation came from those circles of sharing and story telling. It was and continues to be an everlasting gift.

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  7. Acey Avatar
    Acey

    What I always pick up from her is determination. big time determination. her own way through it.
    (i can relate …)

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  8. sarita Avatar
    sarita

    A beautiful daughter Grace ♡
    I will go read this story now.
    Thank you♡

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  9. Hazel Avatar
    Hazel

    How she holds you in her face and body is something. One of the many things I admire & love about you, Grace, is how you See and create Place, & how you build relationships with it.

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  10. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    The richness here from all, fills me.

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i knew he would have meaning for you

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    we are complex, me and her
    we are teaching eachother who we are Now
    as we go

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    you are correct. CORRECT.
    since born. it’s her “contract”

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  14. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i hope you can read it, i hope
    everyone can

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  15. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    the Place is already there. I find place IN it. She
    is learning that too

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  16. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    love to you, Nancy

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