Cindy on March 26th, 2009
“The art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” — Havelock Ellis
It’s time for some serious spring cleaning. The costumes and uniforms of my past are taking up way too much space in my closet and in my psyche. But since I’m a born collector, I struggle when it comes time to release the threads and fabric of my past. Do you find it hard to let go of things you no longer use or wear? If so, you might want to check out this week’s Midpoint column in The Oakland Press.
Cindy on March 22nd, 2009
I’ve learned over the years that there is beauty not only in perfection but also in erosion, possession, and remembrance.”
— Barbara Hodgson, Trading in Memories
Rummaging through boxes at garage sales and thrift shops is one of my favorite addictions. But I don’t stop there. Neighbors often spot me gathering found objects for my artwork — everything from feathers to bottle caps — along the curbs and sidewalks. Undoubtedly, some folks think I’ve lost my wits, but who cares? I’m intrigued by the glory of broken, discarded things. And the more faded, frayed, rusted or ragged they are, the better.
While scouting a local flea market this weekend, I recalled a favorite book, Second Hand, by Detroit author Michael Zadoorian. The novel charmed me when I first read it several years ago, partly because it centers around a young junk shop owner with a passion for cool castoffs.
“I do believe that we can gain a kind of illumination from junk,” Zadoorian’s protagonist explains in the opening chapter. “We just have to be open to it. Unfortunately, most people live their lives without the wisdom junk can give them.”
Along the same lines, Looking for Mary, a memoir by Beverly Donofrio, is another great read with an uncommon twist on collecting. When Donofrio (a lapsed Catholic) turned 40, she was overwhelmed by a sudden preoccupation with the Virgin Mary. To her own surprise, she found herself buying Blessed Virgin items from yard sales and thrift shops. What began as a whimsical collection of kitsch ultimately turned into a conversion experience that changed Donofrio’s life and healed her strained relationship with her son. I was hooked after the first chapter. Donofrio’s sweet memoir inspired me to stalk garage sales for holy cards and dashboard saints — a few of which ended up in a shrine and an altered book (shown above) that I crafted in Mary’s honor.
If your passion for stories about collecting still isn’t satisfied, you won’t want to miss Barbara Hodgson’s Trading in Memories: Travels Through a Scavenger’s Favorite Places. Beautifully illustrated with finds from the author’s collection of ephemera, this gathering of essays is your armchair ticket to a world tour of exotic bazaars and markets, antique shops, dusty bookstores, and other romantic haunts where trinkets and treasures await. – Cindy La Ferle
Cindy on March 19th, 2009
“Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes.” — Sophia Loren
Cosmetic ads continually remind us that we can’t look fabulous unless we look years younger. So what does it mean to “age gracefully” today? Must we color our hair, undergo plastic surgery, and spend a fortune on anti-aging products to meet our culture’s rigid standards of beauty?
That’s my topic in this week’s Midpoint column in The Oakland Press. Which side are you defending in the ongoing battle against aging? Feel free to express your views here or on The Oakland Press site. –CL
*Previous Midpoint columns are archived with links to The Oakland Press (look under CATEGORIES in the “Browse” panel at right). These columns focus on issues of special interest to women between ages 40 and 65.
Artwork shown: “One Grace,” a detail from an original painting by Douglas La Ferle
Cindy on March 17th, 2009
“And homeless near a thousand homes I stood,
And near a thousand tables pined and wanted food.” –William Wordsworth
With a nod to the Lenten season and Michigan’s struggling economy, Read the Spirit is running a series this week on “life’s necessities” and how to remain balanced in troubled times. This series includes an essay I wrote three years ago when I was adjusting to my new status as an empty nester. The piece originally appeared in the Literary Mama anthology, and was awarded 2nd prize in Detroit Working Writers’ Annual Spring Competition last May. Please click here to read the piece. –CL
Cindy on March 15th, 2009
How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book. ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Last week, after I mentioned that Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own was one of the most influential books I’d ever read, my friend Ellen asked me to list my top 10 “life-changing” books. I love a challenge like that. And what perfect timing, since March is National Reading Month!
As I told Ellen, my list of “Top 10 Life-changing Books” is a little odd — or eclectic — for many reasons. For one, a “life-changing” book isn’t necessarily a great work of literature. (I was an English major in college, so I had to read a lot of great literature.) So much depends on what I was going through at the time I read a particular book. When I first read Anne Frank’s Diary of A Young Girl, for instance, I was barely 12 and just beginning to dream of becoming a writer. That book blew open my perspective on a lot of key issues — and it narrowed down my career goals.
Taking Ellen’s challenge to heart, I quickly listed the first titles I could think of that had the biggest impact on me when I read them. And I couldn’t stop at 10 books. So, in no special order, I offer the following:
Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf
The Mysterious Stranger, by Mark Twain
The Diary of A Young Girl, by Anne Frank
The Magus, by John Fowles
Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury (tied with Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes)
The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
The Portrait of A Lady, by Henry James
Tess of the D’urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitz
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
Letters to A Young Poet, by Ranier Maria Rilke
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland
The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (really young when I read this- – big impact!)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd
Care of the Soul, by Thomas Moore
Operating Instructions, by Anne Lamott
The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The Crosswicks Journal (a memoir trilogy), By Madeleine L’Engle
I know I’ve neglected to list a few other favorites, but this is a good start. Now it’s YOUR turn. I’d love to read your list of “life-changing, perspective-altering, heart-stopping, I-gotta-read-it-again” books. — Cindy La Ferle
