My dear friends,
Pedro Almodovar has a new movie: Pain and Glory.
DO NOT MISS IT. I repeat. DO NOT MISS IT.
If you find yourself whirling in the what feels like an endless cycle of your existentialness (don’t look it up it’s my word).
If your aging process is moving too fast, giving you physical grief so much so that you have lost count on the doctor visits.
If your HIGH ANXIETY wakes you in the middle of the night so your only recourse is to pop a pill or call a friend that you haven’t called before to senior-sit with you as you try to calm down.
And if you avoid any questions about what you are working on or if you baldly lie about your latest project, you need this movie.
My whole olden being is engaged in finding that which will engage my creative juices. You know what I mean… something that will make use of my still active and engaged mental equipment however saddled with a more rapidly aging body.
Of late, I have been exposed to what I would call coincidental “bashert” (the wonderful Yiddish word for destiny). The most recent examples being Almodovar’s new movie, wherein a famous director of past great movies is hobbled by aging health issues and loss of his muse. Welcome to The Club!
Another is an article in The New Yorker by John McPhee, Tabula Rusa in which he is writing what I call “mini memories”, one of which includes a story about a luncheon with Thornton Wilder.
At this luncheon, a very brash and slightly callow youth of a writer (McPhee) dares to ask Wilder who is 66 at the time (an age that McPhee thought geriatric) what he is presently working on. Politely, Wilder tells him he is cataloguing the plays of Lope de Vega. McPhee thought and then asked Wilder, “Why would anyone want to do that?” The silence at the table was deafening. In fury, Wilder exclaimed. “Young man, do not ever question the purpose of scholarship.” My translation: Do not ever ask an artist what he is working on .
McPhee who is 88 now knows that those plays were serving to extend Thornton Wilder’s life. It was a project meant not to end.
I was led to that article and to the Almodovar movie because it is exactly what I needed to read and see.
I need my own Lope de Vega and my own muse restored. I think I’ll stop with the excuses and all the other blocks I put in my path towards my next creative move. The major hurdle I face is finding like minded younger and older artists who know what I am talking about and finding a way to support each other in our quests. I think when you are younger by the nature of your youthful strength you go it alone. I believe the artists journey is singular and lonely.
I do not think my discovering that older artists and their quest for relevancy (because really isn’t that what it’s all about…I’M STILL HERE!) is accidental.
Like I said before, I am experiencing coincidental beshart (love that word)…
If any of this makes any sense to you, I’d love to hear from you… if not, have another cup of tea and a fabulous day.
And don’t forget to see Pain and Glory….
Right? Of course, right!!!!
Love, Sally-Jane ♥️
P.S.
Recently, I received a book from Amazon that I did not order: The Flight From Truth by Jean-Francois Revel
No note as to who it was from… I love surprises… but I want to thank whoever did the deed.
And that is not possible… curiosity killed the cat… If it is one of youse who did it… take pity and tell me.
Puleeeze… ❤️
Sally-Jane's Blah, Blah, Blog 