In The New York Times yesterday, the title of an essay caught my eye: “Writing My Way to a New Self.” In the essay, Hana Schank wrote about her two different selves–the one she was on paper and the one she was in person–Writing Me and Actual Me.
And while on the phone I was awkward and stiff, in email I was my charming inner self.
After her first book was published, her editor encouraged her to broaden her reach. And she did–by using email to turn strangers into friends before she met them. After a while,
It was as though my writing self and my public self had begun to merge into one whole person. And when that happened, it was as though I’d been set free.
I think feeling the split Hana wrote about was another reason I wanted to undertake this project: Writer me, Actual me, Mother me, Other me, Columbus me, Provincetown me, Past me, Future me, Young me, Now me…
Perhaps rather than dividing myself up, it would be better to add. And although math is not my strong suit, perhaps all these different selves add up to one whole person–Real me : )
~
365 true things about me
why this daily practice
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” ― Aristotle
Brilliant post… Cynthia. Brava! xxx
Thanks, Helena!
Yep! A “syncretic” you! 😀
Yes!
Like 👍
: )
I do feel like I know you, but all I know is your fine writing and beautiful photography. Art defines the artist?
Thanks so much, Sarah. And I love that: art defines the artist. At least over time, I would think, back and forth, each impacting the other, getting closer and closer to one in the same. Interesting to think about.
Love this. I’ll need to read that essay. But yes, it’s a lesson we have to re-learn so much that I think probably we’ve both said it more than once on this very blog, you in your micro essays and I in my comments, that we don’t write to convey what we understand, we write in order to understand. I’ve also said many times that I write because it makes me more whole, and this new “stringing together the me’s” concept of yours is another good way of understanding how to make a whole. I like it. Thank you for that insight!
That’s right, we write to understand, exactly. Thank you!
So finally I return to remind myself of the essay you recommended on this topic and read it. Thank you, I found the essay so inspiring b/c the author and her journey remind me somewhat of myself, but I haven’t yet reached the mountaintop.
And sometimes… shshshshshsh… sometimes I like the fact that I am a set of people rather than one, properly integrated whole. I’d rather not think about why just now but choose simply to quietly nod over this truth. Later perhaps I will explore.
Yes.