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Why are we not looking at age as a new, evolving stage of human life—not merely as a decline from youth, but as an open-ended development in its own terms, which, in fact, may be uniquely ours to define?
--Betty Friedan, The Fountain of Age
Oh my goodness, November has been a month.
First there was that business about (maybe) solving my own health issues through a bit of medical skullduggery (see my November 20 blog). Fingers crossed.
Then there was the Thanksgiving trip to the West Coast to see family, most of whom were just getting over COVID. So now we are crossing our fingers that we have evaded the bug yet again. It’s amazing how, dipping into the kids’ lives just briefly, there is so very much going on: Joys, complexities, crosscurrents that are visible close up and not nearly as vivid on the phone or Zoom. It was tough to leave. It’s such a different kind of parenting and grand-parenting to live on the opposite coast.
And then—presto! We’re back in North Carolina, with just days to go before the end of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The adventures of Marion, the four-hundred-year-old vampire, and Rachel, her skeptical mortal love interest, will wrap up in the next few days. Then it will be time to untangle the unruly batch of pages that currently meanders back and forth from Act I to Act III to Act II and back again.
I sometimes wonder what sense an algorithm can make of a writer’s search history. Doing a bit of research on what is, necessarily, a historical novel has led me to look up:
- Brothels in medieval England
- How long blood keeps before transfusion
- The history of zinc-based sunblock
- The notorious witch trials of Yorkshire
- Effectiveness of herbal remedies
- The health impact of bloodletting
- The invention of sunglasses
And, of course, in what years England experienced a full eclipse between 1400 and 1700. Plus example FDA inspection reports for blood banks. Writing what may be the world’s first seasoned lesbian vampire nerd romance is a trip to an upside-down world with its own conventions and internal logic.
I’m noticing, too, the progression writers talk about: that one’s first novel is much closer to life while later novels take greater leaps into invention. National Novel Writing Month is designed to push writers past the limits of their Inner Critics by essentially forcing them to write quickly (It’s not actually possible to generate 50,000 words in a month by writing slowly). And that’s great. But there is no substitute for writing book after book to gain more access to the imagination.
And for me, at least, that is the quest: To find out, finally, what is in there, what has been percolating in the unconscious for all these seven decades. Jung said that the Hero’s Journey is a journey into the mind, and perhaps that is the journey of every writer and artist. It is a journey we are freed to take as our roles in life evolve. It is a privilege to undertake that quest at last.
I am thankful for that journey. And thankful for my partner, my children, my grandchildren, my friends. Thankful for this long life with all its many gifts. Even the most challenging memories are now grist for the writing mill. I’m thankful to become more and more connected with the emerging community of pro-aging women. And that means you, dear Reader. May you find much to enjoy in this holiday season, including the pursuit of your own passions, whether they are cooking, writing, sculpting, dance, or any of the other ways we express and enjoy ourselves. If you have a minute, write and tell me what you’re doing at stella [@] stellafosse.com.
What a long strange trip it still is. Blessed be.
Keep the pen moving (or the keys clicking)!
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