Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Traveling Shoes

Mauerfall Allegorie by Christine Lebrasseur


The accidents of our lives 
bruise us into dirty individuality

—Gregory McGuire


11 comments:

  1. Yes. That is certainly one profound way to put it.

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  2. i love this illustration, angella. it reminds me of a wonderful film i saw years ago, called Daughters of the Dust, in which there is some unforgettably romantic imagery of grown women and young women dancing on the beach in white dresses and old-fashioned brown lace-up boots.
    (and yet your quotation belies the romanticism of the image...)

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  3. That's an incredibly original thought -- who is G. McGuire?

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  4. Dear Angella, oh, I love this picture!! And "Daughters of the Dust" was a fabulous, dreamlike homage that is unforgettable which you will love. I misread the attribution--it was hard to imagine that Gregory Maguire, after having written several books using his own clever version of the Oz characters, could have taken that gorgeous photo, but then I looked again and saw, of course, he didn't.

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  5. Ms. Moon, if we're lucky, i guess. Possibly some people are bruised into conformity.

    Susan, I remember seeing "Daughters of the Dust" and thinking that the whole movie was an incredibly moving visual poem. The boots and this quote together made me think of the title of one of Maya Angelou's memoirs, "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes." We'd best be sturdily shod if we are to whether life's bruises! And the lace dress, for me, was a metaphor for the grace that so often coexists with the hard things or something like that. I didn't really think it all through. It was just a feeling I got from the two things together.

    Elizabeth, Gregory McGuire (I should have put his whole name; it's there now), is the author on whose book the Tony award-winning Broadway play "Wicked" is based.

    Vespersparrow, i actually have never read Gregory McGuire's books, but the photograph is by one of my favorites, Christine Lebrasseur. And yes, I did love "Daughters of the Dust." An unforgettable dreamlike homage says it perfectly.

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  6. Oh, I think this is so so fabulous.

    sturdily shod indeed.
    no ruby slippers.

    I will have to check out the film.

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  7. deb,

    i notice i wrote "whether life's bruises". I meant "weather" of course, but i sort of like the idea of "whethering" them, questioning and challenging them! in either case, study shoes are a must.

    the movie is worth seeing for sure. but know that it is not really plot-driven. it's a visually captivating, beautifully photographed film-length poem. i should watch it again myself. it's been years.

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  8. This is wonderful. Both the image and the thought. I'll be pondering it all day.

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  9. The quote...one could go either way, "dirty individuality," or, buying into the dirty interpretation, as you said, strive to conform so the discomfort lessens. New inspirations, thank you.

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  10. Tess, worth pondering, I think. I wonder about the phrase "the accident of our lives." I wonder if there are any accidents. one school of thought says we choose our lives, accidents and all.

    Marylinn, the idea of "dirty individuality" just captured me. Life is messy. All we can do is wade right in. With a tough pair of boots, hopefully!

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  11. deb, and now i wrote "study shoes" instead of "sturdy shoes." and that works too!

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