Writing Too Much Elsewhere...

I've been writing so much for school these past few days I've not had time (or energy) or anything left to say on here.  I've been enjoying the writing for creative non-fiction, especially getting the chance to share drafts with classmates, getting feedback, and reading what other people have written.  Our class has our own blog where we have to post short writings, describing the simple moments in our days to practice writing about our life.  It's been fun reading about other people's small moments and having to pay close attention for moments to write about! I might share a couple on here when the class is finished.

This week I have to lead the class in a writing exercise and I've chosen to do something connected to the body, after taking Writing the Body last quarter.  We've not really read anything from the assigned readings about the body (or at least I've not been paying attention to that aspect when we've been reading) so I went back to some favorite memoirs to find examples for class.  My favorite writer at the moment, Barbara Brown Taylor, writes quite a bit about the body in An Altar in the World so I'm going to take in a few quotes as examples.

I thought since I have nothing else to say I'll just leave you with some of these quotes, because they're great.

"Our bodies have shaped our views of the world, just as the world has shaped our views of our bodies.  Each of us has a unique body 'signature,' which consists not only of our distinctive physical characteristics but also of our posture, gait, our way of using our hands.  The moment I come into a room, you can tell that I was 5'10'' in the eighth grade.  All these years later, it is still difficult for me to stand up straight. To square my shoulders requires an act of conscious will, since that only makes me taller" (40).


"Each of us has not only a set temperature but also a kinetic energy about us, a distinctive way of being physical that tells others more about us than anything we say" (40).


"'It is easier to lie with the lips than with the body,' goes an old proverb, which also a long way toward explaining why many of us are so reticent about our flesh.  It is not easy being so revealed to every passerby, who can often read us better than we can read ourselves simply by watching the way we walk, sit, or eat.  Our bodies are prophets.  They know when things are out of whack and they say so, although most of us welcome their news about as warmly as the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jeremiah's.  We would rather lock up our bodies than listen to what they have to say.  Where Christians are concerned, this leaves us in the peculiar position of being followers of the Word Made Flesh who neglect our own flesh - or worse - who treat our bodies with shame and scorn" (41).


"The body is a great focuser, whether the means is pain or pleasure.  The body is a great reminder of where we came from and where we are going, on the one sacred journey that we all make whether we mean to or not" (65).