I read this piece of yours yesterday, and then later started reading Saray Polley's "Run Towards the Danger". She had this to say in the preface, which I thought was very relevant to what you are examining here:
"I've been acutely aware that my childhood experiences inform my current life. I have, until recently, been less conscious of the power of my adult life to inform my relationship to my memories. When I was lucky enough to have experiences in adulthood that echoed pivotal, difficult memories, and to have those experiences go another, better way than they had in the past, my relationship to those memories shifted. The meaning of long-ago experiences transformed in the context of the ever-changing present.
The past and present, I have come to realize, are in constant dialogue, acting upon one another in a kid of reciprocal pressure dance."
I think that's exactly right! And I think it ties into what you wisely said - the relationship between the writer and the story IS the story.
oooh, @Amy, I love that! This line especially: "The past and present, I have come to realize, are in constant dialogue, acting upon one another in a kid of reciprocal pressure dance." Thank you for sharing!
I read this piece of yours yesterday, and then later started reading Saray Polley's "Run Towards the Danger". She had this to say in the preface, which I thought was very relevant to what you are examining here:
"I've been acutely aware that my childhood experiences inform my current life. I have, until recently, been less conscious of the power of my adult life to inform my relationship to my memories. When I was lucky enough to have experiences in adulthood that echoed pivotal, difficult memories, and to have those experiences go another, better way than they had in the past, my relationship to those memories shifted. The meaning of long-ago experiences transformed in the context of the ever-changing present.
The past and present, I have come to realize, are in constant dialogue, acting upon one another in a kid of reciprocal pressure dance."
I think that's exactly right! And I think it ties into what you wisely said - the relationship between the writer and the story IS the story.
oooh, @Amy, I love that! This line especially: "The past and present, I have come to realize, are in constant dialogue, acting upon one another in a kid of reciprocal pressure dance." Thank you for sharing!
In memoir, the relationship between the writer and the story IS the story. —- I love this!!
Me, too!