Back on Board

Well it's been a while since we last met. But let's not dwell on excuses and well more excuses. Just lets say there have been good reasons and leave it at that. At the beginning of the year I made a resolution to write in my journal every day and wondered at the time if that resolution could stretch to blogging. I must've freaked myself out because ever since I have been panicked at the thought of public airing of random thoughts. What is it that stops one doing the one thing one wants to do and then gives one a hard time for not doing it? Just pure bloody-mindedness? Laziness? I know I experienced a sudden frightening loss of confidence accompanied by painful self consciousness that has dogged my progress in blogworld until this moment.

But now I'm back on board ready to start again.

Last night I went to the opening on the Perth Writers Festival. I was lucky to have been given a ticket and my neighbour and I took off for the Octagon Theatre on the UWA campus. The foyer was bristling with literary fans and we headed for the bar for a fortifying glass of bubbly. Once seated Geraldine Mellet introduced the five authors who were about to treat us to a reading from their latest works. I was particulary interested in hearing and seeing Peter Godwin whose memoir of growing up in colonial Rhodesia was a very enjoyable read. He read from his latest book and the pages he trated us to dealt with the death of his father. How brave to write about that incredibly intimate event. One of the reasons (here they come!) that I have been reticent to blog is that back in Ocotober of last year my mum's spirit finally disentangled itself from the pain of living in her ruined body/mind. I haven't yet found the courage to write about that time. But how could I write here without some reference to it? No that didn't feel right. So I know what a delicate subject the passing of a loved one, and esspecially a parent is and I admired and absorbed his reading about this subject. I realised that now there is enough distance for me to write about mum's passing. I enjoyed all the readings but the other one that stood out was by an author I was not previously familiar with; Alex Miller. His authorative presence dominated the theatre as he stood in front of his audience and the piece he chose to read was particularly enlightening. His character was describing the feelings he had for his late wife. I was stunned by the level of intimacy and revelation of the characters feeling for his wife. It brought home to me the magic of sexual intimacy - that other-worldly space beyond words. Sex and Death explored on the night of Scorpio full moon!