Claire Fullerton's Blog: A Writing Life - Posts Tagged "essays"

In my mind, there’s Pat Conroy and then there’s everybody else. What makes him an island unto himself is his intimate, confessional writing. I’ve been wrestling with trying to articulate exactly why his words speak to so many and have arrived at the conclusion that at the foundation of his God given gift to effortlessly arrange words is the bedrock of clear thinking. Too many people buckle under the weight of their own unwieldy emotional level, and as it is only human nature to duck and cover from pain and confusion, their unexamined emotional life takes on a crippling weight all its own and leads to a list of crimes against the human heart. The magic of Conroy is in his fearlessness to call anything by name and his cache of language to do so exactly. In so doing for himself, he does so for humanity. His is a dauntless, confident voice so surefooted, his readers know and trust him. Each of his novels sends the reader through the thicket of life itself then leaves them parked in front of a mirror to reflect. In A Lowcountry Heart, Conroy tells his legions of fans not only how he does this, but why. I’ve heard Conroy called a generous writer by many, and this book tells me how he earned the reputation. Behold, the man behind the curtain, who has a seat across from you and looks you in the eye as he explains what goes on in his passionate soul. Pick a subject, any subject, and Conroy pontificates in this treasure of a book. Thank you, Nan Talese and Doubleday. This, like all of Pat Conroy’s books, is a masterpiece from the man who keeps on giving.

Bold, daring, and yes, confessional, River Jordan’s collection of personal essays warns you going into it that you’re in for something unique. After all, what is the art of writing, if not a venue to compare notes on this business of life? Only a master can make this plain through the power of fifty delightful stories. This is a writer who asks the big questions for us; who owns a steady faith base yet thinks outside the box. Confessions of a Christian Mystic is devout and dauntless. It is sonorous, beautiful, soul-deep, and fearless. And it is sardonically funny in its skirt-lifted vulnerability. The chapter titled, “Sometimes Good Girls Get Naked” is a case in point. With a deft hold on sentiment without being overly sentimental, I won’t cheapen this important book by suggesting it’s a page-turner—it is better. Confessions of a Christian Mystic is something to savor. You’ll want to pause and ponder at the end of each chapter.
I applaud every essay in this gorgeous gift of a book. River Jordan has woven vignettes of her personal narrative at such an engaging, introspective pitch that I defy every reader not to see themselves in its pages

One of the gifts of living by the ocean is the view is ever-changing. I have a particular relationship with this constant inconstancy. I am grounded in a reality that fluctuates from no will of mine and it humbles me to bear witness to a majesty I know is endless.
I can literally see the curvature of the earth from my front deck in Malibu. Some days the sea looks like mirrored glass; other days the roiling whitecaps attenuate forever. This is what I can see, yet I know life teems beneath the surface in the labyrinth of an ecosystem of which I can only speculate. And yet I know it is there. Hidden from view, from knowledge, from judgment, from the temptation of assumption. All that is given to me is the moment and my perception. If I stand still and tune into my thoughts, I am aware of my consciousness. I believe if one really wants to know themselves, all they have to do is listen to the song within.
I’m saying all this because first thing this morning, I walked out and was caught unaware by the photograph you see above. It startled me in an awestruck, sobering way, yet the voice I consider the intimate “me” resounded unbiddenly in two words: “Of course.” In that moment, I was reminded of my fundamental beliefs, and they have everything to do with my relationship with the unknown. What I believe is things are rarely as they seem. In the midst of ambiguity, there is always hope.
You don’t need me to remind you these are strange times, unbalancing times, unsettling times, but what I’m thinking of is my understanding of the bigger picture. Because you have to pay attention to your perception of this world. If you do, it dictates experience both immediate and long-range. I’m neither prophet nor seer, but I trust my intuition. When I walked out this morning and saw this neon rainbow placed on the sky seemingly by the hand of God, what I knew at that moment is, always, there is great hope.

To see rainbow photograph https://clairefullertonauthor.wordpre...