I had another post all lined up and ready to go for today, but the recent week has given me so much to think about that a follow-up to last week’s piece on quiet books felt more important.
Thank you for these tough questions Jennifer! Stegner and Munro both fell so far. At least Stegner had to answer for his transgressions. I am troubled by the postmortem timing of the Munro revelations and wish she’d had to defend herself in life.
At least this is sparking some very thoughtful essays. Including yours ♥️🙏🏼
Dear Jennifer: I hope you are well.. I have been thinking of you a lot and your lovely town and the time we spent there and your struggles with cancer. I have wanted to share with you a meditation practice my husband has created for holding the present time as precious— he has written it out and I will share it with you — involves visualization..I guess I would send it to you through another channel like email?
But I wanted to say that the behavior of Alice Munro is something that I have thought about a lot because I have seen it before in my own relatives. ( I was not a victim but a close relative was) The shunning of the daughter in favor of the abusing husband reveals her, Alice’s, extremely low self esteem, that she would imagine this pedo was the best she could do.. the debasement involved in choosing him and becoming a monstrous mother to keep him.. this betrayal, this desperation, shows the underbelly of a narcissist —
Insecurity, self- loathing, something of a deep wound she felt willing to « bequeath » to her daughter..
Dearest Moira! So glad to hear from you. I would love to hear about your meditation practice for holding the present time as precious. I feel I am never very good at being present, that I am always mired in anxiety about the future. I am ery sorry that the abuse paradigm also played out in your family. It's so terrible and sad. Love to you and Roger xo
Thank you for these tough questions Jennifer! Stegner and Munro both fell so far. At least Stegner had to answer for his transgressions. I am troubled by the postmortem timing of the Munro revelations and wish she’d had to defend herself in life.
At least this is sparking some very thoughtful essays. Including yours ♥️🙏🏼
Thank you. Yes, I too wish Munro were alive to have to confront this. And I am glad for all the thoughtful essays I have read about her and the abuse.
Dear Jennifer: I hope you are well.. I have been thinking of you a lot and your lovely town and the time we spent there and your struggles with cancer. I have wanted to share with you a meditation practice my husband has created for holding the present time as precious— he has written it out and I will share it with you — involves visualization..I guess I would send it to you through another channel like email?
But I wanted to say that the behavior of Alice Munro is something that I have thought about a lot because I have seen it before in my own relatives. ( I was not a victim but a close relative was) The shunning of the daughter in favor of the abusing husband reveals her, Alice’s, extremely low self esteem, that she would imagine this pedo was the best she could do.. the debasement involved in choosing him and becoming a monstrous mother to keep him.. this betrayal, this desperation, shows the underbelly of a narcissist —
Insecurity, self- loathing, something of a deep wound she felt willing to « bequeath » to her daughter..
Dearest Moira! So glad to hear from you. I would love to hear about your meditation practice for holding the present time as precious. I feel I am never very good at being present, that I am always mired in anxiety about the future. I am ery sorry that the abuse paradigm also played out in your family. It's so terrible and sad. Love to you and Roger xo