Hopefully something delicious came of today’s art project!

This burning moment, I’m on a break from Novel #2 because I’ve been LITERALLY cutting and pasting pieces of hard copy while sitting on the ground.

I’ve always wished for greater ease in eavesdropping. Thing is, low-level social anxiety has often seemed to get in the way of relaxing into a given situation/environment enough to feel like I’m really picking up on other people’s stuff. Not always, though, and thankfully, for the writer’s life would otherwise be markedly trickier.

Excited about this novel #2!

Resistance to change often shows up with a deeper entrenchment into old ways. Some will cling to the old patterns of gender roles and sexuality because they appear “safe” or “right” or “moral.” In the meantime, others will develop their own inner diversity and find people who’ll accept and appreciate them.

For some reason, your comment made me think of two couples in my life. Each couple has a young boy. The way my male friends interact with their sons is so very different from the way nearly all fathers from my generation treated their kids. My friends openly show affection to their boys, help with their daily care, and seem to truly nurture them. It’s so beautiful to see. And it transcends gender. It’s about being a loving person and teaching a child to be that, too.

From a Jungian perspective, every human being is striving–consciously or not–for wholeness and individuation. Male and female are within all of us. What proportion, or how it’s expressed or shadowed, shifts throughout our lives. My perspective is that the rigid gender roles/expectations of times past have been crumbling rapidly for a few decades and will continue to do so. It’s probably good for us, even if it is painful. Maybe then we can get to the point you stated so well, Will: “we’re all unique, just like everyone else.”

I have to say, I never really cared, though. I’ve read many writers worry themselves about writing “The Other”–white writers writing black characters, women writing men, gay writing straight, etc.–but I universally think that single idea neglects that we’re all others, that none of us are identical, that stereotypes are stereotypes no matter where they are applied. I don’t get the inclination that leads either gender to try to understand the other–women trying to figure men out, or vice-versa, if only because nothing universally applies. We can understand each other, if we try and if we listen, and we can understand other people, certainly, but really to do so we have to begin with the assumption that we’re all unique, just like everyone else. I tend to think it’s more about empathy than understanding; maybe we can feel someone else more than we can know them?