I don’t remember who first suggested I read The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I wish I knew so I could thank them. It reminds me of the movie, Pleasantville and in many ways it reminds me of my own life.
Kate Chopin was one of the first women writers I declared worthy of the “literary granny” moniker.
Like Charlotte Perkins Gilman, she faced serious depression. She was widowed and without any means of support, she started writing to at the advise of her doctor, in direct opposition to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “rest cure” to combat depression.
She built a name for herself through her stories of the Southern region of Louisiana and quickly became quite popular. Her “Story of an Hour” and “The Awakening” are both strong stances against convention and perhaps a part of her popular downfall. When she died at age fifty-three, she had fallen into disgrace from the community that once revered her.
I wonder how she would be received now, writing similar stories?
I wonder if her depression would have been medicated away rather than written away?
Questions for contemplation and writing:
How do I receive the stories of others?
How can I best inject more wonder into both my own stories and the stories of others?
What questions haven’t I asked that would be valuable to ask?
Sentence starters:
I am awakening to…
I need rest from…
I need to create more…
Reflection questions for the end of the day:
Today I noticed myself awakening to…
One community I used to be in was….
I notice I have disconnected from….
I want to be remembered for….
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This blog post is a part of April's Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Visit here daily in April to be inspired by literary grannies across time.
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Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond.
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