A Fresh Perspective
What has given you a fresh perspective?
As an essayist, I have written hundreds of short pieces on topics—serious to trivial, somber to light, and sentimental to realistic. About 550 of those essays remain hidden now on my previous blog, ready to be assembled into a book. Some have been published in the literary magazine, Tangents. Others, have been published in my own mind, providing self-entertainment and enthusiasm.
My most recent essay was published on December 26 in the Free Press, a new press to which I subscribe for its independent and fresh articles, written by terrific writers, untethered to the rules of news and editorial departments in big-city newspapers and television stations.
It is clear to me that the current legacy press (think WSJ, NYT, WaPo, SF Chronicle, LA Times) are corrupted and broken in a number of ways, similar to the recent breakage in the Ivy League and other elite universities in the United States.
The topic for the Free Press’s Senior Essay Contest was to describe something that has given the writer a fresh perspective on life. I chose to revisit Thoreau, whose mantra was to live a life of simplicity, certainly not easy to do in today’s fast-paced world. My essay was one of three finalists out of 400 submitted essays. The winning essay was a paean to the author’s wife Deborah, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
In my published essay which you can read here, I shared my realization that living in an inconvenient place, rural Montana, was the reason we put down roots there, roots surrounded by a massive literal root system of alfalfa, grass, weeds, barley, and wheat.
The editors amended my essay, and in most cases, I am thankful they did. The only error was in the sub-heading, which indicated that we had left, of all places, San Francisco.
Just the mention of San Francisco sent a whole pool of commenters, writing under the cover of pseudonyms, into a frenzy.
Most of the comments were congratulatory in nature or were the readers’ own experiences in moving (or desiring to move) to the country. Many commenters took the time to write highly detailed paragraphs, which I enjoyed immensely.
Several told me that a Portuguese Water Dog, like our Sugar Pi, is not a country dog. I needed a cattle dog of some sort. My friend Julie, either from her courtroom bench or from her home, teeming with PWD puppies, would have given those commenters a piece of her mind. Maybe said commenters might read up on the breed.
One woman told me I didn’t know how to write a grammatically sound sentence. Never mind that I freelanced for Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl, for a year.
Mainly, I found that readers of the Free Press feel comfortable to freely state their opinions a civil manner.
One reader, Mike, wanted to know more about the person you are now and how much of the old person still plays a role.
I am still thinking about Mike’s question this morning now that I have arrived home from my 2-mile walk with Sugar Pi. Mike, I will report back in the form of an essay after I take a hot shower and several Advil.
Meanwhile, I would like to know what has given you, my readers, a fresh perspective?
Thank you, Chris, for this lovely comment. You certainly embarked on a new and challenging teaching job in your 70's which takes courage and effort. Think of all the brain cells you have grown. Brain plasticity! Very few individuals would accept such a challenge but you did it!
My work with young children (K-3), as the catechist at a Catholic school has given me a beautiful, peaceful, and loving understanding of God’s magnificent love for us. It is so simple, forget all the rules and control, He loves us.