Everything you've ever been told was true.
Earlier today, I was on the phone with my cousin Jenny, talking about her boys, and about how her youngest was writing a "Tall Tale" for school.
He didn't like it.
"I don't like writing untruths," he said.
Honest kid. I like him.
She asked me what I liked to read.
"Memoirs about weirdos like me, to inspire me and help me feel less alone, fantasy novels (though to be honest, some part of my love of fantasy has gone the way of my passion for sour skittles and Lucky Charms), and poetry that isn't trying to be Poetry.
If you're curious I talk about my thoughts on poetry, writing, and education in this podcast: (https://youngwritersproject.org/node/36768).
Anywho, back to my cousin. He ended up writing a story about evil frogs taking away the wetness from dogs' noses, which included a detail of the dogs being trapped in a 5x5 foot box.
Covid, I thought.
A poetry of isolation.
And this kid thinks he's writing untruths.
The frogs took away something the dogs didn't even know they valued, then trapped them.
Jenny told me they were trapped, but then apparently one of the dogs figured things out, figured out how to undo the magic, and teleport around with the frog, who caused the hurt and was able to heal it, make the dogs' noses wet again, one by one.
The problem is the solution. Paradox is power, and a literary marvel.
And this kid thinks he's writing untruths.
My heart shakes a little right now, with new things I'm learning about imagination and truth. A new dear friend told me that authenticity isn't real, not the way we think about it. We don't just figure out our One True Form and keep it. That's not the game. We're always putting on a new character, and the scripts for our parts are ever-changing. The trick is to choose true masks—masks we want to wear, for style, for joy, for power—rather than ones that leave us disempowered and dry-nosed in a 5x5 foot box.
As T.S. Eliot (one l, not two, learned that in college, waddup lit studies degree!) put it:
"There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea."
This is from [this] (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock) poem.
Um. Where was I going.
Basically everything you've ever said, or that has ever been said about you, is true.
Our masks are true. Our fictions are true.
The trick is to find masks and fictions that feel both true and beautiful.
And finding true and beautiful masks and fictions might just save your life, or your sanity. Or rob you of both in interesting ways, who's to know.
I'm finding that I don't know much these days, and as the mystery waxes, my imagination grows with it. Life becomes ever more invigorating, compelling, and bewildering.
As in truly, it makes me Be. Wilder. Less tame. More and more much of myself.
Amidst the muchness, I am tired, finally, after many days, honestly weeks, of sitting on the edge of my proverbial seat.
I am tired tonight, as I try to keep my promise of having a missive out on Monday.
My dear friend Emily says that morning is a feeling, not a time. As I sit here tonight, a little past midnight, I wish for us to cast a prayer, saying that Monday can be a feeling, not a date.
It is now "Tuesday," and it is still Monday in my heart. My sleeping eyes have not yet closed the book of Monday. This is my Tall Tale, tonight.
I am looking forward to sleeping, and am going to do that now.
You are so real, your existence so true, and your essence so beautiful
Love always,
Alex
I'm going to host an open Gateless writing night on Wednesday from 6:30-8:30 pm EST. You are welcome to come. It's a gift. Please reply if you're planning on attending, so I know who to expect. Here's the link: (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5171377882).
Here are some more details:
DETAILS: It's a mid-week evening, and you'd like to hang out with cool people in a calm environment and have something fun to do. I've got you covered. Bring along: something to write with, a sense of humor, and snacks. We'll arrive on our online call together, settle in with a breath or two, write to a few prompts (that you're welcome to ignore), read our work together, and offer each other supportive feedback.
ABOUT ALEX: Your host is Alex Muck, a teaching artist and founder of Fun is a Necessity, LLC, a Vermont-based arts education organization. She's a certified Gateless teacher and is hosting this party for free because she likes writing with friends, and it's the holiday season and it's a nice gift she can give the world.
A BIT ABOUT GATELESS WRITING: Gateless is all about noticing what is strong, powerful, and marvelous in creative work. No red pens, no questions, no criticism. At a Gateless Writing party, (also known as a salon - FANCY!) we don't focus on what is weird or awkward or not good enough - we find specific things that are working and celebrate the hell out of them. In salon, you can take risks, try new things, be serious or ludicrous or both. Both is good.