SPRING
SPRING: pastel on paper. Maggie Barrett. March 2020
People have been asking me if I’m going to start writing for this blog again; some have said, “Would you please.” How can I refuse? I’ve been thinking about it for months actually and until now have let my embarrassment at having just disappeared more that a year and half ago with no courtesy of an explanation, stop me from reaching out.
This is no time for indulging in embarrassment. Is there ever a time for it? Embarrassment is an expression of the ego, linked to caring about what people think of us, how they see us, judge us. Instead of feeling embarrassed, I’d like to apologise to you all, many of whom faithfully followed me for several years.
Where have I been?
Long story, short and no excuses. As I mentioned in my last post in June of 2018, my husband and I bought a little flat in London and so we have been going back and forth between Tuscany and there. A few weeks here and there to take in some “culture” and to socialize in our own language. It’s been a gift; stimulating, inspiring and for me a way to network for my latest novel Felicity. Our deep country Tuscany hideaway is great for writing but no so great for networking…the sheep could care less and anyway they don’t speak English.
Felicity, in fact, is the real reason I haven’t written for the blog. The novel was two and half years in the making and finally arrived, between covers, last November. Somewhere about six months into the writing, Felicity took over my life. It was a deep, inward journey and in the end, cathartic. And I was just getting started on a series of reading events when Covid 19 took control of all our plans, screwed them into a little ball and tossed them into Mother Nature’s ample waste-basket. Events in London, Paris, Italy and New York will take place…sometime in the future.
For now, Joel and I are in lockdown in London. We are grateful to have a home surrounded by beautiful English gardens. We are grateful to have food. We are grateful to have young friends delivering groceries. We are grateful to have each other to touch, to hold, to laugh and cry with. We are grateful for all of this because we know it is so much more than so many people have right now. For us, the hardships are not being able to see our family in New York and, being in the “most vulnerable” bracket, unable to be of service.
We miss our Tuscan home and garden where, as I write, wisteria will be coming into bloom and all the many climbing roses and bushes will be pushing out their first buds. Also, our house and garden are surrounded by thousands of acres of farmland…about as socially distanced as you can get.
But here is where we are. Like all of us, we are in this moment. Those of us who have some measure of comfort try to imagine what the world will look like when this pandemic passes. How will we, personally, change? Will we change? It’s easy to spout platitudes and proverbs at a time like this, which can be quite cringe-worthy, but I do think that the Chinese (no irony intended) proverb: crisis = opportunity, is worth meditating upon. The boat we are all in is no cruise ship, but it does have hierarchies. Those of us on the upper decks need to go down to the hold and roll up or sleeves.
One day, in a few weeks or months, the cash registers will begin to ring again. Let’s hope that after months of “doing without,” we don’t go out and buy another pair of shoes, but instead help others get back on their feet.
Obviously there is much to discuss, but really I’m writing to ay I’m sorry I disappeared, that I though of you often and missed you. Please stay safe. If you leave a comment – which I would really like – I will reply.
More soon, with love, Maggie
