Today we gather together to celebrate the love of a couple:
Yesterday was so perfect it is hard to remember that the first few days this week I was still in Chicago, going to beaches, parties, and hanging out with my family.
I was invited to this wedding 48 hours prior to be the plus one for my dear friend Abby at a wedding of a longtime friend of hers. The wedding was one of those flawless, startlingly easy, utterly joy-filled daytime affairs where not only the weather cooperated (clear skies, soft sunlight filtered through lush leaves, and just breezy enough to playfully tousle short hair and ruffle the edges of silky tea-length dresses), but the guests were fascinating and friendly, the visuals were glorious, and the traditions felt fresh and meaningful.
The reason I bring up the wedding (besides being unable to stop thinking about how nice the whole day was and being so grateful I was invited) is that the couple are both musicians, so the wedding had spectacular music. In fact at one point during the ceremony, a “musical meditation” was going to be skipped and the celebrant was gently stopped and guided by one half of the bridal couple to ensure the instrumental intercession wasn’t bypassed.
It was only upon looking at the photo with zoom that I realized that the instruments in the lovely quartet were rare, beautifully-restored or replicated antiques. Truly special to be able to listen and watch while these instruments were played.
I am a huge fan of weddings - each one is its own unique fairy tale, the climax of each of two individual life stories as single people, and the beginning of something completely different - perhaps it can be seen as ability to transition from 2 separate YA books or romance novels into a single sequel of literary fiction. (this would be a fun exercise!!)
A wedding is an event where everyone in the room collectively decides to believe in the power of the love of this one couple to overcome all troubles, hardships, difficulties, everything! It is a wonderful miracle to witness an entire room full of people who cast aside their individual doubts to proclaim that we do wholly, fully believe and hope that THIS ONE COUPLE will last their entire lives.
This wedding was filled with bells! Friends came forth to offer blessings and the congregants rang small bells they’d brought as gifts. The faces of the couple glowed with absolute faith in their love. During this ceremony one of the blessings was derived from a quote from the writer Dodie Smith. I wish I could recall the exact words, but the gist was that both partners should be strength to each other, and the blessing was that they would be able to also lean on each other, but never need to do so at the same time.
Though having written that, I can’t help but think of the strength of triangles — which are nothing but the strength of leaning on each other, with a base of something each has in common, where the strength lies in equidistance and equality.
WRITING
Hard week for me, lots of rejections in the mail. Never fun. But if you haven’t yet read my short story in Rainbow Salad about the cat and puzzle, you could read that now.
Huh, that sounds unlike me. I need some coffee & then I need to rewrite that paragraph—okay here goes:
This week my short story “A Cryptic Puzzle” came out in Rainbow Salad! Give it a read, it’s really good! I also have a different take on cats in “This is a Story AI Couldn’t Write.” - both of these are friend links and get you past the Medium firewall.
It is interesting - when I write poetry or stories, I tend to try to remove any indication of when they happened (so so many of the old stories that I wrote now feel dated because they are so closely tied to ideas or events of the past)—but publishers are specifically requesting stories that address today’s disasters (the environment is a huge topic as is politics). I’m not sure how I feel about that - for me art transcends time, and I like to read old fiction which feels timeless. Maybe it is only recent history that feels dated —
Of course the publishing industry putting books out of print even when they are only a few years old, might be contributing to this loss of continuity - I guess the planet has a problem of too much content.
RANDOM FINAL THOUGHT
Went to a great book launch in New Haven, CT at a FANTASTIC bar called Ordinary. Congratulations to Feminist Press & Betsy Golden Kellem for getting Jumping through Hoops out into the world! (She’s a Pen Parentis member in one of my accountability groups, so I feel particularly delighted in her accomplishment.)
I love your analogy of a marriage being like your favorite novel made into a series. I think if mine as the extended, 12" version of my favorite song, with a cool guitar solo in the middle. 😎