Ramblings and Resolutions

I have finished reading The Bell Jar and I am pleased to say my mind is sufficiently blown. Sylvia Plath has been my favorite poet since high school, when a certain formidable English teacher introduced me to 'Mad Girl's Love Song.' Now that I've read her semi-autobiographical novel, I know it is going to stick with me forever.

Esther Greenwood was such a exceptional character. Talented, unique, fiercely independant and brilliant, but a tad bit off. Overly perceptive and indulgent of others, Esther finds herself trapped inside the asphyxiating bell jar, like a lab rat under close observation. Following her sedate collapse was as real an experience as if I were caving in myself.

What I admired most about the story was how Esther's life options were mirrored in the lives of everyone she knows. All her different possibilities for what could be or what could have been are fleshed out in the supporting characters, and ultimately, Esther's path is all her own. And the metaphors and imagery Plath weaves into the novel are to die for. I could truly fill up an entire notebook with quotes.

I should probably stop gushing now. Beautiful writing, arresting narrative, and precariously relevant to my life as a nineteen-year-old college student aspiring to make a life out of words. Oh Sylvia, guide me in your awesome writing ways!

Curse those damn gas ovens. Sigh..

Onward! In honor of 2011, the start of a new decade, I have decided to throw caution to the wind and actually make a resolution. Normally, I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. Why? Because most of them fail. For the first week of January, everyone is motivated to live healthier, or find loving homes for all the vagrant puppies in the world, or fall for the love of their lives. But soon after, the appeal of the resolution wanes, due many times to the vagueness or impracticality of the resolution.

Therefore, I am going to make a resolution that is both realistic (seriously, you can't help all the puppies in the world) and highly specific (living healthier? what does that even mean?), one that relies solely on myself (and not on some elusive 'true love' to come knocking on my doorstep).

By the start of April, I resolve to have a solid 25,000 words written. I resolve not to hate or delete what I write. I resolve to create a writing schedule which fits both my class and work schedule, one that I can stick to and (preferably) allows for a few hours of sleep each night. This would make me happy. *Smiles*

Goodnight dreamers and writers and readers.
XO

Currently listening to: Dead American Writers- Tired Pony

1.1.11

This will be the year I unleash the writer in me.

I will not hide from my stories, silence my characters, or cringe at the thought of exposing myself. To make this my life, I need to work at it everyday. I have the spirit, the simmering passion slow-cooking to the point of combustion. This will be an experiment in tenacity.

Join me as I tread through the tempestuous courses of my mind. Hopefully, amidst all this heavy growth, we can laugh a little along the way.