or Do All Writers
Have Split Personalities
by Jackie King
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| Jackie King |
In
Julia Cameron’s book AN ARTIST’S WAY, she speaks of feeding your inner child.
My problem is, I’m so busy taking care of my old-girl self, that there’s little
time left for outings with some brat that lurks in my psyche. However, some time in the past I had to return a purchase to the mall. I walked from the sizzling Tulsa heat into life reviving air conditioning and decided that both me and my
inner-child could something new. I had just picked up a shirt when this
inner-brat whined,
“Why don’t you get
something different? I’m sick of beige.”
What? Inner
Brat didn’t like beige?
Somewhat
unnerved, I put back the Tee and wandered on through the store. Maybe Inner-Child
would prefer a nice navy blue? I strolled from sportswear into blouses and stepped
within arm’s length of a dressy print top in shades of orange, yellow and brown.
The effect was a bit like viewing an abstract painting and I paused a minute.
That one, Brat said.
My
civilized (beleaguered?) self, smiled and spoke in a (silent) faux-calm voice
said, “Okay, we’ll try it on, but will make us look like a buffalo.” (Brat isn’t
the only alter ego who can be snippy.) I looped the blouse over my arm and
moved on. Four racks over I spotted a splashy flowered print. I reacted with
one word: “Yuck.”
“Try on that one,
too,” Brat said.
I
thought my child rearing days were over!
Grown-up-lady
rolled her eyes. If anything would make us look ridiculous (an important fear
to me, but Brat didn’t seem to care) this garment would. But the jacket was unlined,
cotton and sported three-quarter sleeves. Very comfortable for summer, and we
mature ladies love our comfort. What the heck, might as well try that one on
too.
The
two of us, brat and woman-of-a-certain age, (not sure who was leading whom),
found a dressing room and tried on both items. SHOCKEROO: My older self decided
to buy both! Grown up self loved the blouse; Brat insisted on the blazing
blazer.
Feeling
more than a little daring, I headed toward hats. I was getting into this. If
child and grownup joined forces, what might happen next?
The above anecdote
happened four summers earlier, and I’m growing more eccentric with each passing year. When I went to church yesterday, I wore what are called Pajama-Jeans (Purple ones) with a T-shirt that read, “OLD IS COOL.”
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| Two avid readers who agree that OLD IS COOL! |
So my message to Julia Cameron is that my inner-child isn't just alive and well, she is thriving and corrupting senior readers along the way. Above I'm with Mary Ruth Whitman and Richard Baden. We are wearing different colored fedoras with twinkling lights.
Like my own children
years earlier, my
inner child has taken over my life.
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| Book 1 - Grace Cassidy Series |
