Eleven Things & Writing

The prompt for this post comes from Clio Bluestocking Tales via Professor Zero:

Prompt: What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

NATASHA'S ELEVEN THINGS

1) Blaming the world outside (a country/a people) for my own unhappiness.
2) Trying to please other people at the expense of my own desires/instincts. (Having the baby in the U.S. -- why? because my mother wants me to/Agreeing to teach anything -- why? because "I'm so lucky to be here"; then, teaching badly because the subject bores me. )

3) Letting the institution "hollow out the inside." Allowing myself to be "institutionalized."
4) Doing research/academic work because it is more likely to be rewarded. (You have not suffered or starved yet for your choice to study writing. You will not in the future either. Do not try to do academic work just to be "normal." )

5) Seeking the eternal pat on the head. From Daddy, The Heavenly Father or Daddy-Substitute.

Or, from Mommy, The Heavenly Mother or Mommy-Substitute.

6) Ignoring the things that give pleasure/seeking punishment (for what?)

7) Neglecting my "i" out of insecurity. Let the "I" and the "i" talk to teach other -- calmly, though.

8) Worrying for the sake of worrying.

9) Forgetting Kerouac, Whitman and Dickinson.

10) Panicking because I don't speak Turkish well enough.

--Being fluent in Turkish will not help my writing.

11) Working for the sake of working. Give yourself a break occasionally. Come back to the writing fresh.

*This image comes from the Masters of Photography Series. Ruth Bernhard. Torso. 1955.