Thomas Jefferson, world ballet day, and yes, we are hurting
Thomas Jefferson, world ballet day, and yes, we are hurting
I visited the Library of Congress this week and learned that Thomas Jefferson, whose volumes comprised the original library, organized his books according to three themes: (1) imagination, (2) reason, (3) and memory. I am intrigued by these headings.
My email feed tells me that today is World Ballet Day. I offer THREE MUSES to mark the occasion (available in paper, ebook, and audio; and from your local library). I am eternally grateful to Paul Harding who wrote, “Martha Anne Toll’s three muses are those of song, discipline, and memory. In this beautiful, dark novel, she has choreographed the mysterious ways these forces push and pull and shape the lives of her characters – lives of terrible loss and precious if dismaying survival – through their dissonances, harmonies, deprivations and recoveries.”
Perhaps you can see why Thomas Jefferson’s organizing themes resonate with me.
I had an amazing time with Ben and Matthew, two writers based in Berlin, talking about THREE MUSES, the writing life, and other stuff too, for Doggerel Diaries podcast.
We are hurting so much right now. I’ve been thinking about Arjun Sethi’s AMERICAN HATE: Survivors Speak Out, which I reviewed a few years back for NPR. It’s about the dangerous consequences of hate, but also about how communities come together to heal.
I’m also deep into books about quantum physics and string theory. I think they are helping to open my mind to new ways of thinking. I especially loved Neil Theise’s NOTES ON COMPLEXITY: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being, which discusses why and how we human beings are all interconnected and bound to one another.
I wish you and yours well,
Martha
ICYMI, here’s a link to last' week’s newsletter: When the return trip takes you through Disneyland.
I've loved dance ever since my mother signed me up for a tap class when I was in grade school. After that, I took dance classes, usually modern, regularly. I took a beginning ballet class when I was in my twenties, and fell in love. My body was long past pliable enough to continue—I went back to modern dance—but I remember our teacher told us how much he admired us, being brave enough to take up ballet as adults. In honor of my kind, gentle, generous ballet teacher, Happy World Ballet Day.