Emotional recurrences in families have fascinated me as long as I can remember. As I explain in Ancestor Trouble, “the more I feed my fixations, the sooner they tend to wither, but this one tends to permeate my perception of humanity. I often think family patterns are the primary existential conundrum we all have in common, apart from death and basic needs like food and shelter—but, then, questions of sustenance and longevity are intensely tangled up with our ancestors, too.” Nothing energizes me more than pondering the layered, wide-ranging implications of kinship and how family echoes bubble up in uncanny synchronicities and some of the most deeply resonant art. It’s in that spirit that I’m returning to my earliest online impulses, writing once a month or so about writers and their books as they (in my mind, at least) connect to these preoccupations.
Thanks for introducing me to another writer with Mississippi roots who has a lot to say. Stunning insight by Emily about her father becoming an "ancestor." Loved the "ancestor wall" and plan to make one myself.
Speaking of family patterns and inheritances, I recently had four generations of my family’s birth charts read together and it was incredible to see the aspects that repeated throughout generations and the ways those aspects changed or shifted over time, too.
Another night owl checking in! Been contemplating a family tendency to forget and self-alienate, which I thought was just me, as a matter of self-protection (you know, "no contact" when it comes to violent or abusive people that won't respect boundaries), and realizing that it's practically a family tradition, and so what does that mean for me? One of the things that frustrated me most about my mom was the way she estranged herself from her family so early in my childhood, and then I went and did it myself (though I have no children to frustrate). But my research reveals that this does seem to run in the family, making it difficult to trace the family lines and confirm histories. Frustrating and fascinating at the same time. Anyway, hello, and thanks for the book tips! I've just downloaded The Professor's Daughter.
I’m a night owl, too. There must’ve been one among my ancestors. Thanks for the intro to this fascinating author.
Thanks for introducing me to another writer with Mississippi roots who has a lot to say. Stunning insight by Emily about her father becoming an "ancestor." Loved the "ancestor wall" and plan to make one myself.
Speaking of family patterns and inheritances, I recently had four generations of my family’s birth charts read together and it was incredible to see the aspects that repeated throughout generations and the ways those aspects changed or shifted over time, too.
Another night owl checking in! Been contemplating a family tendency to forget and self-alienate, which I thought was just me, as a matter of self-protection (you know, "no contact" when it comes to violent or abusive people that won't respect boundaries), and realizing that it's practically a family tradition, and so what does that mean for me? One of the things that frustrated me most about my mom was the way she estranged herself from her family so early in my childhood, and then I went and did it myself (though I have no children to frustrate). But my research reveals that this does seem to run in the family, making it difficult to trace the family lines and confirm histories. Frustrating and fascinating at the same time. Anyway, hello, and thanks for the book tips! I've just downloaded The Professor's Daughter.