All about me in a box

[vaneramos]

This is a particularly thoughtful meme I saw in draco_kc's journal.

So, say you were meeting a new person--blind date, new friend, who knows. And you wanted them to have some idea of what kind of person you are, and who you are. But you can't actually tell them in so many words. Instead, you have to give them a box, with a dozen things in it for them to look at/read/listen to/taste/whatever. "What would you put in the box? And a copy of your journal or a link to your LJ would be the same thing as just telling them directly, yourself, so that's not allowed."


Here is my list:

1. A portfolio of about 10 of my poems, carefully chosen, but starting with: The Water Lover, Bathhouse Lovers, Syllables White, First Day of Autumn, and Made In Secret (which is about my daughters).



2. One of my drawings: Waterspout.



3. Forest Plants of Central Ontario, by Chambers, Legasy and Bentley.



4. This picture of me and djjo (friends only).



5. My camera, a Kodak DX3500.



6. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard.



7. The sheet music for Rachmaninoff's Prelude in D Major, Op. 23 No. 4.



8. These photos of me with my daughters.



9. The recording of The Waterloo-Wellington Rainbow Chorus performing at the Canadian GALA Festival in Toronto, June 2002.



10. A photograph of Lake Fletcher.



11. 30 metres of soft rope.



12. My Caterpillar walking boots.

Comments

[blue-by-you.livejournal.com]

That is a WONDERFUL list!! I especially loved clicking on the links and seeing all these things again, but together like this. Yes, that is a perfect Van list, I think.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Lisa!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, although I have a few things I might liken to that rope, I don't actually own such a thing, otherwise I would have played with it and the camera by now. One of these days I will. Don't know whether I would post the results on LJ or not.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Strange, I realize, to list something I don't actually own. This is symbolic and part of my psyche. Maybe I'll splurge and buy some for my birthday.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Craig! It's cool that you remembered them.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping you get the camera back…

*HUG*

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Back? That is the camera I use all the time. It is not the camera I would have if I could afford better, but it has served me well.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

Well, the stipulation is that you're giving them the box; there's nothing that says they're going to give the box back…

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Aha! *hugs*

A Fine Box Indeed

[token-otter.livejournal.com]

What a neat task when you collect your life in a box. Not a very big box, except for maybe the boots, but seeing all these items makes me think of you. I will have to ask about the one book by Dillard and your poetry sometime. I now feel the urge to pack a box myself.

Re: A Fine Box Indeed

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Pilgrim won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1974, a work of modern mysticism. Although I don't relate to Dillard's theology anymore (I am an atheist), it gave me something to hold onto during difficult transitions. It helped me cast off my fundamentalist beliefs. I'm still moved by her profound writing style and sensual nature imagery. The fact that in person she is a giddy blonde makes her work all the more attractive!

[draco-kc.livejournal.com]

I found doing this meme to be a really interesting experience. It actually took me several days to come up with twelve things that I thought would accurately reflect different aspects of how I envision myself at this point in my life.

In retrospect, I realized that a number of the things I'd selected pertain to major stages in my life. They were things from my past that, if they don't have an immediate relevance to my current activities, those stages were essential to make me who I am.

Even more interesting for me, was reflecting upon the stages or important events in my life that weren't really represented in my list. It makes me wonder how what I'd put in that box will change in the future.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I responded emotionally to your answers because they suggested important aspects of my own life. It's fair to say we have many analgous loves or pleasures, not necessarily precisely the same. So your list influenced mine, and I didn't take long to come up with it.

My early life was clouded by depression, and I don't have many happy memories of childhood, so the stages aren't equally represented here. I would use my poetry selections to tell parts of the story over the past 10 years.

The past three years have been the happiest and in some ways the strongest. I live in the present, and many of my selections reflect that. No doubt half of my list will change in two years, but I'm satisfied that it describes how I feel about myself now.