Journal #1: Response to readings from Field Guide to Getting Lost
Reading the Open Door made me want to pull my hair out. It could be from lack of sleep, the many hours stuck in traffic today, or the endless children I had to lecture on following simple rules that has left me drained and with no patience. Nonetheless, I got through it. It was extremely hard for me to stay focused on what Solnit was trying to say in this particular selection because, its lack of structure. I felt that it was kind of all over the place, from memories to scientists, poets, philosophers, religion, etc…. While there were topics in which I could relate to overall, it was just way too much information, examples, stories for trying to define/express her point(s)/view(s) on being lost/getting lost/losing oneself, etc… across. It also, doesn’t help when the title in itself is a contradiction.
Several parts that sparked a memory, feeling, or understanding were the following:
“…to be lost is to be fully present, and to be fully present is to be capable of being in uncertainty and mystery.” (Solnit, 6)
“…I have lost myself though I know where I am.” (Solnit, 12)
“…I never did know where I was, even when I was home.”(Solnit, 13)
I can relate to all of these at different stages in my life thus far. In relation to my artwork that consists of a combination of portraiture and landscape, specifically, people and the places they live in, may express some of the notions of being lost, present in uncertainty, not knowing where you are, etc….
As I began to read The Blue of Distance, a sigh of relief came over me. I enjoyed the descriptions of the many blues and felt I could breathe again. Even though Solnit makes references to history, and memories here as well, she does so in a more structured manner allowing for better flow in the reading.
I enjoyed reading these sentences from this selection:
“…though often it is the distance between us and the object of desire that fills the space in between with the blue of longing.” (Solnit, 30)
“Sometimes gaining and losing are more intimately related than we like to think. And some things cannot be moved or owned.” (Solnit, 38)
