Comments on: Ten Pieces of Inspiration #19

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 16 May 2011 04:34:32 +0000

Yeah, yeah, yeah, self-interest is part of our “native state” too — not necessarily a bad thing, if it keeps one from being a doormat. Perhaps this idyll of Kingsolver’s was before the advent of professions. It wasn’t those people’s job, nor did they need to calculate the wage value of an hour’s time. I’m sorry to say, as nice as it is to make people happy, I wouldn’t be playing 40+ weddings a year if there was no money in it. But again, what’s wrong with that? Sometimes I feel attacked with expectations; I feel like something in that statement is aimed at people who have the audacity to want to get paid. It’s really ironic finding those sentiments embedded here, too.

By: tentaculistic

tentaculistic — Sun, 15 May 2011 14:52:24 +0000

10 Minuta was really heart-rending. It was amazing how accustomed they all were to really horrible circumstances. I’m definitely choked up.

The girl playing piano isn’t helping! That’s a different kind of choked up though – admiration at bravery and sheer doggedness, as well as the her beauty and the beauty of the song. No hiding her hand out of sight for her, and I admire the hell out of her for that.

I do also really like Dorothy Parker. She and Mae West seemed to have the brazen grab-life-by-the-nose-hairs kind of attitude. Not me at all, but very cool.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Sun, 15 May 2011 00:27:34 +0000

I’m surprised no one’s asked what a check stub is. :) I don’t think my daughter would understand the reference.

To bring that quote to the 21st century, it would have to be about CC and bank statements. I write 2 checks a month, so literally by my check stubs, my priorities are sewage and trash service (all other payments are by debit card, electronic transfer, or CC).

By: moom

moom — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:39:38 +0000

hmmm Mexico has some serious problems right now with its “community” and Ireland is or was one of the richest countries on Earth. At least till the GFC came along.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:24:37 +0000

Yep, if there’s a poet whose view of life is the polar opposite of yours, Trent, she’s Dorothy Parker! And, yes, “Resume” is about suicide.

By: Interested Reader

Interested Reader — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:41:29 +0000

How do you get The Resume as inspirational?I found a kinship to the poem – when I was suicidal and would go through a litany of reasons not to kill myself – I always thought poem because she was right it’s all messy and inconvenient and hard to get right.

By: Tara

Tara — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:03:54 +0000

I really enjoy this weekly spot on your site. I copy your quotes often (with credit of course :) ) and find myself musing over all of the important things in life that we don’t generally discuss with strangers.

Fight the good fight and continue to make your day matter.

By: kjc

kjc — Sat, 14 May 2011 18:09:59 +0000

Yes, your reading of Resume is unique, to say the least.

Parker wrote it after attempting suicide. The final line has been attributed to Robert Benchley; she wrote the poem around it.

By: Misty

Misty — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:05:31 +0000

Thank you for posting the video of the young woman playing the piano with no fingers on one hand. That’s exactly the kind of reminder I needed today. :)

By: Lisa S

Lisa S — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:05:58 +0000

>Based on my stubs, I apparently value the IRS.

Hee! I know you’re making a joke here, but it’s actually true, going back to number 1 (I love Barbara Kingsolver!). It’s the means we have for showing we value schools and libraries, clean water and air, food for the hungry, assistance when disaster hits our community, roads/trains/air travel for staying connected to extended family, etc.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:55:22 +0000

My very favorite Dorothy Parker poem, by the way, is perhaps not very inspirational at all, but here it is:

If I don’t drive around the park
I’m pretty sure to make my mark
If I’m in bed each night by ten
I may get back my looks again
If I abstain from fun and such
I’ll probably amount to much
But I shall stay the way I am
Because I do not give a damn.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:53:10 +0000

That’s one of my favorite Dorothy Parker poems, but I don’t understand your interpretation of it. It’s not about being afraid of “traps and perils and inconveniences” – it’s about pondering different ways of killing yourself.

I still find it weirdly inspirational, because if someone as brilliant and talented as Dorothy Parker could be suicidal (as indeed she was), then there’s not necessarily anything wrong with *me* for feeling down on myself sometimes. Just because I feel worthless sometimes doesn’t mean I am.