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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Shock and Gawk


Eating Life Raw (ELR) was conceived from a genuine desire to speak with undaunted honesty about life, resulting in a cathartic release for me and hopefully an inspiring and stimulating experience for you, the reader. Lately I’ve been feeling a bit “goody-two-shoes” editing myself in order to please the agents of the world who may, or may not, be visiting ELR. I’m seeking to get my novel, Cosette’s Tribe, published, and in doing so I think I’ve omitted some of the blood and guts involved in eating life raw.

We all live on the same planet and we know that life is capable of dishing out moldy mystery meat, leaving us gagging into our napkins, while optimistically eyeing the dessert table. We’ve experienced the excitement of the hunt and the profusion of blood, the heart thumping danger and the breathtaking delight of everyday living.

Life is a messy tangled head of hair, and we’re constantly trying to comb it out so that we might look good, attract the right mate, find meaningful friendships, and secure our rightful places in the world. We whisper our desperate prayers into the darkness, waiting for a feeling, a subtle clue, that our prayers have been heard. We drag our tired asses out of bed and clock in at work, exchanging heartbeats for wages. As we work, we often dream of being elsewhere, keeping our precious heartbeats for ourselves, and spending them on the things that matter the most to us.

Of course nobody knows when their heart will stop beating so we gamble that someday, when we’ve saved up enough money, we will still have enough heartbeats remaining to live our real lives. It’s a crap shoot with major consequences. So, given the situation, why should I pussy-foot around with my words? Words are my soul’s expression. Words are the wings of my dreams. They take me on trips that I could never afford otherwise. They lift me up out of the doldrums so that I can skulk about the belfry with Quasimodo, take a magic carpet ride with Aladdin, or morph, like a shapeshifter, and “be” the chair.

Don’t worry; I’m not going off the deep end. Actually, that sounds like a lot of fun. Okay, don’t worry; I’m not going to be sharing embarrassing and personal things. Oh wait…I’ve already done that. Okay, how about this…don’t worry, this isn’t a Shock and Gawk campaign, it’s just me living my life…which, by the way, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.





15 comments:

Christine said...

You go girl!

Leah Griffith said...

Thank you Christine, I'm going...;)

Jayne said...

Your words are proof positive that you're taking full advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I echo Christine's sentiment: Go girl!
(That photo is hilarious!) :)

Leah Griffith said...

Thank You Janyne, I have to learn to let the bottle breathe;)

Li said...

I have the same problem, plus my job precludes me from writing certain material. If I ever get my schedule in order and find the time, I'll probably start a second blog under a (hopefully) hidden identity so that I can cut loose a little bit. Thanks for stopping by my blog, BTW.

Leah Griffith said...

Oh li, I've thought of doing the same thing, but I barely have time enough for this blog and my full time job. One can dream!

Isla McKetta said...

The orbit of normalcy tries so hard to pull us in and tame us. It only controls us as long as we let it. Be your strong, messy self, it's the individuality that makes us interesting.

Leah Griffith said...

Isla, I love that! How easy it is to have the uniqueness wrung out of us. The world likes to stamp an categorize things. We won’t be stamped damn it! ;)

Ms. Faustus said...

Since you have enough arguments from the "be yourself openly" camp, Let me be the cynical European devil's advocate here, but with the best of intentions: there is nothing wrong in being smart sometimes. It all depends on where you want this blog to go and how you want to get there. Writing has always provided many means of saying what one wants to say. I'm not suggesting that you play yourself down, but you are a subtle enough writer to be able to pick a niche and still avoid the negative effects. Perhaps this is also a good time to think about how you wish to be seen as a writer? :)

Leah Griffith said...

Well Ms. Devil, I guess I want to be seen as a writer who isn’t afraid of the truth, one who writes about all sides of human nature. I’m not speaking about deranged murderer nature, although I think that would be interesting to write about, but more about ordinary struggles that can paralyze somebody for years, and ordinary epiphanies that free us from our prisons. I don’t feel I can do that in a sterile environment…that I must be willing to take off my make-up so that my readers can take off theirs.
Of course there are boundaries but I know you “get” what I’m saying because you are similar in style only funnier;)

Ms. Faustus said...

Ahaa, but I have the cozy screen of anonymity protecting me in anything I say on my blog, whereas you chose to be rawer.

And much as I do clean up nicely, in all honesty I hate make up :)

Leah Griffith said...

Your anonymous? I love that! Boy, I could use an anonymous blog sometimes! Jeesh...and I thought I knew you;)

marieclv said...

I love the picture of the dog, they need to cool off as well, great shot. It is important when writing, to write your feelings. We will never be able to please everyone, sometimes people will be negative because they don't have the art of writing. Keep up the good work and stick to what you know, it's not about pleasing the mass. However I know including myself, many times I try to write what I think people will like.

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Leah Griffith said...

Hi Marcie,
Yes, sometimes I veer off my path and try to please the all important masses, but I never stay away for long because it feels so unnatural. Thanks for stopping by, I'll be sure to check out your site and post a thing or two;)

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