Wishcraft - Care and Feeding of Human Genius

AKA - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Should not answer that right now, ah, what the hell -

I am an overworked, way, way WAY under-appreciated comic and artistic genius?

I'm a Canadian living in big, loud U.S of A?

I'm a mother of three teenagers who all have decided while I'm not horrifying, I'm certainly not the sharpest crayon in the box, and I am here on earth to transport, feed, clothe and basically serve their very important and obviously 'cool' needs.

Here it is, my official introduction - (clears throat)

My name is Ruth Ann Elliott, formerly Ruth Ann Day, which, in my opinion is seriously lacking in pizzazz of any sort, and has an embarrassingly short number of syllables. When the opportunity came - with marriage - to double said syllables I jumped at the opportunity. (aside: Mortensen has 3 syllables as well). I've been married just over 20years, separated for at least 5, lacking in marital harmony for about 10... okay, enough said. I have 3 teenage children, two of which are taller, and all more cool than I could ever hope to be. I am in the process of starting a divorce, something I have been starting for a good 4-5 years. I've made myself nearly mad several times 'trying to do the best thing'.

I have always shared my space with numerous pets - gerbils to dogs, rats and cats, and several outside friends who seem to think I should feed them (generally they are correct in this assumption). Currently I am down to 2 cats and an enormous rescued greyhound (I 'rescued' the cats as well, really, I should not be allowed out of my house). I'd get a goat if I could, and dream of having horses...

In Canada (where I'm from and still have citizenship) I was a RN, and I was good at it. Somewhere in too many new addresses, 3 babies, and a change in country of residence I let my registration lapse. It seems exceptionally difficult now to get it back. I work part time helping care for an elderly woman, who is... let's say not always as kind as I would like.

I am an artist. I write poetry, take photos, paint, sketch, sculpt and doodle manically. I am learning to feed that part of myself that creates.

I'm not quite as tall, or as slim as I would like to be. I have finally given up and let my hair do it's own thing meaning my head is covered in a tangle of unruly curls. I do colour it, I'm not ready to be grey yet.

Back to the book....

"Those “rare” and “special” qualities we think distinguishes geniuses from all the rest of us? You had them. I had them. Where did they go? As long as you were too young to listen to reason or to be trained to do anything “useful,” you had a marvelous freedom to be who you were. By the time you were 5 or 6, if not even sooner, the precious right to make choices based on your own wishes began to be taken away. As soon as you were old enough to control yourself and sit still in school, the honeymoon was over.... All the people we call “geniuses” are men and women who somehow escaped having to put that curious, wondering child in themselves to sleep. Instead, they devoted their lives to equipping that child with the tools and skills it needed to do its playing on an adult level."

EXERCISE 2: Your Original Self

Question: "What especially attracted and fascinated you when you were a child?"

I loved animals, nature, texture and colour. I loved to touch things, my mother's make up (that didn't end so well, my mother obviously had not seen the fuzzy happy commercial, and therefore did not know she was to react with joy and and wonder, instead of... how she actually reacted). I would get into everything, I was wild, the hero of every story. I wanted to sing and dance and ride horses without saddles while singing and dancing. I was full of wonder.

Question: "What sense did you live most through?"

Sight and Touch - I'm so visual it's nearly a handicap.

Question: "What did you love to daydream about"

I would dream I could talk to animals, sometime I could fly. I'd dream about becoming famous and adored by thousands. I'd dream of being rescued, or of being the hero where I saved everyone and then people thought wow, there's an awesome person, let's hang out with her.

next post: The Ideal Environment...