Russell Lee:
Smoothing concrete floor at migrant camp
under construction at Sinton, Texas (1939)
United States. Farm Security Administration

Pride As Well As Purpose
This writing week might have served as a reminder of the necessity of deliberately choosing the terms and conditions I'm pursuing. I can default to a mindset believing I'm somehow destined to succeed, but neither success nor failure usually operates so inadvertently. Deliberate choice might not guarantee a damned thing in this world other than clarity of purpose, though satisfying purpose cannot usually be guaranteed. Clarity helps identify failures more often than it ever guarantees success, and while clarity of purpose might best guarantee disappointment, that clarity remains important. For instance, a fresh choice can feel renewing when overrunning original purpose, even in the light of certain impending failure. One dream ending into an alternate beginning might make a meaningful difference. I'm usually tempted to ride a losing horse until a little after losing the original contest, when I could have switched horses well before losing the race, and I can almost always project that I'll lose. It might even be possible to feel pretty damned successful without ever once even finishing any individual contest, taking pride as well as purpose switching horses.

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Weekly Writing Summary


This Grace Story, ReckoningWith, finds me creating The Muse's birthday poem. She's said to be a force to be reckoned with.

Odilon Redon: Light (1893)

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This Grace Story finds me attending my high school Reunion and serving as an emissary between an old friend and her secret childhood paramour. Grace often travels via the previously unspeakable.

Louis Monza: Corn Eaters Reunion (1940s)
"Life would be tragic if it weren't so goddamned beautiful sometimes!"
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This Grace Story, ReInspecting, finds me failing forward, a perfectly respectable way to achieve success.

François Boucher: Landscape with Rustic Cottage (c. 1760)
" … an essence of ProjectCommunity."
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This Grace Story, Successable, considers some of the many frames within which Success might reside.

Franz von Stuck: Verwundete Amazone [Wounded Amazon] (1905)
" … if only we were clever enough to insist upon those more infinite terms of engagement."
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This Grace Story finds me convening a *ComingToFuckingJesus Meeting, an example of taking vengeance into my own hands. This never bodes well for any future. This story proved to be the most popular this period!

Franz Stuck: The Guardian of Paradise (1889)
"I might convene my ComingToFuckingJesus Meeting, but nobody even remotely resembling Jesus ever attends."
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In this Grace Story, ThePour, a miracle occurs. Not one of those run-of-the-mill miracles where something happens as predicted, but the more routine and ordinary kind where it didn't.

Russell Lee: Road worker mixing concrete in Menard County, Texas (1940) United States. Farm Security Administration
"I swear I'm just along for the ride."
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This last whole week of August provided the backdrop for deep recollection, forward projection, and getting stuck in the present and solidifying a future. I began this writing week deeply reflecting on The Muse's presence, one I and the world are constantly ReckoningWith. I spent much of the weekend engaging in my high school ReUnion, connecting and reconnecting with my pasts in another context. Once the reverie ended, I felt suspended, hostage to an apparent inability to get past a recent disappointment in ReInspecting. I reminded myself of the absolute necessity of framing fresh terms and conditions in order to adequately define and attract success in Successable. I tried to resolve a persistent clog by convening a ComingToFuckingJesus Meeting, which either worked or didn't. Either way, I finally witnessed ThePour, a concrete end to another phase of aspiring in our porch refurbishing project. Thank you for following along!

©2024 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Grace, #PureSchmaltz