Comments on She Sells Seashells: Radical Imperfection

Good for you for not choosing one side, and for no...

2010-06-28T10:42:03.640-06:00

Good for you for not choosing one side, and for not jumping unreservedly on the bandwagon before considering the issues. I have two compost piles, aggressively recycle, and like to make my own jam and bread, but this isn't the only way to live -- it just happens to work for me.

I haven't read either book, but I stumbled on ...

2010-06-27T10:02:15.266-06:00

I haven't read either book, but I stumbled on your blog and found the dialogues in this piece very RELEVANT to my current situation. I think the crux is not what is 'right' but that we have to choose. We can't do it all.

I have struggled for years because, as a single mother of a child with special needs, I am always tired and can't summon the consistent energy needed to also nurture 'the career'. The kid and home are all the work I can handle really. I think any book that draws us into dialogue about these choices, and highlights that we must make them, is a step in the right direction.

I have often been royally pissed that growing up the school system did so little to prepare us for this. I mean, we were told we needed to choose a career. But we were not told, us women, that the career meant sacrificing the family ideals we may have developed. We didn't even question these issues. Feminist dialogue needs to happen in the primary school system for this reason.

I also enjoyed reading your musings on the ideas. I will definitely be back for more!

Insightful post, Schwes. I think what you are say...

2010-06-08T07:47:21.389-06:00

Insightful post, Schwes. I think what you are saying is that it comes down more to outcome than to process, i.e. burning our bras, shucking our leather-soled work shoes and tilling a garden is just as meaningful as trying not to be so invasive in our effect on the planet and on society. Living in a sustainable / harmonious / meaningful way is the issue. But ultimately the struggle you present is about the burden of choice--and the opportunity costs associated with those choices. I generally categorize this under the theme of "the unbearable lightness of being" (no relation to the Kundera book really). Choice (and living) can certainly seem unbearable sometimes (particularly on a philosophical level).

I think the take-away from your musings is that it is very difficult to be confident about the course we choose in life given all of the philosophies and ideologies we could choose to follow. For each, there is a reason to believe in them as there are also trade-offs associated with devotion to their aesthetic / beliefs. Despite (or maybe because of) these quandaries about which you sometimes vex, it is certain that you are a confident, reasonable person, and that--whatever the interpretation of "living" you and Miles choose--you will find harmony and will, in outcome, create a strong home.