No matter what you write or who you introduce to your reader, I love it all. Julia Liu was a wonder, a tremendous wonder. Eric's sharing of his observations and understandings of his mother are just as remarkable as the woman. I wish I could be her. I wish she was my mother. I'm so glad to have met her. Thank you again.
Thanks again, Courtney (and of course, Eric). I loved how the son understood that a life of fragments still form a life of patterns and ways of being. The specificity of his stories allows me as a listener to riff in my mind about his mother, but of those in my life with similar fragments and patterns. A colleague and I found this so intriguing we are ruminating how this might inspire a session in an upcoming Soul of Aging retreat.
Thank you for the gift of Eric’s tribute to his mother. So beautiful. As I read, I experienced each of the “patterns” of Miss Julia as Eric described them - as a child, as a friend, as a woman in male-dominated worlds, as a mother. Synchronistically, the weekly issue of Poetry Unbound by Padraig O’Tuama arrived on the same day as your post. Writing about his experience with group dialogue, he notes “ One technique that I learnt was one that was attributed to a Japanese methodology. (An Irish colleague told me about learning this technique at a conference. She remembers being told it originated in Japan, but neither she nor I can trace any information about it; we’d be thrilled to hear from you if you know!) The way of discussing is simple. When someone says something of importance, ask the question why? five times; not as a cornering or an accusation, but as an exploration of some of the layers supporting what is important to them. ”. I wonder if Eric’s mum learned her inquisitive practice in her childhood in Taipei?
Ohhhhh man, my heart. My whole heart.
Right? It's so moving to see a momma through a son's eyes like this. And what a woman!
No matter what you write or who you introduce to your reader, I love it all. Julia Liu was a wonder, a tremendous wonder. Eric's sharing of his observations and understandings of his mother are just as remarkable as the woman. I wish I could be her. I wish she was my mother. I'm so glad to have met her. Thank you again.
A wonder indeed. Thanks for your generosity.
Thanks again, Courtney (and of course, Eric). I loved how the son understood that a life of fragments still form a life of patterns and ways of being. The specificity of his stories allows me as a listener to riff in my mind about his mother, but of those in my life with similar fragments and patterns. A colleague and I found this so intriguing we are ruminating how this might inspire a session in an upcoming Soul of Aging retreat.
Thank you for the gift of Eric’s tribute to his mother. So beautiful. As I read, I experienced each of the “patterns” of Miss Julia as Eric described them - as a child, as a friend, as a woman in male-dominated worlds, as a mother. Synchronistically, the weekly issue of Poetry Unbound by Padraig O’Tuama arrived on the same day as your post. Writing about his experience with group dialogue, he notes “ One technique that I learnt was one that was attributed to a Japanese methodology. (An Irish colleague told me about learning this technique at a conference. She remembers being told it originated in Japan, but neither she nor I can trace any information about it; we’d be thrilled to hear from you if you know!) The way of discussing is simple. When someone says something of importance, ask the question why? five times; not as a cornering or an accusation, but as an exploration of some of the layers supporting what is important to them. ”. I wonder if Eric’s mum learned her inquisitive practice in her childhood in Taipei?