Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT July 31st 2023

5 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read an excerpt “The person in the picture” from Ersi Sotiropoulou’s collection of short stories, The Art of Feeling Nothing (ΗΤέχνηνα μηνΑισθάνεσαιΤίποτα) Translated by Vinia Ntakari, posted below.

Our prompt was: “There is a picture of me ...”

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Please join us for our next session Friday August 4th at 12pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

"The person in the picture" an excerpt from Ersi Sotiropoulou’s collection of short stories, The Art of Feeling Nothing (ΗΤέχνηνα μηνΑισθάνεσαιΤίποτα) Translated by Vinia

There is a picture of me in Madourí.* I'm wearing a white t-shirt and I'm coming from the sea with a bucket full of water. I'm in the light, the sun beating down from above. I'm obviously heading to the outdoor bathroom to put the bucket back. Each of us, when finished, had to go down to the beach and refill it for the next person. 
The lens probably caught me off guard, I'm not smiling, but I don't look bothered either. In my left ear, a small earring is noticeable. Even though I remember the earring, a gold hoop, I don't feel any familiarity with the person in the picture. It's entirely me, yet simultaneously, it isn't. For some reason, I don't recognize myself. The years that have passed stand between us, a heavy cloud of friends gone, appointments missed, significant and insignificant events. A lot has happened and the person in the picture is unaware of it all.
 
(* a small uninhabited island in the Ionian Sea, near Lefkada, Greece.)

5 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT July 31st 2023”

  1. al3793's avatar al3793

    There’s a picture of me…

    There’s a picture of me standing under a small family Christmas tree, small enough to be on a stand, and I am looking right at the camera. I am not smiling but I don’t look perturbed. I am looking right into the lens with a gaze of curiosity. I am wearing one of those two-piece pajamas that snap together at the waist and they have feet. I am holding a cloth bag that rests on the floor while straddling one of those metal train engines that you propel two legs at a time, and it has a real bell! I remember racing my brother for many years until our legs got too long and two wheelers replaced them.

    The picture had been perched on my office bulletin board, an unframed black and white with curled corners, for as long as I have had an office. Through the years I’ve said to myself, look at yourself then and look at yourself now. Yourself was always changing. I wondered how the experience of that maybe-five-year-old that Christmas morning contributed to the person I am today.

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      The 5-year-old inquisitive boy with his sense of curiosity and love of family grew into an adult with similar traits… the love of family, friends, faith, and the curiosity to learn more about himself and the world surrounding him. And the two of you would be best friends!

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  2. Michele348's avatar Michele348

    There’s a picture of me from 15 years ago… less gray hair and 20 or so pounds heavier.
    Was that truly me?
    A lot of water has flowed over the dam… a heart attack, several other health scares, and the loss of loved ones,
    but through it all, I found my courage and perseverance that, in actuality, was there all along.
    I have formed a new and varied life, one where my voice was found.
    My life is varied and vibrant.
    I am a part of life now,
    rather than somewhat a bystander.
    Even though I love and respect my former self,
    I am glad to be the person I have evolved into.

    They say “Practice makes perfect”… I’m still practicing in this game of life.

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  3. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    There is a Picture of Me

    There is a picture of me at age four feeding monkeys tangerines in Ethiopia. My family and I were spending the year in Ethiopia where my father was doing research. It is a black and white photo. I am wearing a polka dot dress and my hair is in a pony tail. I am barefoot and standing on a checkered marble floor. One monkey is on the ground looking at me and one is on a metal fence taking a slice of tangerine from my hands. I am smiling. This photograph was taken a few months before I started wearing glasses. I am told that my father was taking a nap and that he had instructed my mother not to allow me to feed the monkeys. So much has changed since this photograph was taken. Haile Selassiee was overthrown, many wars and calamities have occured I lived in five more cities. I grew up, got married ,had a child of my own, had a career and am planning my retirement in a few years. This photograph sits on my bureau and still brings a smile to my face.

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  4. Andre Lijoi's avatar Andre Lijoi

    I sense the heart of the girl in the photo has prevailed. Your speaker condensed so much into one sentence , “ I grew up, got married , etc”.
    Thank you

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