Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EST February 23rd 2024

18 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read “We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy: Two Nursery Rhymes with Pictures” by Maurice Sendak, posted below.

Our prompt was: “ Write about a home without walls.”

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

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Please join us for our next session Monday February 26th at 6pm EST, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

“We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy: Two Nursery Rhymes with Pictures” by Maurice Sendak

Credit: Maurice Sendak

18 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EST February 23rd 2024”

  1. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    A Home With No Walls

    After the soldiers left 

    Our house had no walls

    We checked on each other to see who 

    survived

    We collected the memories that

    remained.

    Where do we go from here?

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    • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

      very powerful… Thanks for sharing. Interesting to read it as opposed to just hearing it— I think people added their own words of what they thought they heard to your work when they were describing it during the session. You said so much with a few words. I’m mentally in parts of the world at war today with this poem.

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      • rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

        Elizabeth, it was very interesting to hear people’s interpretations and I did not want to tell them that my intentions were different. Once a piece is out there in the world, it no longer belongs to you. But, I was thinking about the destruction caused by war.

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    • Andre F Lijoi's avatar Andre F Lijoi

      Lisa, Your speaker poses many challenges to the reader. The courage to check on the other, who survived? A curation of personal museum of collected memories and what to do with them. A request or question of direction as one who survived. Thank you.

      Andre

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  2. Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

    He was a private person,

    Carefully guarding his story.

    He would pull down the shades of his life,

    Because to open them would display his vulnerability to the world.

    And then she opened him up.

    She was the safe place for him to dwell.

    She was home.

    With her gift of love,

    Like Jericho,

    The walls came tumbling down.

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  3. michele348's avatar michele348

    About a home without walls~~~

    Where do I find my home… do I find it in the clutter and noise of the world where there is in-fighting, killing, and disregard of the sanctity of life?

    I go to Nature and her loving arms. She is my home without walls… without a ceiling, and she offers me security and compassion with her generosity of gifts.

    With her, I am free to be me, free to become one with her and her creatures.

    Here, within her space, her beauty and sounds soothe my heart and give me respite. I find hope in the continuation of life cycles…sky blue eggs of robin red breast hatching out, bringing new life…flowers of the spring crocus bursting open with their colors of yellow and lavender. Emerging life making its presence in a world which struggles.

    Nature, a welcoming home where my heart finds rest and hope is restored.

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  4. michele348's avatar michele348

    About a home without walls~~~

    Where do I find home… do I find it in the clutter and noise of the world where there is in-fighting, killing, and disregard for the sanctity of life?

    I go to Nature and her loving arms. She is my home without walls and a ceiling, offering security and compassion with her generosity of gifts.

    With her, I am free to become one with her and her creatures.

    Her, within her space, her beauty and sounds soothe my heart and gives me respite. I find hope in the continuation of life cycles… sky blue eggs of robin red breast hatching out new life… flowers of the spring crocus bursting open with colors of yellow and lavender. Emerging life making its presence known in a world that struggles.

    Nature, a welcoming home to a tired soul… where my heart finds rest and hope is restored.

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    • Andre F Lijoi's avatar Andre F Lijoi

      Michele, I hear your speaker wearied by the impact on humanity’s inhumanity and resorts to the consistency of God’s creation to find solace, safety and beauty. Ironically, that creation can be equally destructive, but your speaker offers no caution. Just trust and there is solace in that trust and surrender. Beautiful images.

      Andre

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. Andre F Lijoi's avatar Andre F Lijoi

    A home without walls

    What gives structure to a home?

    Is it walls of concrete, sticks or straw, or

    is it the order that surrounds the home

    with love that builds the walls

    of warmth, safety, confidence, strength

    trusting the semantic of order and confidence

    that one is loved, that the wounds of vulnerability

    can be soothed within those walls

    so that those who reside there can

    make excursions into society, life,

    and beacon strength into the walls of other homes

    that have been debilitated by disorder, hatred and violence.

    Walls of love.

    afl 02.23.2034

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    • Andre F Lijoi's avatar Andre F Lijoi

      PS: My mother was a Children’s Librarian for decades and she brought me thousands of books including many by Sendak – I thought she brought them all home over time. But I don’t remember this one at all and I bet it was on the shelf. I will ask my sibs. This review provides a most interesting analysis of the book. I wish I had read the entire book before today’s session. We just keep building experiences. 

      Sendak, in this review says he was not a children’s writer. He said “I write, and others say this is for children.”

      Elizabeth’s comment in the chat was quite appropos that fairy tales often raised daunting challenges that adults had more difficulty with. He believed that children are so resilient. Authors tell us so much. Patients do so as well. That’s why close reading is crucial Enjoy the review.

      https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/09/09/maurice-sendak-we-are-all-in-the-dumps-with-jack-and-guy/

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
    • michele348's avatar michele348

      A home is wherever you are where love, understanding, encouragement, and compassion are given freely. Whether it is surrounded by 4 walls or on an open grassland, a home is where a person feels secure and is loved and given permission to be themselves.

      We should not force anyone who might be a “square peg” to fit into a “round hole”.

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      • Andre F Lijoi's avatar Andre F Lijoi

        Thank you for your insights, Michele. After looking at the book I am struck by the remarkable transition between his earlier books settled in semantic of life at home with a mother and a father to the 90’s where homelessness was the semantic for many children. His capacity to see what children might be seeing in order to make sense of their worlds is quite astute, yet unassuming that he might be able to speak for children. I think his point is that we should attend to children’s voices. I had to order the book, felt compelled to hold it in my hand and look at and read all of the imagery.

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  6. michele348's avatar michele348

    yes, there’s something about the physical touch which seems to give us a deeper insight of what is being said by the author. Kind of like getting one’s hands dirty planting a new plant in the garden vs. watching a YouTube video on the same topic. Something is lost in the translation.

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