Dear readers,
In lieu of an About page, I thought that an Author's Statement would be more fitting. Though not more original, since I stole it directly from the opening pages of Laura Munson’s This is Not the Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness. (Which is very good, by the way.)
A few things you should know about this blog...
- First and foremost, it is not a preachy or instructive "how to" blog. I will not be collating succinct advice on how to be happy, how to lose weight, how to reach goals, how to live your best life. Other people (psychologists, bloggers, authors, Oprah) cover that ground much better than I ever could. Also, I really have no idea of how to do any of those things. I'm grappling. We all are.
- It is not a business or money-making venture. It is simply for my own pleasure. And, hopefully, yours.
- This blog has one and only theme: "me". I know that probably sounds awfully narcissistic, but it's not that at all. It's just that "me" is what and who I do best. And so, when it comes down to it, One April Morning is what I like, what I think about. It reflects me, and me only. I hope you can relate to what I have to say, at least some of the time. If not, that's okay. I can't be everything to everyone. None of us can. Thank goodness.
So, since this blog is about me, you may want to know a little about who I am.
- I want to be a writer. This blog is my virtual notebook.
- I love to read. Books, blogs, magazines, newspapers, films, songs. Haruki Murakami, Alice Pung, Lena Dunham, Anais Nin, Sarah Wilson, Charles Bukowski, Mumford and Sons, Tim Minchin, Sylvia Plath, Jonathan Safran Foer, Benjamin Law, Richard Curtis, Milan Kundera, Ben Lee, Rumi, Missy Higgins, Paolo Nutini, Nora Ephron.
- I study law. For now.
- I am 23-years-old.
- I just celebrated my 8 year anniversary with the love of my life.
- I try not to be superficial, but I like things to be aesthetically pleasing.
- I cannot cook. I hate to clean. I am a terrible hoarder.
- I have a dog called Charlie.
- I love to talk politics, until it gets nasty.
- I am an atheist.
- My email address is here. (Just right click and copy.) I love emails. (Preferably from people, as opposed to spambots, but I'll take what I can get.) Or, you can follow me on twitter (@laura_valerie). I don't use Facebook, except to untag pictures of myself.
- I work as a makeup artist.
- I live in beautiful Perth, Western Australia, the most isolated city in the world.
- For me, the meaning of life is that... there is no meaning. We are here, on earth, with the freedom to make what we want of our unlikely existence. I want to love and be loved, most importantly. Create. Touch people. Connect. Make a mark, however small or obscure. Carve little windows of happiness, however fleeting. Acquire wisdom. Be unique. For there is not one person in the history of the world who is exactly like me. But the more I read and learn about everything, the greater my conviction that, although things change, they don't change all that much. And it is my quest to tap into the eternal wisdom that human beings have accumulated throughout our limited but vast existence, from residing in caves to beholding Shakespearean plays to dabbling with iPads, to make sense of things as I see them, through my own eyes. And in doing so, I find my kindred spirits: people with the need to ask the same questions as I do and who, eventually, reach the same conclusions. They may have died 500 years ago, live on the other side of the world or be sitting beside me on the train. Which is my kind of magic.
"There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person."
— Anaïs Nin
5 comments:
I have immediately written that Anaïs Nin quote down for my wall. I was just thinking today how big and overwhelming the world was, but it isn't really. Thank you
I bask in this moment in a glow, like meekness, having found you, like a thread loose from this rich tapestry which I cherish. It's great to find a community -life itself.
I was looking for an EKR quote and your page came up. I. Love. It. I am so happy to see someone being their authentic self and I will visit again.
Okay, I think I'm in love with you and your blog right now <3
Came across your blog after reading Murakami's "Birthday Girl" and read your thoughts. Mahalo nui. At 30, I feel the same at your 23. We may be 'grappling', but we are so very blessed to be able to do so, to live this life and experience it all. For your #14 above--we make meaning in our lives, we create it, and we validate it. And when others are here to support and guide us along the way, that is a pretty damn good life. :)
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