Coffee Cups
(For Carly and our wonderful talk last night--)Energy gets transferred and imbued; nothing is lost, only transformed. Everything holds stories, both our own and other people's interpretations. In the case of my coffee cups, Carly and I were discussing how her "stories" of my Caffeine-Huggers are different from my own but we can bring them together. I shared with her the story of my Meridian cup from the AWP conference in Vancouver, B.C.; my green (Starbucks!) cup from Karin; my owl cup that Mom got me in Corvallis; the Felicity-inspired Dean & Deluca one that Aaron brought me from NYC. With all our possessions--both material and intangible--we assign them certain meanings and subtexts and powers. These coffee cups fit various moods of mine, and I pick one depending on the vibe I want that day. This vibe could be brought on by the cup itself--because of who gave it to me, what I associate with its color, shape, etc. Maybe I find too much meaning in things--I certainly can't stop thinking that every single action of mine has to have its proper place--but I also find this incredibly satisfying. I gave Carly the example involving Cassandra....how if I were just to leave her on the street corner and someone walked by they would sense something about her....They may not be able to pinpoint it but they'd know that she crackles with some specific energy, brought on by me, the possible stranger. I have my special gray sweatshirt (I can't help but think of Liz joyously giggling at it), Big Red: the couch, Delight and Tori-Faerie, who are just as real as Cassandra....I've got my sexy orange sweater, my jeans with the glitter-beaded linings, my paperback books that smell ancient and wise....My rings and necklaces, which hug my fingers and neck every day and keep them warm and flowing (Thank you Elephant; Wolf; Owl; Serafina the Witch; Africa; Rainbow; Spear; Mary Hall; Turtle, and more)....What examples can you all think of? What inanimate objects hold Life for you?....Your car? Cane? Fireplace? Desk? Favorite chair? Teakettle? Earrings? Bracelet? Dress?.....
p.s. Sometime down the line I will share the story of my angel-carousel-House on the rock-cup, which crackles with a million pulses--a million plus infinity divided by one.
posted by Nathan Buck at
8:56 AM
5 Comments:
It's too cute....I have so many trinkets it's not even funny! My roomie Andrea always complains that I have too many "things" and that she has no idea why I keep them all. Well anyway about 2months ago...right before I had decided to clean my room,(I was in the process of cleaning and therefore EVERYTHING was everywhere)Andrea had made the decision to venture to and thru my room. This was of course after making the rounds throughout the entire house searching for a cough drop. She obviously had no luck. Stuck with not being able to get to the store, she settled on searching for one in my room. So she bravely opened the door and thought as quickly as she could to figure where to look first (for she knew and could clearly see what a mess it was.) Notice I didn't put unorganized mess....for to me it wasn't(I knew where everything was)
Anyway before she could even start looking, she glancd over to my desk and there, right before here eyes was this bag of cough drops placed just so. She said it was almost as if they had already known she had been searching high and low for one all day....as if to be saying "here we are"
It was too funny because when she told me this story because she was like "Alice I was at the end of my rope and the only place I could turn to was your room"
"Oh gee thanks" She goes on "Oh no, you see, i went in there expecting to be searching for an hour when all of a sudden they were right in front of my face.....the ONE time I really needed something from your room and I actually found it!"
"I mean come on Alice you have to admit you have so many little *things* that it would be a miracle if you even found your way OUT of your room".....she continued to tell me.
So yeah,I have my "things"
all the way from a tiny little gum wrapper that my friend drew on 5yrs. ago to my Blue walrus bank I got when i was five years old. But every single thing has and holds a very special place in my heart.....and only I will have that memory and feeling I get when I look at them.
Perhaps one day i'll be that little old lady in the books/movies you hear about who has a story to tell about everyone and everything in her life.
Why certain things stick out in our minds more than others is beyond me, but I know I wouldn't want it any other way. I love how certain smells trigger back memories too.
Okay enough of my rambling.
-Alice
what movie is that picture from??? keifer. ahhhhh.hugs
Carly,
This picture is from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with me, the movie prequel to the TV show. It MUST be viewed after watching the show, though....so you have to get through 30 episodes before you can experience Kiefer....Sigh....
Love,
Nathan
i am a total pack rat and definately assign too much meaning to objects. it drives my mom crazy. i have all these boxes in the basement that she insists need to be cleared out, but what appears to be junk to her are really boxes of little treasures and memories. My favorite blue sweatshirt that is like a soothing security blaket, the mr.bean teddy bear that hali mailed me on just the right day, The star wars toy fighter plane that i cleaned the house for two weeks to afford.
i really do love being surrounded by all of these objects. no wonder i made such a bad buddhist :)
love you :)
Lucky for you Nathan, you have a mother how never collected anything, who has a place for everything and everything in it's place.
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