Anais Nin wrote this story in 1930 and used it as a starting point for her first book, D.H Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study, which she published in 1932.
She writes that Lawrence is "against tepid living and tepid loves" and that he resented the lack of feeling in people and even more so, the lack of expression of feelings.
This made me think of relationships between two people who view living and loving very differently from each other. Does it make sense for a sensitive person, full of feeling to be in love with another person who strongly believes there is no reason to ever cry or to express any "negative" emotion such as sorrow, frustration, anger? Does it make sense for a person who believes life is a beautiful gift to be with a person who needs to be high to enjoy life or who needs to fill, fill, fill life with empty experiences to feel any bit of satisfaction from it? What kind of living is this? It's not tepid but it seems as though some people keep life at arm's length when they don't allow themselves to feel. They shut down, put up their guard,escape, employ defense mechanisms, run away whenever life presents any issues perceived as undesirable.
Sex is tightly intertwined with emotions and feelings and the expression of them. Suppression of emotions and feelings causes one to live inside his/her head rather than in the world and leads to alienation between two people because they are unable to connect. Over time, they drift further and further apart from each other until they realize they are living separate lives. There is no choice but to sever their tie unless one of them rises up to try to save the relationship. Maybe if we can understand our opposite we can open ourselves up to infinite possibilities beyond what we ever imaged could be possible. It's worth a try anyway.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Monday, November 17, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 6
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
She writes about Lady Chatterly's Lover in the last chapter of the book and notes Lawrence's concept of marriage: "marriage is no marriage that is not basically and permanently phallic, and that is not linked up with the sun and the earth, the moon and the fixed stars and the planets, in the rhythms of months, in the rhythms quarters, of years, of decades and of centuries. Marriage is no marriage that is not a correspondence of blood. For the blood is the substance of the soul, and of the deepest consciousness."
She writes further that Lawrence told us: "the affinity of mind and personality is an excellent basis of friendship between the sexes, but a disastrous basis for marriage." There's got to be chemistry not found in a brother/sister or mother/son relationship. You can't sleep in separate beds; you've got to maintain the intimacy and closeness that lovers have. You've got to turn each other on and express yourselves physically.
She writes about Lady Chatterly's Lover in the last chapter of the book and notes Lawrence's concept of marriage: "marriage is no marriage that is not basically and permanently phallic, and that is not linked up with the sun and the earth, the moon and the fixed stars and the planets, in the rhythms of months, in the rhythms quarters, of years, of decades and of centuries. Marriage is no marriage that is not a correspondence of blood. For the blood is the substance of the soul, and of the deepest consciousness."
She writes further that Lawrence told us: "the affinity of mind and personality is an excellent basis of friendship between the sexes, but a disastrous basis for marriage." There's got to be chemistry not found in a brother/sister or mother/son relationship. You can't sleep in separate beds; you've got to maintain the intimacy and closeness that lovers have. You've got to turn each other on and express yourselves physically.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 5
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
In the chapter called "Fantasia of the Unconscious" D.H. Lawrence considers psychology. Anais writes, "he expressed the instinct that there was a moment for clarity, the utmost clarity, but also a refuge from clarity in his favorite 'darkness,' the yet unrevealed, the still living mystery." Lawrence believed that science could lead to mass production of the unconscious - that it would produce formulas people could memorize and live by and that all behaviors could be categorized. He says, "while the soul really lives, its deepest dread is perhaps the dread of automatism." His belief is in the spontaneous soul.
In the chapter entitled "Kangaroo" Anais writes of Lawrence's feelings of isolation: " Why is there so little contact between myself and the people whom I know? Why has the contact no vital meaning?" We all crave a connection, but it's not something that can be planned or forced; it tends to happen spontaneously, organically, naturally. Anais writes further that although Lawrence feels a sense of freedom, he also feels an emptiness, a lack of meaning. There is a struggle within him and a revolution; through instinct and vision he can surrender to it and experience it. She explains that intuition is not something rational and cannot be explained to other people and maybe not even to oneself. One becomes inarticulate when trying to explain instinct. In the end, these inner revolutions create our souls. They generate ideas. They make us realize who and what we care about.
In the chapter called "Fantasia of the Unconscious" D.H. Lawrence considers psychology. Anais writes, "he expressed the instinct that there was a moment for clarity, the utmost clarity, but also a refuge from clarity in his favorite 'darkness,' the yet unrevealed, the still living mystery." Lawrence believed that science could lead to mass production of the unconscious - that it would produce formulas people could memorize and live by and that all behaviors could be categorized. He says, "while the soul really lives, its deepest dread is perhaps the dread of automatism." His belief is in the spontaneous soul.
In the chapter entitled "Kangaroo" Anais writes of Lawrence's feelings of isolation: " Why is there so little contact between myself and the people whom I know? Why has the contact no vital meaning?" We all crave a connection, but it's not something that can be planned or forced; it tends to happen spontaneously, organically, naturally. Anais writes further that although Lawrence feels a sense of freedom, he also feels an emptiness, a lack of meaning. There is a struggle within him and a revolution; through instinct and vision he can surrender to it and experience it. She explains that intuition is not something rational and cannot be explained to other people and maybe not even to oneself. One becomes inarticulate when trying to explain instinct. In the end, these inner revolutions create our souls. They generate ideas. They make us realize who and what we care about.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 4
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
In the chapter called "Women in Love," Anais says that Lawrence's characters cannot be understood without the "artist-key" because they are creators and poets, just as he is. They are not "normal" people.
Birkin is a projection of Lawrence. Anais writes, "The visible is less important than the invisible, the unknown, the inarticulate."
Birkin asks Ursula: "What are you? What am I? What is love? What is the center of our life?" He tells her what he wants: "What I want is a strange conjunction with you - not a meeting and mingling, but an equilibrium, a pure balance of two single beings - as the stars balance each other."
Another character in the book is Hermione, who believes she stands for spiritual truth. However, she is empty and has no center. She is uncreative in art and in living.
Gerald is a handsome man who has had many mistresses but has never loved. Birkin asks him what the center of his life is, and he responds by saying there is no center. "It is artificially held together by the social mechanism," he says. Birkin suggests the love of one woman could be the center of one's life. Without love, Gerald is limited, empty, hollow, miserable on the inside while appearing full of riches on the outside. He represents the man's world - the outside, mindless sensuality.
Both Birkin and Gerald ultimately desire to be fulfilled in woman. Birkin and Ursula marry, and though he is happy and loves her deeply, he is not fully satisfied. He must continue to evolve, renew, become.
In the chapter called "Women in Love," Anais says that Lawrence's characters cannot be understood without the "artist-key" because they are creators and poets, just as he is. They are not "normal" people.
Birkin is a projection of Lawrence. Anais writes, "The visible is less important than the invisible, the unknown, the inarticulate."
Birkin asks Ursula: "What are you? What am I? What is love? What is the center of our life?" He tells her what he wants: "What I want is a strange conjunction with you - not a meeting and mingling, but an equilibrium, a pure balance of two single beings - as the stars balance each other."
Another character in the book is Hermione, who believes she stands for spiritual truth. However, she is empty and has no center. She is uncreative in art and in living.
Gerald is a handsome man who has had many mistresses but has never loved. Birkin asks him what the center of his life is, and he responds by saying there is no center. "It is artificially held together by the social mechanism," he says. Birkin suggests the love of one woman could be the center of one's life. Without love, Gerald is limited, empty, hollow, miserable on the inside while appearing full of riches on the outside. He represents the man's world - the outside, mindless sensuality.
Both Birkin and Gerald ultimately desire to be fulfilled in woman. Birkin and Ursula marry, and though he is happy and loves her deeply, he is not fully satisfied. He must continue to evolve, renew, become.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 3
Anais Nin wrote her first book in 1932: D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study.
There is a chapter in it I love called "In Controversy." Many people think of Lawrence as a man who wrote only about explicit, sexual material. I remember in high school, studying the classics, and both Lady Chatterly's Lover and Sons and Lovers were on the list - the teacher warned us of their nature. I'm not sure if anyone chose these classics on which to do their book report. As for me, I chose Dicken's Great Expectations....
Is it "pornography?" Is Lawrence "enslaved by sex?" These days, on network TV, it is allowed to show scenes of a very violent nature and yet, women's breasts and buttocks of men and women are not allowed to be shown. What does this say about our culture? It the human body something that should be hidden? Is the expression of love something that should not be public? Is sensuality a bad thing?
The chapter closes with a reference to Lawrence's Fantasia of the Unconscious and the concept of the open road. Leave fate to the open road. That's the only way the soul comes into its own. By taking the open road. Not by fasting or by meditating or by exploring the heavens or by ecstasy. Take to the open road, and you will find your soul.
There is a chapter in it I love called "In Controversy." Many people think of Lawrence as a man who wrote only about explicit, sexual material. I remember in high school, studying the classics, and both Lady Chatterly's Lover and Sons and Lovers were on the list - the teacher warned us of their nature. I'm not sure if anyone chose these classics on which to do their book report. As for me, I chose Dicken's Great Expectations....
Is it "pornography?" Is Lawrence "enslaved by sex?" These days, on network TV, it is allowed to show scenes of a very violent nature and yet, women's breasts and buttocks of men and women are not allowed to be shown. What does this say about our culture? It the human body something that should be hidden? Is the expression of love something that should not be public? Is sensuality a bad thing?
The chapter closes with a reference to Lawrence's Fantasia of the Unconscious and the concept of the open road. Leave fate to the open road. That's the only way the soul comes into its own. By taking the open road. Not by fasting or by meditating or by exploring the heavens or by ecstasy. Take to the open road, and you will find your soul.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 2
Anais Nin's first book was called D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study and was published in 1932. She wrote that Lawrence was a naturally religious man who had an instinctive sense of religion and said, "One can save one's pennies. How can one save one's soul? One can only live one's soul. The business is to live, really live. And this needs wonder." One character in Kangaroo says, "if a man is truly a man, true to his being, his soul saves itself in that way."
Lawrence further said, "great religious images are only images of our own experiences, or of our own sate of mind and soul." He worships the sun and the moon and goes on pilgrimages as part of his religion.
Anais writes a short chapter on Lawrence's take on death. One of his characters feels that emptiness in life (i.e. death in life) is worse than physical death. She feels the body is only one manifestation of the spirit and when you die, you move on to the invisible.
In a chapter called "Woman," Anais states that the core of a woman is her relation to man. Most men create the images and patterns, and a woman's role is to carry them out to please the men. The exception is women who are artists; they can create the images and patterns themselves. Lawrence says the men's images and patterns aren't that good in the first place.
Lawrence says there are two kinds of women: cocksure - up-to-date, modern women who have no doubts, and hensure - old-fashioned, demure women who go about their duties. He says there is no perfect relationship between man and woman because there is always conflict when each carries out his or her individuality. We think in terms of how things should be based on our own individuality rather than trying to understand how things are from the other individual's perspective.
In Kangaroo, a marriage is observed; the wife is smiling at another man and the husband is fine with this. They are husband and wife, and as long as she honors this connection/root between them, he does not care what she does with the rest of herself because there is a part of each of them that does not belong to the other. This part does not need to be asked about or even known because if it were, neither person is free. As long as the husband and wife are growing from the same root, all is good, even when there is resistance. In fact, Lawrence thinks resistance is good - the give and take creates strength, balance and unison.
Lawrence says, "Human love, human trust, are always perilous, because they break down. The greater the love, the greater the trust, and the greater the peril, the greater the disaster. Because to place absolute trust on another human being is in itself a disaster, both ways, since each human being is a ship that must sail its own course, even if it go in company with another ship." There are two ships and two captains in a relationship between two people.
Lawrence further said, "great religious images are only images of our own experiences, or of our own sate of mind and soul." He worships the sun and the moon and goes on pilgrimages as part of his religion.
Anais writes a short chapter on Lawrence's take on death. One of his characters feels that emptiness in life (i.e. death in life) is worse than physical death. She feels the body is only one manifestation of the spirit and when you die, you move on to the invisible.
In a chapter called "Woman," Anais states that the core of a woman is her relation to man. Most men create the images and patterns, and a woman's role is to carry them out to please the men. The exception is women who are artists; they can create the images and patterns themselves. Lawrence says the men's images and patterns aren't that good in the first place.
Lawrence says there are two kinds of women: cocksure - up-to-date, modern women who have no doubts, and hensure - old-fashioned, demure women who go about their duties. He says there is no perfect relationship between man and woman because there is always conflict when each carries out his or her individuality. We think in terms of how things should be based on our own individuality rather than trying to understand how things are from the other individual's perspective.
In Kangaroo, a marriage is observed; the wife is smiling at another man and the husband is fine with this. They are husband and wife, and as long as she honors this connection/root between them, he does not care what she does with the rest of herself because there is a part of each of them that does not belong to the other. This part does not need to be asked about or even known because if it were, neither person is free. As long as the husband and wife are growing from the same root, all is good, even when there is resistance. In fact, Lawrence thinks resistance is good - the give and take creates strength, balance and unison.
Lawrence says, "Human love, human trust, are always perilous, because they break down. The greater the love, the greater the trust, and the greater the peril, the greater the disaster. Because to place absolute trust on another human being is in itself a disaster, both ways, since each human being is a ship that must sail its own course, even if it go in company with another ship." There are two ships and two captains in a relationship between two people.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
D.H. Lawrence, part 1
Anais Nin had a fascination with D.H. Lawrence, probably because she felt they were like-minded. He awakened her sexually, and she looked at her marriage and men differently after reading him. She was so affected by him she wrote her first book, D.H. Lawrence, An Unprofessional Study, in 1932.
She writes that one must approach Lawrence with intellect, imagination and with physical feeling, in other words, with both body and soul, because he is a passionate poet. Anais quotes him as saying, "if a man loves life" he is obedient "to the urge that arises in the soul." Lawrence has an artist's eye, much imagination, and wants to experience everything and creates characters in his books that portray this; they are artists. He felt that what the body felt was real and natural; the mind interfered with the body by creating what it deemed as right and wrong. Listen to the body and let it lead us to fulfill our dreams. Openly express our feelings. Follow the flame. Be intuitive, sensitive. Participate in life with feeling.
Anais writes that "life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." Lawrence's philosophy was to live life deeply even when it is filled with failures and contradictions.
Swing from one extreme emotion to the next as poets do. Go through experiences then you'll have understanding.
Lawrence feels that human relationships between lovers involves finding a balance, leveling it out. Many relationships see-saw during interim periods before they achieve this balance and will likely continue to see-saw throughout the duration of the relationship as life happens to each person. There is a desire for connection, but it is difficult and takes time and patience and endurance and perseverance.
Anais loves to delve into analysis: she writes, "the first analysis of an event or a person yields a certain aspect. If we look at it again, it has another face. The further we progress in our reinterpretation, the more prismatic are the moods and the imaginings coordinating the facts differently each time. People who want a sane, static, measurable world take the first aspect of an event or person and stick to it, with an almost self-protective obstinacy, or by a natural limitation of their imaginations. They do not indulge in either deepening or magnifying."
She further states "the imagination is a constant deformer." Think of all the imaginary conversations and interactions you've had with people - all in your mind. Reality is so different from our obsessions. But what is life without wild imaginations that lead to dreams that transform you?
She writes that one must approach Lawrence with intellect, imagination and with physical feeling, in other words, with both body and soul, because he is a passionate poet. Anais quotes him as saying, "if a man loves life" he is obedient "to the urge that arises in the soul." Lawrence has an artist's eye, much imagination, and wants to experience everything and creates characters in his books that portray this; they are artists. He felt that what the body felt was real and natural; the mind interfered with the body by creating what it deemed as right and wrong. Listen to the body and let it lead us to fulfill our dreams. Openly express our feelings. Follow the flame. Be intuitive, sensitive. Participate in life with feeling.
Anais writes that "life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." Lawrence's philosophy was to live life deeply even when it is filled with failures and contradictions.
Swing from one extreme emotion to the next as poets do. Go through experiences then you'll have understanding.
Lawrence feels that human relationships between lovers involves finding a balance, leveling it out. Many relationships see-saw during interim periods before they achieve this balance and will likely continue to see-saw throughout the duration of the relationship as life happens to each person. There is a desire for connection, but it is difficult and takes time and patience and endurance and perseverance.
Anais loves to delve into analysis: she writes, "the first analysis of an event or a person yields a certain aspect. If we look at it again, it has another face. The further we progress in our reinterpretation, the more prismatic are the moods and the imaginings coordinating the facts differently each time. People who want a sane, static, measurable world take the first aspect of an event or person and stick to it, with an almost self-protective obstinacy, or by a natural limitation of their imaginations. They do not indulge in either deepening or magnifying."
She further states "the imagination is a constant deformer." Think of all the imaginary conversations and interactions you've had with people - all in your mind. Reality is so different from our obsessions. But what is life without wild imaginations that lead to dreams that transform you?
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