Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Blog Post - Elizabeth Gray

The paint pristine, a smooth gray exterior, pulling the room together, fragments of sunlight deep through my windows, tearing at the leaves that brush against the glass. Posters and paintings hang on my walls? A specific order contains them all, the colors, the placement mesh in each one. My room, it looks balanced and clean, something you might see in a magazine. But something's not right. The edges of the room look razor sharp from a distance, but when you look closer, you might see the paint chipping or the dust collecting; and those paintings hung precisely on the wall, when I look real close in the glass, I might see the most flawed thing of all, and that thing is me.

12 comments:

  1. Elizabeth,

    You've done it again! Your words struck a chord for me. Postcards of Independence Hall, much like a magazine picture of your room can be misleading. In the postcards, Independence Hall looks like it os surrounded by a lovely park. Now, and in the 18th century, it is surrounded by a major city.

    The Assembly Room, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written, is smaller than I expected. The chairs don't all match and tables aren't arranged in any clear order. There are personal items on the table tops. The owners of those items (just like each of us) was certainly not perfect.

    Is the magazine picture or the post card a lie? Are those two documents as flawed as the people who wrote them or the people who read them? I don't think so. We must certainly find and fix the flaws, but we can'r lose sight of the "bigger picture". Thank you for helping me take a closer look at the picture. Great work!

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  2. Dear Elizabeth,

    Your post has me thinking of identity, and how we both present ourselves to the world and how we see ourselves within our own hearts and minds. I think we all see our flaws, and yet try our best to present our best self to the world. This causes tension, for sure, and in that tension, I think perhaps we begin to see who we really are -- people trying to make the best of where we are and always striving to move forward. Thank you for the insightful post.

    Sincerely,
    Mr. Hodgson
    Sixth grade teacher
    Western Massachusetts

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  3. Your use of imagery pulls me right in..."The paint pristine, a smooth gray exterior..." And, much like Mr. Hodgson, now I am thinking about identity and how I've perceived my reflection over time.

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  4. nothing wrong with having flaws. you're also the most alive and interesting thing in that room.

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  5. You create such a vivid sense of place in this piece. The idea of sunlight "tearing" at leaves is so interesting because it hints at something dark and unfriendly, but also suggests that a bit of hope and light is finding its way into the room.

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  6. Your descriptions are so lively that its easy for me to visualize the scene. I think you could keep this piece as a vignette without additions, but it could also be the intriguing beginning of a much longer story. I am curious to know why the narrator feels so flawed. What is her or his story that leads to such a conclusion?

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  7. Hi Elizabeth;
    I was immediately drawn into the story with your vivid descriptions of the room , and Imust admit that it was suspenseful in the way you describe the light filtering into room as well as the leaves brushing against the glass. I found your piece to be very powerful especially when you describe the room as looking neat and orderly from a distance but perhaps when you look more closely you might see imperfections. I think that it was very clever how you used it as a metaphor for human imperfections as well. Please keep writing! I want to read more.

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  8. You painted a picture in my mind and it's so clear and bright. I see you and you're talented! Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your room. I want to read more.

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  9. Of course you are flawed. We all are flawed otherwise we would be like robots. How boring that would be. No new ideas or inventions. just same old, same old. Rejoice in your flaws for they change daily as we change. Now to your writing, you paint pictures with words. I love you style, it is your voice. Looking forward to reading more of you efforts.

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  10. I find the connection between the "flawed" bell and the "flawed" narrator really fascinating. What does it mean to be imperfect? Or perfect, for that matter? What does it feel like? How does it shape worldview?

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  11. A Pennsylvania FarmerJuly 28, 2018 at 4:58 PM

    I like what the author of this piece is saying about self-presentation and identity. Many of us go to great lengths to present ourselves in a particular way to face the world, but upon reflection we can see our subtle flaws and hope that others don't. Those kind of feelings kind of seem amplified (especially in adolescence). Maybe we can take comfort in the fact that everyone's "rooms" have chipping paint and dust collecting. I wonder if that is what this piece is attempting to communicate?

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  12. Love your description! You are too hard on yourself though,I am sure.

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