Friday reflection
The most real
“The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.”
― Marge Piercy
This quote reminded me of my client Suzanne Ehlers’ reflections on the meaning of work, shared earlier this year, and also immediately brought to mind The Velveteen Rabbit.
As you may remember, that children’s story is a (heartbreaking, sob-inducing) meditation on what it means to be real. Thinking of The Velveteen Rabbit reminded me of a TV pilot I wrote a few years back — in particular, of a scene where one character reads a portion of TVR in voiceover while on-screen we see other characters in a series of poignant moments. The show was about three middle aged women living in Brooklyn during Trump’s presidency; this is the pitch I wrote at the time:
LIBERATED is a feminist dramedy about three women in Brooklyn who are obsessed with living authentic, meaningful, creative lives while finding their place in the wake of the 2016 election. As these middle-aged friends navigate career and family, self-expression and social responsibility, they always come back to each other — and to the realization that women are essential to each other’s liberation.
Reading the pitch brought me back to the Marge Piercy quote: For me, the work that is real is the work of helping women realize how essential we are to each other’s liberation — and how much of a difference we make for each other, and ourselves, when we speak up authentically and consistently, especially online.
In other words: All roads lead to Mighty Forces ;).
But for real (see what I did there?): What comes up for you when you consider the idea of “work that is real”?
And what, or who, makes you feel the most “real”?
REALize this (sorry, I couldn’t help myself): You are a mighty force.
Do you hear me?
A MIGHTY FORCE.
- Amanda
P.S. Join the next Mighty Forces story circle on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 11am ET/ 8am PT. This is the Zoom link (as a paid subscriber, you should be on the calendar invite; if you aren’t, and would like to be, let me know!).