Friday, April 5, 2013

Emotion

I don't cry much nowadays.

Increasingly my way of navigating life's rockier passages has been governed by pragmatism.  What must I do to sort this out?  Will crying help?  No.  Right then, let's move on.  Let's plough through.  Action.  Distraction.  If I start crying or allowing myself to wallow I won't be able to cope with what must be done.

 Odd then that twice before 10.00am today I became watery-eyed over something on the radio:
 the wonderful Kathleen Ferrier, who was to die far too young herself, singing  Che faro senza Eurydice (What is Life) from Orfeo et Eurydice, and the final episode of the Radio 4 Book of the Week adapation of The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev by Simon Morrison, the story of Serge and Lina Prokofiev.  Both in their way heartrending but very beautiful.  Love and separation and loss. I remembered: those are the things I used to cry over.  For hours, days at a time.

Good to be reminded that my emotions haven't shrivelled and died.  And good that I am able to respond once again to beauty. 

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I must avoid this becoming a weather blog, but the forecasts say that from next week it will be getting warmer.   A pale, timorous sun appears for a few minutes then, seemingly overcome with shyness, disppears behind the clouds.  Perhaps she will become more courageous with time. 



2 comments:

Relatively Retiring said...

It's very good to be reminded that the emotions are as strong in later life (that's me, not you!) as when I was 40 years younger, and to know that I'm still fully capable of getting myself into an emotional tangle.

mm said...

RR: I agree. My emotional radio moment was a sharp, poignant yet oddly reassuring experience.