Yesterday I read a fascinating article in The New York Times Magazine about the writer Marilynne Robinson. She has been teaching the art of writing at the University of Iowa, known for its fine writing program, since 1989. You may recognize her name from her Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Gilead". Her most recent novel is "Lila", which continues the saga of the residents of the mythical community of Gilead.
Much of what she had to say resonated with me, but a couple of comments in particular gave me pause. She talked about growing up with teachers who encouraged her to build a mind she could live with, that one's mind is a place, that we must live with our minds our entire lives so we should build a mind that is .... well, more heaven than it is hell.
Think of that: one's mind is a PLACE. We alone are responsible for building a mindplace we can live with. Not only live with, but thrive in. That's the point I think. Now I am not advocating that one disappear into a fantasy world, nor is she, but what we think, how we think, can definitely affect how we live in this world. Solitude can be a lovely place to reside if we have built a habitable mind, a mindplace. I like that idea: a mindplace.
Marilynne Robinson is an exceptional writer, and it is clear from the interview that she has made her mind a great place in which to live. I want to thank her for opening my own thoughts to the care of my mindplace.
To read the full article go to The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/magazine/the-revelations-of-marilynne-robinson
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