V.W. (The Essayist)

  "First and fore­most, an es­say­ist can­didly re­flects upon him­self: upon the fluc­tu­ations of his own thoughts and emo­tions... Hav­ing de­veloped a knack for self-re­flec­tion, the es­say­ist no­tices in­ter­est­ing things about the world around him – things that es­cape the no­tice of oth­ers who race from one activ­ity to an­oth­er."  The Pedestrian 

It's International Women's Day today!

I'm celebrating it with an ode to my muse...

 

   Virginia Woolf 

has always fascinated me.

 Every since reading her essay in University 

"A Room Of One's Own", 

I have been smitten by her wit and words.

I dedicated my very first blog post to her. 

You can read it here.

She was also my muse for my very first SOLO ART SHOW last February. 

 The art show was called "A Room of Her Own".

V.W. 

 2011 Danielle Daniel

The show was a collection of women and words inspired by Virginia Woolf’s“ A Room of One’s Own,” It was a journey through the world of mixed media paintings, illuminating what is possible within a physical and figurative feminine space.

 

You can imagine my extreme delight when

 I realized just last week that she

 is now also influencing my writing... 

I could not believe my eyes when I read this on the modern essay:

… "A nov­el has a story, a poem rhyme; but what art can the es­say­ist use in these short lengths of prose to sting us wide awake and fix us in a trance which is not sleep but rather an in­tens­i­fic­a­tion of life – a bask­ing, with every fac­ulty alert, in the sun of pleas­ure? He must know – that is the first es­sen­tial – how to write."      Virginia Woolf

Ms. Woolf,

still you teach me,

still you inspire me...

What I have learned in the last couple of weeks is that

 I am indeed an essayist.

The stories I'm writing are personal and written in this very form.

Short spurts of truth buried under daily tasks and deep breaths of pain and love.

"At the core of the per­son­al es­say is the sup­pos­i­tion 

that there is a cer­tain unity to hu­man ex­per­i­ence."

Phillip Lopate
The Art of the Personal Essay

Slowly but surely my writing voice is growing into something I'm proud of.

Thank-you V.W. 

Your contribution to the written word, 

feminism and truth will never be forgotten.

Who has inspired your journey?

Happy International Women's Day to all!

With the deepest respect and gratitude for all those who dared! 

 

With love,

xoxo