Agua Viva

“Putting my hand in someone else’s has always been my definition of happiness. Before I fall asleep, often – in that small struggle not to lose consciousness and go into the greater world – often, before I get up the courage to go into the vastness of sleep, I pretend that someone has my hand in theirs, and then I go, go to that enormous absence of form that is sleep.” -Clarice Lispector

I have never in my life related so much to a woman writer. Well, I’ve only read Agua Viva so far, but have you seen this woman? She’s stunning. When I read her work, I am transported to a place where I’m finally understood as a woman. And this quote I shared, my God, she’s a gift to life. The way she romances the tidbits of being alive is heaven. The way she speaks from the mouths of our ancestors feels like home. Here are a couple of lines.

“I know what I am doing here
I’m improvising.”

“What I say is never what I say.
Read the energy of my silence.”

“I’m obscure to myself.”

It’s interesting because she says “read the energy of my silence” and then writes books that hold the weight of every woman’s silence. As in, she speaks of things most women don’t share or don’t have the capacity to share, especially in today’s world. The cost is high to spend time examining yourself. We are all busy trying to make ends meet, pay off debts, and do what we do to make a buck. Which leads to another line of hers that says, “I’m obscure to myself.” And aren’t we all a mystery to ourselves these days? No? Maybe it’s just me. She makes me want to write the rest of my days away.

What book(s) are you loving lately?

Featured Image from New York Times.