What constitutes benign neglect?
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 12:55PM Many years ago I heard Ursula LeGuin interviewed on the radio. I had read only one of her books, but I was interested in her life partly because I had lived a few doors from her house near Forest Park in Portland, Oregon, many years before. The interviewer asked her how she managed to be so prolific with young children in the house. And she said, "Benign neglect."
Now I find myself wondering about how to separate from my animals long enough to be productive. This may sound silly to those people who don't have animals. But those of you who share this issue, you know who you are. I have decided to avoid eye contact with my dogs while I'm writing. This may entail shutting them out of my writing room, but I hope not.
Women with children or animals: how do you make space for your work?
I'm reading the fall issue of GLIMMER TRAIN. Last night I read an admirable ghost story in that issue by Sean Padraic McCarthy. Titled "Preservation." It's about a guy whose wife dies in an accident and leaves him with three little girls to raise. There was a tinge of Andre Dubus, the elder, about the story. Very good story. GLIMMER TRAIN never fails me when I want a good story.
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Reader Comments (2)
My cats sit right on my stuff when I'm working. I push them off and they get right back on it. We've developed a pattern where I ignore them unless they're interfering, and if they bug me to much they know I'll chase them away. It took a while, but I don't actually have to separate myself from them physically any more to get work done.
How people do this with children I absolutely cannot imagine.
Only -- only -- ONLY when they are in school. Luckily, they go for 6 hours a day,
The dog is no problem, though.