Friday, November 9, 2007

ALLIGATOR SEEN FROM A SMALL BRIDGE AT GULF COAST NATIONAL SEASHORE IN OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI

















When I was a child I was quite frightened by the crocodile that had swallowed a ticking clock and stalked Captain Hook in the Walt Disney version of PETER PAN. As a young woman, I saw drugged-appearing crocodiles who never seemed to move at all in their habitat in the Steinhart aquarium in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Along with seeing my first cardinal, I saw my first alligator last week. I remember my father, while visiting me when he was in his 70s, having his picture taken next to a buffalo. He said he had never seen a live buffalo before.

While preparing for my trip to visit my sister in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, I went to a bookstore to find a book to read during the long plane trip I would be taking. I almost bought a new copy of MOBY DICK, a book I read during the late 70s or early 80s and still consider one of my favorite books. Instead, I bought LESSONS IN BECOMING MYSELF, by Ellen Burstyn. I found out later that Ellen Burstyn tells a story in her book where she takes her son, at his request, on a sports fishing boat off the coast of California, a trip in which she brought along a copy of MOBY DICK. As she was reading, the fishing boat came close to a whale who then spouted. The spray of water landed on her and her book. She looked down at the wet page and read the following words, "Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? . . ."

I like her book. It was just the book I needed during my time on the airplane and in Mississippi. When I finish it, I'll go back to the bookstore and buy MOBY DICK.

Although I've never seen THE EXORCIST and have no plans to see it, I have seen and appreciated Ellen Burstyn in:

ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
RESURRECTION
WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD
THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

Toni Morrison, author of BELOVED, wrote for the back cover of the book: "I deeply admire Ellen Burstyn's scrupulous honesty and the urgency with which she pursues enlightenment. An extremely moving story of a fully lived life."

What I have found particularly interesting is Ellen Burstyn's affinity with Sufis and Carl Jung. Here is an interview with her.

4 comments:

Loren said...

Nice interview, my favorite quote was,

"And the idea that we didn’t have to say, “I am a Christian” or, “I am a Buddhist” or, “I am a Muslim,” but, "I am a spirit opening to the truth that lives in all of these religions,” brings you into a place where you see that the differences are in the dogma, and the essence is very, very similar.

I'd nearly forgotten that I went through a period where I read Gurdjieff, oo.

robin andrea said...

I always like Ellen Burstyn, something about her face conveyed a deeply-lived inner life.

I read Moby Dick in college. I found it challenging in many ways. It was for a class where we read only Melville and Hawthorne. I was much more drawn to Hawthorne's work.

The Dream said...

E. Burstyn is fantastic. Toni Morrison's BELOVED is one of my favorites - absolutely poetic. Enjoy MOBY DICK - it has been many moons since I read that, and I seriously doubt I had much appreciation for it back in the day. It just may be time to dive back in.

Tarakuanyin said...

Hi. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I loved the Moby Dick synchronicity story here, and now I think I might just have to reread it! It's been about 20 years.