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When Women Were Birds


"Brilliant, meditative, and full of surprises, wisdom, and wonder." - Ann Lamott...
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Empty or silent?

Created: 04/09/13

Replies: 10

Posted Apr. 09, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

Empty or silent?

Were Terry's mother's journals empty or silent?


Posted Apr. 10, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
eileenp

Join Date: 10/20/10

Posts: 33

RE: Empty or silent?

Good question. I'd go with silent. A silence that had a lot of meaning.


Posted Apr. 10, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: Empty or silent?

I would have to go with silent as well. Silence can be very profound.


Posted Apr. 11, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

RE: Empty or silent?

I would go with silent. The letters Terry's mother wrote to her seemed reserved and rather formal. I think her mother was a person who wasn't comfortable sharing even though she seemed to love Terry.


Posted Apr. 11, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lisag

Join Date: 01/12/12

Posts: 298

RE: Empty or silent?

Silent. I believe she'd have had no lack of things to say, she just didn't like that it was mandatory she record her thoughts and events in her life. But personally, I love the idea of recording life. I understand her feelings, in a way, but I certainly wish I'd have kept a consistent diary. I do have bits and pieces here and there, but nothing cohesive. I regret that.


Posted Apr. 11, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
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christy

Join Date: 05/22/12

Posts: 41

RE: Empty or silent?

The silence of blank pages of Terry's mother's journals screamed louder than words could have. Powerful is an understatement.


Posted Apr. 12, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
carolynv

Join Date: 04/17/11

Posts: 16

RE: Empty or silent?

Great question! I think silent and powerful, but harder to understand what she was trying to tell Terry. Empty seems easier to interpret; live your life to the fullest, don't let it be empty.`


Posted Apr. 12, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianes

Join Date: 05/16/11

Posts: 68

RE: Empty or silent?

I think silent as well. But a silence that screamed for something.


Posted Apr. 20, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
janec

Join Date: 09/06/11

Posts: 12

RE: Empty or silent?

I don't believe that they were empty. Silent is a much better choice. They certainly made the author think. I loved the decisions of why they were blank.


Posted Apr. 22, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
amberb

Join Date: 07/28/11

Posts: 96

RE: Empty or silent?

Powerfully, curiously silent - not empty. You do wonder why she bought so many of them!

I wonder if she intended to write in them, someday? I have bought a number of journals, always thinking, "I'm going to write, I really am," and still they are mostly blank. Did anyone else half wonder if they were written in the 'invisible ink' Terry says her mother taught her to make?


Posted May. 03, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alexandras

Join Date: 07/18/11

Posts: 7

RE: Empty or silent?

I also agreed with everyone above, I thought that her journals were silent, and not empty. But I think that silence was so much more powerful than her writing could have been. At the start of the book, Terry tells us that Mormon women were expected to do two things "keep a journal and bear children". I think this was William's mother's way of saying that there are other ways to be close to god.

I thought of Mother Theresa's quote as I was reading this book, "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." I thought it was apropos.


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