I was visiting "The Pen. . . " blog site and was prompted by a random question: What "genre" of film or literature would I be? I thought and dug around a little online and I found this quote, attribute to Rod Serling: "science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible." The last ling, "makes the impossible plausible, " resonated with me. When I look at my life and look where I am now, I can't help but think that the arch of my life has been the making of something "impossible, plausible"!
Most obviously is my lovely wife, Thelma. Who would ever have thought that at 40, I would meet someone as lovely, brilliant, and funny--who was 15 years my younger--and who would love me with a depth that I've longed for my entire life. The impossible became plausible when she agreed to marry me and on October 19, 1993, we became husband and wife. I love her more and more each day.
My five daughters are something that would have seemed impossible for me--yet here they all are! Tessa is the oldest and is extemely smart and talented. She was the only non-music major to have a senior recital before her graduation from Warren Wilson College. Erin, my second, is just as smart as her older sister. The middle daughter, Amanda, came with Thelma from Thelma's first marriage. Amanda, my middle daughter, is funny and charismatic, very much like her mother. Marissa came about seven years after Amanda, so she have taken on the birth order of "the oldest" in her personality. Indeed, I see a great deal of the younger Tessa in Marissa. Natalie is the baby and was quite a surprise. . . as she still is to this very day! We never know what quip she may come up with, but it will always surprise. All of these girls validate for me the idea of "making the impossible plausible"!
My career is certainly the making of sci-fi/fantasy! Who would have ever thought that the shy, bookworn in the back of the room would be known by some of the students where I work as "the wise old owl"? Who would have ever thought when I was in high school that I would earn a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition? Who would ever have thought the impossible thought when I was in college that I would "grow up" to be a college associate dean? Every step of my career seems to be the "impossible being made plausible."
I could add to the list a variety of life experiences that seem "the impossible becoming plausible": the places I've travelled, the people I've meet, the work I've done--all of these speak to the openning assertion about the "impossible becoming plausible." So--what would you be if you were a "genre"?
1 comment:
I would be a melding of mystery and sci-fi. I absolutely hate secrets, and love to search for clues, even in every day circumstances. As you know, I have a penchant for hosting and writing my own murder mystery parties.
When I meet someone new, I do my utmost to figure her out, to understand him. I like to make myself understood as well.
As for the sci-fi - I prefer to call it "speculative fiction" - imagining the world, the universe, the self, in terms of what may be or what could be. I appreciate the interplay between science and religion. I look backwards to the big bang and see a causality. I look forwards into the infinite stretches of space and see choice.
My husband and I rear our daughters to embrace the love of knowledge and exploration, to read, to fantasize, to pretend, to dream, to study and to explore. We want them to tackle the mystery that is life, and imagine a way to make it better.
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