Wow, Jillian, this is so extremely pertinent for me today. I've been mulling over what to do with this compilation of notes, sketches of outdoor life, historical writing and journaling that I kept while working at the Texas Capitol last spring and summer. I have a meeting with one of the professors in my MFA program this afternoon and I'm going to channel Walt Whitman when I try to describe the project. You've pulled out some really great pieces to highlight here. "Be full of strong sensual germs." That line is going to stay with me! Thanks so much for writing this and sharing.
extraordinary to see how serene he looked with all those notes around him. like the mess was part of the intellectual process of piecing things together. thank you for making that make sense!
I loved this piece and the photos. It's interesting that Whitman thought poetry could heal or help heal a divided nation. I wonder if anyone on Substack has such a grand ambition? I certainly do NOT think I am capable of anything like that. Here in America we are divided in part because we are all consuming separate streams of information, and precisely that dynamic makes it hard to reach enough people to change anything. Though I guess we can each contribute a thread of sanity and healthy insanity to the tapestry. Classic comment behavior, I have reversed position midway through.
Fascinating… Thank you so much for sharing this. I love the visual references to his actual journals. Very informative and enlightening, especially during our own fractured time.
I love this. I’ve always been a Whitman fan, and it’s so fun to see bits of his process particularly Make the Works. I often give myself advice in my notebook. I consider it reflection. Seeing that scrap is validating.
This is my favorite of your newsletters so far! It helped me put some pieces of my project (a book of poems about working in libraries) into focus. Thank you so much, I never thought about Whitman this way and I didn’t know this about his writing process.
Love Whitman…I imagine Horace Traubel visiting Whitman on Mickle St. in his last days, wading through Whitman’s scraps like he was fording a stream…which, in a sense, he was 😎
I feel legitimized. Writing is (to me at least) like putting together a puzzle, and I see the same for Whitman as well. ✏️
I totally get the puzzle metaphor--for myself and for Whitman's process.
Fantastic post, Jillian. Whitman sitting composed amid his mess of papers is such an amazing photo!
Thanks, Jolene. I laughed out loud when I saw that photo. It's amazing.
Wow, Jillian, this is so extremely pertinent for me today. I've been mulling over what to do with this compilation of notes, sketches of outdoor life, historical writing and journaling that I kept while working at the Texas Capitol last spring and summer. I have a meeting with one of the professors in my MFA program this afternoon and I'm going to channel Walt Whitman when I try to describe the project. You've pulled out some really great pieces to highlight here. "Be full of strong sensual germs." That line is going to stay with me! Thanks so much for writing this and sharing.
Oh, this means so much to me, Sarah. I'm so glad that this piece was creatively nourishing for you.
Oh look at this. What wonderful stuff. A man after my own heart, writing on scraps of paper. That picture of him surround by mess is funny.
Ah, yes, I loved learning that you keep scraps of paper in your pockets too.
extraordinary to see how serene he looked with all those notes around him. like the mess was part of the intellectual process of piecing things together. thank you for making that make sense!
I know! I definitely couldn't work in those conditions. I'd have to clean everything up first.
This was a wonderful read! I tend to write in fragments, and I’d love to learn more about how to thread them together into a single piece
That's always the question, isn't it? I'll attempt to answer it in this week's postscript.
I love this - that photograph! And that quote. beautiful!
Thanks, Jane!
'Make the Works.
Do not go into criticisms or arguments at all'
☺️
THAT'S just what i needed to read,
in the moment.
Thank you Walt(!)
And,
'Be full of strong sensual germs..'
(This 'justifies' picking my nose!
...man, i wished i'da read Walt, when i was a kid!)
Thanks again!
🤭
cmmm,...sorry.
I'm just beginning, to enjoy your collections(!).
Fantastic!
I "Thank YOU", for your efforts,....
your 'WORKS'.
Haha! Lovely comment--thanks!
I loved this piece and the photos. It's interesting that Whitman thought poetry could heal or help heal a divided nation. I wonder if anyone on Substack has such a grand ambition? I certainly do NOT think I am capable of anything like that. Here in America we are divided in part because we are all consuming separate streams of information, and precisely that dynamic makes it hard to reach enough people to change anything. Though I guess we can each contribute a thread of sanity and healthy insanity to the tapestry. Classic comment behavior, I have reversed position midway through.
Like Whitman, you contain multitudes!
Haha nice
“Im so complex,” I tell my wife.
“Youre really not,” she says
This is beautiful and so interesting!
Thanks, Ashley!
So interesting... thank you!
Thanks, Raymond!
Fascinating… Thank you so much for sharing this. I love the visual references to his actual journals. Very informative and enlightening, especially during our own fractured time.
A marvelous post! Thank you.
I love this. I’ve always been a Whitman fan, and it’s so fun to see bits of his process particularly Make the Works. I often give myself advice in my notebook. I consider it reflection. Seeing that scrap is validating.
I love finding writers' advice to themselves in their notebooks!
This is my favorite of your newsletters so far! It helped me put some pieces of my project (a book of poems about working in libraries) into focus. Thank you so much, I never thought about Whitman this way and I didn’t know this about his writing process.
Thanks, Julia!
Love Whitman…I imagine Horace Traubel visiting Whitman on Mickle St. in his last days, wading through Whitman’s scraps like he was fording a stream…which, in a sense, he was 😎
What a vision!