Mounting Losses

I was listening, despite my better judgment, to Di.ane Re.hm this morning. Her guest was Eri.ca J.ong, who is even worse in my mind than Diane. I have had a chip on my shoulder about J.ong for a long time but never mind that. Even with my chip, I was surprised at how uninspiring her talk was. I was surprised at how vapid some of her statements were. I realize that I'm not being specific enough. Here's one example: She was talking about writing another novel about her protagonist from Fear of Fly.ing (the source of my chip, incidentally), Isa.dora Wing. She wants to write about her in her fifties, because apparently women in their mid-fifties experience a lot of loss and apparently no one ever talks about it because it's not allowed. What??!! I tend to bristle whenever I hear people, especially Boomers, say that talking about something isn't allowed. Not since 1979, honey. I mean where have you been for the past 25 years that Oprah has been bludgeoning us with talk specifically about everything that supposedly we're not allowed to talk about? I think that this perceived lack of freedom is precisely the issue that Boomers use to define themselves and react against, but I just don't buy it anymore. Jo.ng's novels are evidence that few topics are taboo. The fact that the writing is hard doesn't negate its viability in social discourse. But this is not really meant as an attack on Jo.ng. I am just starting to get suspicious about Boomers and their ability to really see the world with a critical eye, rather than one turned inward. I know, I know, this is neither a revolutionary statement, nor is it one that I can prove. It's just where my head is at right now.

I came away from the snippet I heard with the phrase in my head "mounting losses" and it resonates with me right now. I think I could write several entries on that thought alone -- about all the losses that are mounting (some are good losses, by the way). Speaking of which, I must go mount some losses of my own... at the gym.