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Here's to you some inspirations 'On History and Writing'. Enjoy.
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Until next time - Majken xx
A buggy-eyed insect meets a jester meets a bearded tomato
In January 1924, the two German avant-garde artists, Lavinia Schulz and her husband, Walter Holdt, had their portraits taken, this article tells. The photos that came out of it are quite out of the ordinary since the couple wore the unusual costumes they used when performing their dancing: twisted faces, wires sticking out here and there, a square head, a triangle head, robot-like, animal-like, bearded tomato-like. What happened six months later, though, is even more unusual (as well as tragic); Schulz shot Holdt in the head, and then she turned the gun on herself. Both died (besides them was their one-year-old infant son, unharmed).
But - why? “Some say that Holdt was cheating on Schulz, and she shot him in revenge. Others that Holdt had retreated to bed from illness or depression, and Schulz was furious that he’d abdicated their collaborative practice. It was widely reported that the two were emaciated; indeed, many Germans were starving in 1924,” the article explains. Also, it tells us about the couples’ avant-garde performances and the ideas behind them. Their dancing was most intense, we are informed; “Art has to be exhausting,” Schulz once stated, “otherwise it is worthless”. And it wasn’t just empty words; the couple practised what they preached. “[Their] basement apartment had a dirt floor, outdoor toilet, and no electricity or running water. They slept in hammocks or on straw. Grey tights and unitards were worn as everyday apparel so that they could rehearse at any moment. Their materials were scavenged, and they avoided machines. Believing that art and commerce shouldn’t mix, they refused money for their work, which led to bouts of starvation, even after their child was born.”
Holdt’s and Schulz’s short-lived practice was “among the strangest produced by the whole Weimar dance culture”, some say. But despite their outstandingness, the costumes disappeared after their death, and it was not until 1988 that they were rediscovered. Today, the couple and their performances are still seen as quite exceptional, which makes sense when looking at these photographs from 1924.
How Nostalgia can make you feel happy or sad
In her article You can feel nostalgia for things that you haven’t yet lost, science journalist Shayla Love explains different types of nostalgia. Besides the well-known ‘personal nostalgia’ - a longing for what is already gone - two new types of nostalgia have recently been detected. There’s the ‘anticipated nostalgia’, where you are sitting in the middle of a situation, thinking about how you will look back on this and miss it someday. However, there’s also the type of nostalgia that makes you miss the situation while it’s still happening - the so-called ‘anticipatory nostalgia’. Both types are future-related, but whereas the first one makes you want to enjoy the moment even more, the latter is quite the opposite, studies have found; it makes you want to distance yourself from the happening to feel less hurt when it ends.
I’m familiar with all three types, and after reading the article, I’ll take on the advice Love hands out: to understand the different kinds of nostalgia in order to avoid the negative aspects. For instance, if I catch myself grieving about a situation that hasn’t ended yet, it might be time to practice turning that experience into an even more meaningful event. And then perhaps think about how this event will be stored in my memory library where it will sit until I one day wish to look at it again and relive some of the pleasant feelings it represents.
the Roles we Play
I’m a big fan of designer and visual artist Sabba Khan’s graphic novel the Roles we Play. Khan is a second-generation Pakistani immigrant to UK/East London, and in her book, she explores how her identity, memories, feelings of belonging …and more are affected by her British Asian background. She does it using a mix of realistic and symbolic illustrations, which combined have a strong descriptive outcome. Here are some examples.
After fifteen years of wearing my religion...I let it go. [p. 127]
Bit by bit...I began to discover parts of myself that had lain dormant for most of my life. [p. 128]
I went on to wear contacts almost every day of my life from then on, until I got a horrible eye infection in my late twenties and had to stop. - Glasses on or off, hijab on or off, shalwar kameez or tops and trousers, hair up, hair down, makeup or natural, red lipstick or not...all the ways in which we are perceived. All the ways in which we perform. [p. 134]
A life without purpose
At the beginning of the year, I bumped into the workshop “A Creative New Year,” and I immediately signed up. It was run by the American author Elizabeth Gilbert (the woman behind Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love, among others) and not long into the course, she threw this interesting thought: How about living your life without knowing what your purpose on this earth is? Because, as she added, how can you know? For sure?
She addressed a thought - or belief - that some writers and other creative people have: that they are put on this earth solely to make their arts and crafts. However, as Gilbert explained, this belief can sometimes get such strict power over us that it stops us from creating. If we cling too tight to what we “are supposed to be”, she said, our focus can become so narrow that it might block our creativity.
Now, a method to take away some pressure is, she suggested, to see yourself as part of something you yet don’t know what is. Like when you walk out your door and experience something unexpected, something that afterwards perhaps makes perfect sense to you. Like those situations where you find yourself ‘at the right time at the right moment’ - which we’ve all tried, I’m sure.
It can be a big thing - you helped someone get out of trouble. Or a small thing, like witnessing something beautiful unfold. During the course she encouraged us to write down our own example of such an experience, and I came to think of this one. It happened years ago when I was travelling around Nepal with a friend. We’d gone to an area where people mainly went in order to relax, and on our first day, we wanted to take a walk alongside a big lake. As I packed a small rug sack for our day trip, I held a box of matches in my hand. Should I bring it with me? Well, I couldn’t think of any situations requiring me to use matches - it was, after all, a rather touristic place, not a desert island. Still, for some reason, I felt encouraged to throw it into my sack, and so I did.
The day was as hot as most days out there, and me and my friend started walking along the shores of the lake, each at our own pace. At some stage, I was lagging behind, and therefore, I was all by myself when the beach abruptly ended, and a large cliff rose above me. To my left, I saw a path carved out through some dense bushes going uphill. It was a steep climb, and my friend was already on her way. Then this happened: Just before I stepped onto the narrow bush-path, a small sailing boat approached me from the lake. A young man was inside, and he called out to me, asking if I had a lighter to light his cigarette. (He was obviously also here to relax - he’d hired the boat and someone to row it for him). Oh my, did I have a lighter?! I certainly had a box of matches, and also, I had an idea; if he’d take me on board his boat and drop me off on the other side of the cliff, he could have all the matches he wanted. He instantly agreed, and just like that, both of our problems were solved. And, I'd suddenly become part of something bigger, something I hadn't planned beforehand.
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‘On History and Writing’ is a blog post from me to you in which I share historically rooted real-life stories from around the world - told in exciting and creative ways - along with thoughts that circle the creative process of writing non-fiction texts. I post an email once every fortnight. If you're not already a subscriber, you are welcome to join the list. Thanks for reading! Majken xx
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