Absolutely! Too often I've tried to write a "good bio" - and it's always a "me trying to be somebody else"! For me, it's this wretched societal urge to be acceptable and accepted, and we're all encouraged to do it; how many times in your life have you heard, 'Oh, you can't do/say that!' It happens to all of us. And it's too easy to get into the habit, when we want to do something a bit daring, to tell ourselves, 'Oh I can't do/say that!'
I'm a good way out of that habit now, after working on it for most of my life, but it still turns up now and again. Your post, Imelda, came up just as I'd re-writ my bio here 😅. It had hit me that my Substack was no longer the me I lived, and worked, therefor high time to do something about it, so I did. None of us are everyone's cup of tea, the likelihood of anyone being always liked and by everyone is remote, but what we all want to know is what the other person is really like. Telling stories that show what you feel inside does that. Sometimes it's hard to do, painful maybe, embarrassing especially if it's something we're good at, or one of those times you just go, 'Oh, ye gods, what a twit I've been!'
But telling those makes us feel human to our fellows; not like one of those poor lassies doing makeup adverts who look completely plastic!
So Yay, Imelda! Tell the stories about yourself that make your heart sing as you remember them. And tell the ones that make you cry too. Both inspire others, and encourage them to tell their stories too.
I love this!! A timely reminder that I desperately need to re-do my bio but have always been put off by the boring. Also a reminder my website is very out of date. I'm not sure it will be done today however. Here goes inspired by what I've been writing for my current year long online offering. Lyn dances barefoot in ancient woodlands with the Moon Moss Maidens who hold the wisdom of the ancient women. Lyn is obsessed by polar bears who visit her in dreams where they dismember her before Imelda shuts her in a freezer!! She hopes that one day a polar bear will come and help her escape from the freezer and they will spend the rest of their days together swimming amongst the icebergs. Couldn't resist that list bit after my Greenland dream!
Chuckles in London! My Goodness, you are still stuck in that freezer in Sisimiut and very soon it will be much colder (and darker) outside than it is in the freezer (stupid modern contraption!) A polar bear cub was just rescued by the crew of a boat in the Amerloq Fjord. She is now on her way to help Lyn escape (travelling on a small ice floe). In return she wants you to publish a volume of poems about her! XXX
Barbara had an unhappy childhood. Her twin brother had a teddy bear and she didn't. She loves bears. Twin moved to Canada and she saw real bears every time she visited ! Parents who didn't understand and sarcastic teachers made her compassionate and she restored the self worth of dyslexic children for years. Now she is a happy Healer and she loves Imelda's art work.
There is a Green Bear who lives in an enchanted Forest in Sweden. She works with children too and teaches them magic. She just read this story and asked me to say a warm hello, from her to you!
I did this a few years ago, inspired by a challenge that Sheena put out among the Witch Lit folks. What I ended up with began like this: "Laura Perry is a creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs." I feel like that fits me better than the usual bio wording, though I do still use a standard bio format in some cases because publications and interviewers don't seem to know what to do with my weird one! 😂 We're so used to thinking of ourselves as the jobs we do instead of who we are - that's capitalism's influence, I suppose. The more we can unhook ourselves from the materialist grasp, the broader the possibilities for how we view ourselves and the world around us.
This is brilliant Imelda! Made me smile at least 10 times! “She likes reading dictionaries before she falls asleep.” Really did conjure an image of you in bed reading your dictionary! I might try it myself. Thanks for the inspiration and the giggles xxx
Absolutely! Too often I've tried to write a "good bio" - and it's always a "me trying to be somebody else"! For me, it's this wretched societal urge to be acceptable and accepted, and we're all encouraged to do it; how many times in your life have you heard, 'Oh, you can't do/say that!' It happens to all of us. And it's too easy to get into the habit, when we want to do something a bit daring, to tell ourselves, 'Oh I can't do/say that!'
I'm a good way out of that habit now, after working on it for most of my life, but it still turns up now and again. Your post, Imelda, came up just as I'd re-writ my bio here 😅. It had hit me that my Substack was no longer the me I lived, and worked, therefor high time to do something about it, so I did. None of us are everyone's cup of tea, the likelihood of anyone being always liked and by everyone is remote, but what we all want to know is what the other person is really like. Telling stories that show what you feel inside does that. Sometimes it's hard to do, painful maybe, embarrassing especially if it's something we're good at, or one of those times you just go, 'Oh, ye gods, what a twit I've been!'
But telling those makes us feel human to our fellows; not like one of those poor lassies doing makeup adverts who look completely plastic!
So Yay, Imelda! Tell the stories about yourself that make your heart sing as you remember them. And tell the ones that make you cry too. Both inspire others, and encourage them to tell their stories too.
I love this!! A timely reminder that I desperately need to re-do my bio but have always been put off by the boring. Also a reminder my website is very out of date. I'm not sure it will be done today however. Here goes inspired by what I've been writing for my current year long online offering. Lyn dances barefoot in ancient woodlands with the Moon Moss Maidens who hold the wisdom of the ancient women. Lyn is obsessed by polar bears who visit her in dreams where they dismember her before Imelda shuts her in a freezer!! She hopes that one day a polar bear will come and help her escape from the freezer and they will spend the rest of their days together swimming amongst the icebergs. Couldn't resist that list bit after my Greenland dream!
Chuckles in London! My Goodness, you are still stuck in that freezer in Sisimiut and very soon it will be much colder (and darker) outside than it is in the freezer (stupid modern contraption!) A polar bear cub was just rescued by the crew of a boat in the Amerloq Fjord. She is now on her way to help Lyn escape (travelling on a small ice floe). In return she wants you to publish a volume of poems about her! XXX
Barbara had an unhappy childhood. Her twin brother had a teddy bear and she didn't. She loves bears. Twin moved to Canada and she saw real bears every time she visited ! Parents who didn't understand and sarcastic teachers made her compassionate and she restored the self worth of dyslexic children for years. Now she is a happy Healer and she loves Imelda's art work.
There is a Green Bear who lives in an enchanted Forest in Sweden. She works with children too and teaches them magic. She just read this story and asked me to say a warm hello, from her to you!
I did this a few years ago, inspired by a challenge that Sheena put out among the Witch Lit folks. What I ended up with began like this: "Laura Perry is a creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs." I feel like that fits me better than the usual bio wording, though I do still use a standard bio format in some cases because publications and interviewers don't seem to know what to do with my weird one! 😂 We're so used to thinking of ourselves as the jobs we do instead of who we are - that's capitalism's influence, I suppose. The more we can unhook ourselves from the materialist grasp, the broader the possibilities for how we view ourselves and the world around us.
Exactly!! Unhook from that entire web of expectations, customs and prescriptions!
I admire the way you say so much with so few words.
But yeah, I will keep the BORING BIO on file for those poor souls who do not see the light of whimsical freedom yet... :)
This is brilliant Imelda! Made me smile at least 10 times! “She likes reading dictionaries before she falls asleep.” Really did conjure an image of you in bed reading your dictionary! I might try it myself. Thanks for the inspiration and the giggles xxx
Thank you!
And I DO read dictionaries in bed. Finnish, Mandarin Chinese, you name it! :) XXX