When I got the word that Wes had slipped over to the other side of things (one of the ways I like to think of death), the force with which my stomach leapt into my throat surprised me. I haven't talked to him in so long, but the tears came immediately, and I instantly remembered how …
Breakthrough
This morning, I wish I was a poet. I'm sitting in the middle of an experience that's hard to describe, and yet, it couldn't be simpler. To put it into words seems ridiculous. It reminds me of the day my first child was born. It's trying to turn a key in a lock in a …
Meditations on Malick’s “The Tree of Life”
I've been hearing about this film for awhile. "You'll either love it, or hate it," people told me. A few people who know me pretty well figured it would be my kind of movie. Anjie travels, and I'd been contemplating watching it without her, but I kept thinking, "No. I'll wait for her." So …
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…Which Held All Possibilities
"Each sentence hung over an abyssal ocean or sky which held all possibilities, as well as the possibility of nothing." Writing used to be a sensual joy. It's more pounding now, more churning out material, wondering how to not get lost in the sea of sentences now ebbing and flowing in swift currents and tides. …
The Unmerited Grace of the Work
"At its best, the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you, but only if you look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain, and then--and only then--it is handed to you." --Annie Dillard, The Writing Life Odd isn't it, that there is work …
JEFF BERRYMAN 