An Experiment in Diptychs

sister wordles

mindfulfundamentals.com 6/3/09

penniesverywhere.com 6/1/09

I am fascinated by this little program called Wordle which takes words that you feed it (or a website address) and creates an image out of a specified number of those words. The bigger the word, the more times it has been used. It's an intriguing glimpse into the mind (and soul, perhaps) of the writer.

I look at the words of these two writers: my sister and myself. What is important to each of us in this given moment in time? What words do we share? What is the general tone of our words?
I feel that I can learn something from these images...but what, exactly? My sister uses vast, time, universe, lost, struggle, body, moment, water, creature, feeling, exist. I use house, found, owl, space, time, turtle, wander, sitting, love.

There are poems to be found here.

joy

I haven't seen her this happy in years. She is radiating joy. She is nearly 40 and still wrinkle-free. I, on the other hand, am developing an unpleasant "scowl" line between my brows. Not so much from scowling, but from thinking hard. At least I hope it's from thinking. Maybe I'm deluding myself.

Michael and I both noticed her radiance this weekend. I know she was marinating in the thrill of meeting our long-lost brother and his family. I also know that for the first time in years, she has really been listening to her Self. She has spent so much time in denial, repressing, stuffing, ignoring what her inner voice has been murmuring all along. The artist has erupted in a series of sketches, drawings, paintings, and scribbles. The writer has been writing nearly every day in a journal and online.

It is a joy and relief to me to see her blooming. She is allowing herself to express what she is thinking and feeling. She is finally letting herself out of the dark little box she had locked herself into, in order to fulfill some crazy expectations and obligations she herself had created.

I loved photographing her this weekend in San Diego and only wish I had taken more photos to capture this exploding, whirling, voracious joy I see in her face. She has never been so beautiful. Or so inspiring.

sister skype ii

For as long as I can remember, Evelyn has always been goofy with me just to make me laugh. (I imagine her with her face pressed to the bars of my crib, sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes. And me giggling like crazy.) Our Skype session was no exception. As soon as she started making faces, I had to run and get the camera. I took a whole series, but these are my favorites:

scared monster face

smiley face

"Heeey! You're taking pictures!" face

goofy monster face

scary schoolteacher face

hysterical laughing face

enormous cookie eyes

I miss my sister!

Sister Skype

So Monica and I, separated by 2,024 miles, have been trying to find ways to stay connected and play via long distance. Wednesday night, with promises to flash Gizmo, I got her to finally Skype me. So, what do we proceed to do? Make faces at each other! What a perfect thing for two sisters to do!

little old ladies snoozing in the car

Daytona Beach, August 2004

We were driving back from a Sisters Only trip to St. Augustine together, and had stopped in Daytona for a bite to eat. We pulled up beside this car with the windows rolled down and heard the snoring. We grinned at each other as I whipped out my camera. I had the distinct feeling that these were sisters also driving back home from a Sisters Only trip from somewhere and they needed a little rest along the way. I remember turning to my sister and noting that that would be us someday, the little dark-haired old lady (my sister) and the little white-haired old lady (me) snoozing in the car together on their journey.

I can only hope we will be so lucky to be alive and in the same place when we are in our 70s, 80s, or even 90s. Sitting on the porch behind a white picket fence, sipping iced tea on our rockers, watching the world go by.