A narrative break

Narrative, observed British author David Lodge, organizes events through time, in the same way that Images organize events through space.

It’s been a busy time, but lately most of my writings have been about place.  ‘take a few photos and put some first-person commentary alongside, knowing that it will be of interest to folks looking for a city break, a new restaurant, or a museum exhibition.

The prosody, the rhythms, of everyday life are harder to capture, telling a story in which the illustrations are secondary to the plot and characters.  It’s harder still when the arc of events is still incomplete. Do I foreshadow success or failure?  Which overlooked events are pivotal? Who is the hero; who is the villain?

The broad strokes of ongoing events are easy to paint.

I’m still rushing between countries on alternate weeks.

The British business, CamStent, has finally been funded.  Checks are arriving daily as investors tumble over one another to be part of the club; the business now has a paper value of 1 million GBP.

Negotiations are back on-track for funding and acquisition of a US company, to be relocated to Europe.

I’m forming another company in Florida with three partners for a new surgical instrument; first meeting was in Brussels last weekend.

Two ongoing partnerships, bioMRC and the Atlantic Accelerator, are generating consulting jobs and the occasional dinner.

My teaching assignment at Cambridge has been an absolute joy the past two weeks.

I’m getting traction on my inburgering, tracking on personal resolutions for the new year, minding my ABC’s (Ambitions, life-Balance, and Connections).

Still, though,this is just another series of snapshots, not a story that tells the daily experience.  Like the principal character in “Next to Normal”, it misses the lonely climb and dizzy heights, magic days and darkened nights.

I did tell my story yesterday, talking with a kindred ‘mature’ candidate for a slot in the Cambridge program, and putting my sabbatical experience and life-changes into some sort of context.  

Was it worth it? Absolutely, there is a story to tell.

Any regrets?  A few: some major, some trivial.

Would you do it again?  I look at the path untaken, 2000 more laid off last week at my former employer, vs. the budding promise of the coming months on my winding, hilly path ahead

Am I happy as a reiziger?  Yes.

I just need a little more narrative in my thinking and my exposition to express and explore it.

Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children. Life is the other way round.