Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) | Self-Portrait | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Postcard Story – Self-Portrait – Rembrandt – 1660 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Youngest Daughter – 07/29/24
… a mirror does not lie, or deceive, no, those untruths unravel within our own mind, but a mirror … is a reflection of the years, the now multiple decades of living, loving, sinning, reaching, and the hopes, and surprises, disasters, and griefs of life … but if one quiets the mind with its arguments, defenses, and pains, then the soul emerges and begins to shine, not like the sun, but like the early morning light with its hope and strength, and like the fading golden light of the setting sun, which stays its descent to mingle with the shining of the morning and all moments in between, mixing the light with the shadows, bringing forth … whatever shines forth from the individual soul, those filled with kindness and gentleness the most beautiful and bright of shinings …
And he always called her his divine nag, the voice of a muse, practical and clear with her insistence and persistence in declaring – yes, declaring – “Dad you’re not getting any younger and you need to start writing. When are you going to finish your novel?”, she would occasionally repeat when he visited, in the morning, between making the two little ones their breakfast, and preparing their lunches for preschool and washing up, dashing to her room to professionally dress for her professional job.
And in those moments especially he would see himself clearly in her words … yes, getting older, still energetic and mostly sound of mind, still enjoying winters in L.A. but thriving in the energy and pace of New York on visits. But … there was a truth here, one clear and true, but not cold and brittle, for this muse was kind and loving and gentle in her own way, and now yes, it was time to go back to the novel, already six hundred pages long, for she urged it, and his characters, they deserved his final attention, and they waited for his words, yes, he thought, also kind and gentle, for they trusted their creator and he did not want to disappoint.
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