Scrolling through a popular social media platform (you know, the one named after bird sounds), I stumbled (gracefully, I like to think) across a magical creature. Her words jumped off the page and landed squarely in my heart … who IS this Duchess Goldblatt? I went back, and back, and back through her posts – I spent more time on Twitter in that one session than I had in the entirety of my life up to that point. I was incredulous … she made me laugh, and cry, sometimes at the exact same time. How could she capture in 180 characters the huge soaring landscape of human emotions?
The world leans to the dark and frightening; our moral imperative is to crowd together on the side of light and joy, and rock it over.
– Duchess Goldblatt
Ah, I was more than intrigued. I hit “Follow” and over the next several weeks, continued to be wowed and delighted by her witty yet literary banter and generosity of spirit. She is always looking to uplift. Always a source of sunshine. Just what the rest of us out in this cold, harsh world need. Exactly my kind of gal.
But who is she, really? Well, where do I begin … a self-described 81-year-old literary icon and fictional personality, she has an enchanting ability to come to life alongside us mere mortals. She demonstrates compassion and grace for her fellow human beings, sees the spark of the divine in everyone, and shares that in the form of droll, creative little gems on how not only to navigate this world of chaos but to smashingly survive it. And, somehow, she doesn’t make the rest of us feel badly about our own inevitable failings of patience and forbearance. Nope, she miraculously offers universal acceptance and unconditional love to the masses. “Tomorrow’s another day, my sweets,” she essentially says. “You can get up post haste and try again.” Not that I’m pretending to put words in the Duchess’s mouth. I couldn’t possibly. While many of us DG subjects love to try and craft a Duchess-ism, none of our feeble attempts can come close to the brilliance of Her Grace – but’s it’s a delightful exercise nonetheless!
I left a window open overnight and the moonlight slipped away and now the sun’s getting in and touching all my stuff.
– Duchess Goldblatt
In her literary memoir, Becoming Duchess Goldblatt, she recalls the counsel her father shared with her, his gentle guidance on how to move through the world with humanity: He wanted me to do what he had always done: love the people we had been given, and not just my brother, but the rest of the family of origin. Love them with no hope of reward, recognize that they are inherently worthy of love, accept that they’re ours whether we like it or not; love them for whatever they are, forgive for whatever they are not.
Ah yes, it’s way beyond superficial magical fluff … it’s not banal unicorn cotton candy and rose-colored sayings. No, it’s farricher stuff than that, my friends. Duchess Goldblatt “became” out of one woman’s grief and heartache. Her words reflect an eccentric, upside-down wisdom borne from the deepest pain, an aching loneliness to which so many of us can relate. After experiencing excruciating loss of love and family, she found a way with words to elevate and renew, putting a fresh perspectiveon life’s troubles by conjuring up imaginary ones. She calls upon our ability to empathize, insists that we make peace with the unfairness of life, the inequity and injustice that hurtles into our lives out of the blue – and yet she holds us to this higher standard with gentleness, nodding to us with pride when we finally realize that we too can find peace in our hearts by choosing to forgive. All of this, in 180-character literary nuggetsthat completely delight and amuse.
Enlightenment is not a state, friends. It’s an unincorporated US territory about the size of Guam. I vacation there some afternoons.
– Duchess Goldblatt
Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, dare I say she is a genius! You can’t imagine the joyful anticipation with which I await her latest jewel to appear out of the internet ether and pop up on my screen … and the comment thread, now that’s another treat! An uplifting literary thread, weaving wisdom with words of kindness and beauty, tied up with a royal bow.
I can’t begin to list my favorites, find it impossible to narrow it down to even a “Top 30 Hits.” If I absolutely, positively HAD to pick my favorite Duchess-ism, one that makes me feel like I can do anything and the world is within my reach, one that grips your heart and brings you into the Duchess Goldblatt circle, then I think it would have to be this one:
Close your eyes and visualize the best possible outcome. When it’s not looking, grasp it by the neck and fling it into reality.
– Duchess Goldblatt
Can’t you just see that goose of an outcome, the one that you picked up and flung into the big, blue sky overhead, whirling and twirling, faster and faster into a spiraling death-spin … and then all of a sudden swooping up and taking wing, soaring high above the wild world below. That’s what the Duchess inspires … to give yourself some grace, bring the best of yourself to every day, every interaction — and push forward to make your dreams come to life.