{"id":8358,"date":"2021-12-29T16:11:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T00:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alicecarbone.com\/?p=8358"},"modified":"2021-12-29T16:11:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T00:11:41","slug":"joan-didion-acceptance-and-new-chances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alicecarbone.com\/staging\/2381\/joan-didion-acceptance-and-new-chances\/","title":{"rendered":"What Joan Didion Taught Me, and the New Year Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

We tell ourselves stories in order to live,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Joan Didion wrote in 1979.<\/p>\n

The White Album<\/a>, where this quote is from, wasn’t the first work of hers I read.<\/p>\n

Blue Nights<\/a> was.<\/p>\n

When I moved to America, in 2010, I didn’t know who Joan Didion was. I didn’t know I could write, let alone in a language that wasn’t my native one; I didn’t know I had to<\/em> write, but I did know I had been telling stories all my life in order to survive, to live, to be.<\/p>\n

Joan Didion, from a distance, taught me how to write in English. She taught me how to stay in the pain of a migraine, how to ride its wave, and more in general, how to ride the waives of life. She made grief something I could survive, she gave me strength and hope, she helped me dream big, she gave me the tools for what was to come, for what will come, for what is.<\/p>\n

I extensively wrote about her, emulated her, studied her, and ultimately, I stopped making her writing about me and enjoyed her. The cover photo for this newsletter, taken by Riccardo Monti in 2014, was inspired by her. It was her I had in mind when I posed in front of Canter’s Deli, in Los Angeles, wearing my NSF trench coat that I have regrettably lost somewhere.<\/p>\n

Joan Didion passed away on December 23rd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

December has been a strange month, one of acceptance and change, one of trust, disappointment and excitement.<\/p>\n

Many things have changed: some friendships helped me see things in a different light, people have left my life, others have joined and I began to feel a deep connection with them; some have shown their true colors, but many have confirmed their presence, their deep rooting in my life. I am grateful for all of that, for the sweet and for the bitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The older I get, the less bitter bothers my tongue; like blanching chicory before saut\u00e9ing it; I have started to embrace bitterness and learn from it, I blanch it, so I can taste the good in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I had to change the strategy in my book promotion, and making that decision sparked fear, disappointment, self-pity. But then I saw the amazing work my publisher did with the book, that is being printed as I type, and I knew instinctively, that everything was going to be just fine.<\/p>\n

Christmas wasn’t what I thought it would be, it was much better!<\/p>\n

It was perfect the way it was, all sick with a cold, but in the precious company of our friend Erica: we played Candiland (thank you Cynthia, I love you more than words can tell), and watched Elf, after eating polenta with tomato sauce and mushrooms, as well as a generous slice of good panettone, the traditional one, with candied orange and raisins.<\/p>\n

December, more than any other month this year, has been the month of staying in what was: marital problems that seemed destined to the worst outcome and that transformed not only into a reconciliation, but into a chance for real change and improvement, for genuine and unconditional love rediscovered when ready.<\/p>\n

I encountered more professional closed doors, that on this occasion transformed into curiosity for where the change of direction could take me. Redirection<\/em> is such a fascinating word full of possibilities, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

Last but not least, I had to change the way I have moved my body for years. I faced the truth, I was hurting myself without seeing positive results, and I stayed in the fear of what the change would bring. Nothing bad happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Everything I was afraid of did not happen. I<\/em> was fear.<\/p>\n

I am not fear today.<\/p>\n

What a way to end this year and start the new one!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Happy New Year, my friends.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few updates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– I discovered a new perfume and can’t get enough of it, Pure Noir by Anine Bing<\/p>\n

– I will soon share with you the link to pre-order the book: let’s make it a best seller guys! I need your help! The book will also be available in some pretty special places here in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

– I am not doing Tracy Anderson any more, and my pain went away. I have been doing Peleton and love it, especially Barre classes<\/p>\n

– We love our new nanny<\/p>\n

– We signed up for Catherine’s first ballet class<\/p>\n

– Catherine turned 4 on December 16th, I made her a pistachio and rosewater rainbow cake and it was just perfect<\/p>\n

– We are all still Covid free and so is my family in Italy<\/p>\n

– Yes, I am watching And Just Like That<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Love,<\/p>\n

Alice<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We tell ourselves stories in order to live, Joan Didion wrote in 1979. The White Album, where this quote is from, wasn’t the first work of hers I read. Blue Nights was. When I moved to America, in 2010, I didn’t know who Joan Didion was. I didn’t know I could write, let alone in a language that wasn’t my native one; I didn’t know… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3052],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Joan Didion Taught Me, and the New Year Ahead - Alice Carbone Tench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alicecarbone.com\/joan-didion-acceptance-and-new-chances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Joan Didion Taught Me, and the New Year Ahead - Alice Carbone Tench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We tell ourselves stories in order to live, Joan Didion wrote in 1979. 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