Monet and I: Impressions of Life
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Impressionism as “1: a theory or practice in painting especially among French painters of about 1870 of depicting the natural appearances of objects by means of dabs or strokes of primary unmixed colors in order to simulate actual reflected light; 2: the depiction (as in literature) of scene, emotion, or character by details intended to achieve a vividness or effectiveness more by evoking subjective and sensory impressions than by recreating an objective reality.”
The past few months have been a collection of “dabs” of time, space, and events that are quickly assembling themselves into the impressionistic memory of my children’s first year. While these memories will probably not be completely factually or realistically accurate, in part thanks to sleep deprivation, they will form the foundation of my relationship with the twins. So I’ve tried to emphasize the good memories in my own mind. I want whatever memories come from the fractured, messy days of infancy to be a warm, soft-focused Monet rather than a sharp, hostile Pollack. As a result, I’ve become a fan of lists of favorites. Instead of trying to write entire stories in their baby books, which I’m usually too tired to do any way, I’ve just created list headings like “Music,” “Books,” and so on. It only takes a few seconds to jot a moment or comment on a list or create a new one. My lists are the small, detailed brush strokes of our daily lives which will become our lasting impression of infancy.
