Interview with Angela Townsend
1. In your piece, you assert, “We admire the photographic memory and the polyglot, but we forget that the species survives on the strength of the stunned.” How does the opportunity to be “stunned” every now and then change and/or strengthen us?
I believe we're at our most honest when awestruck, and the moments that stun us put us in intimate touch with truth. If everything is a gift, there are no throwaway hours or wasted days. When we get elbowed by astonishment, we remember that this brokenhearted world is still enchanted, and we're strengthened to seek miracles in the mundane. It's been my experience that wide eyes are like open hands, and life loves to fill them.
2. It’s the end of the world and you have only one little thing in your pocket to give you courage. What is it, and why?
I would hold my tiny heart-shaped ring that crossed the Atlantic from Sicily at least four generations ago (possibly many more). It connects me to the tender, ferocious women whose faith and marinara have carried me like a melody. Those who have crossed the veil reassure me that there's nothing to fear, even at the end of this world.
3. As writers, we are sometimes bogged down with perfecting every little detail in our work and lose out on the sheer fun of it. How do you learn to give yourself permission to get past perfectionism and enjoy the writing process?
This is very much an ongoing odyssey! I try to remember that, before I was called to be a writer, I was called to be a woman fully alive. The writing is in service to the joy, and it's worth it to create something new even if it never sees the light of day. Not coincidentally, when I write with a kind of rebel joy at my back, the results are invariably "better." I strive to face that blank page with the attitude, "live it up!"
As Development Director at Tabby’s Place: a Cat Sanctuary, Angela Townsend has the privilege of bearing witness to mercy for all beings. Angela holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and B.A. from Vassar College. She has had Type 1 diabetes for 32 years, talks to her mother every day, and delights in the moon.
I believe we're at our most honest when awestruck, and the moments that stun us put us in intimate touch with truth. If everything is a gift, there are no throwaway hours or wasted days. When we get elbowed by astonishment, we remember that this brokenhearted world is still enchanted, and we're strengthened to seek miracles in the mundane. It's been my experience that wide eyes are like open hands, and life loves to fill them.
2. It’s the end of the world and you have only one little thing in your pocket to give you courage. What is it, and why?
I would hold my tiny heart-shaped ring that crossed the Atlantic from Sicily at least four generations ago (possibly many more). It connects me to the tender, ferocious women whose faith and marinara have carried me like a melody. Those who have crossed the veil reassure me that there's nothing to fear, even at the end of this world.
3. As writers, we are sometimes bogged down with perfecting every little detail in our work and lose out on the sheer fun of it. How do you learn to give yourself permission to get past perfectionism and enjoy the writing process?
This is very much an ongoing odyssey! I try to remember that, before I was called to be a writer, I was called to be a woman fully alive. The writing is in service to the joy, and it's worth it to create something new even if it never sees the light of day. Not coincidentally, when I write with a kind of rebel joy at my back, the results are invariably "better." I strive to face that blank page with the attitude, "live it up!"
As Development Director at Tabby’s Place: a Cat Sanctuary, Angela Townsend has the privilege of bearing witness to mercy for all beings. Angela holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and B.A. from Vassar College. She has had Type 1 diabetes for 32 years, talks to her mother every day, and delights in the moon.