PBS has had the Complete Works of Jane Austen on Masterpiece. Each Sunday it is a new piece. So far I've watched Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park. Last Sunday, they did Miss Austen Regrets which was a movie about the last few years of her life. It is so interesting to see how timeless these stories can be. I'm just fascinated by how some things have changed for women, but other things have stayed the same.
I also just finished a historical novel about Emily Dickinson. Emily was basically a recluse who was fortunate to have family wealth. She devoted her life to her poetry, and at times she was just a little crazy. Her family basically allowed her to be a recluse so that she wouldn't embarrass them in public. Emily lived through the Civil War, but it didn't touch her life very much. She made a conscious decision to only have relationships with men via correspondence so that she could devote her time to her poetry.
I am a strong believer in the value of women, but I don't buy this feminist notion that we can have it all. Whatever road you take, there will be benefits, risks, and a price. I am glad that we live in an age where women can make more choices about what to do with their lives, but those choices are often a painful selection process. There just isn't enough time in the day to be all things to all people and still carve out a niche for yourself.
Health Update: I've lost the 5 pounds I gained over the holidays plus a couple more. I quit going to Body Pump, but I'm doing more yoga, and I'm working on increasing my cardio from 20-30 minutes to 30 minutes - 1 hour. As usual, consistency is the most difficult. There just isn't a good time of day, but I'm making some progress.
I really like Mansfield Park because the heroine of the book/movie is poor, plain and not very clever, but it is her gentle and quiet spirit that makes her so endearing. I like to find those hidden qualities.
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