Writings by Diane

I have seen a handful of foreign films in my day. They have a distinctively different feel to them than American films. Obviously, they are in a different language, but even when the actors are not speaking, I can pick up on a different energy.  I attribute this to the broad use of silence in these films. For instance, the audience is watching the character do something mundane, such as sleeping, and there is neither background music nor noise. That led me to thinking how many times we fill our days with noise. Be it the television, traffic or conversations.  There are times I want to just bask in the glow of silence.  Then the question arose in my mind—can we really accomplish complete silence?  The times I want to eliminate distractions, I can still hear faint noises. If I’m outside, there are birds chirping, or the rustling of leaves as the breeze blows. If I’m indoors at home, not everyone is like me and turned off the television or not speaking. Nor should ...

Being a mother of a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome , I find myself coaxing a lot. Reminders and prompts are in my arsenal. I try not to nag, since I really don’t want him to shut down and not pay attention to the lessons I’m bestowing. There are new studies that the brain doesn't fully mature until someone is in their 20's .  Unfortunately, for me, day to day living can make this fact a vague whisper. Then there are moments that happen so unexpected that they are remarkable.  I finally watched My Left Foot   (thank goodness for Netflix!) The actors Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh O’Connor  were absolutely tremendous as they portrayed Christy Brown , the real life writer and artist with cerebral palsy.   As the movie progressed to the part where young Christy took a piece of chalk between his toes to write on the floor, I started to cringe. I have a strong aversion to squeaking chalk (though I believe everyone has a dislike to this horrible sound!) I ...