Episode #1: “What is Remembered Lives”
Thanks for checking out Episode #1 of Mary B. Corcoran V3.0, a hybrid work-play blog. I’ll call it MBC V3.0 for short.
MBC V3.0 is a place where I’ll distill my thoughts on writing and archival issues, as well as musings on historical and genealogical research. I’ll weigh in on issues of representation and reflect on the possibilities for self-publishing in digital and print formats. This first post is a clue that MBC V3.0 is also a place where I’ll share select personal updates and revelations.
Before I get any further, I should explain the significance of my blog title. (This will require two brief tangents.)
Some readers know that I do not drink. Fewer readers know that when I stopped drinking (eight years ago on September 10th, 2011), I started thinking of my “new” self as Mary 2.0. I was 22 years old and had just graduated from Kalamazoo College. It felt young to “get sober,” but quitting drinking when I did remains one of the best, most liberating decisions I’ve ever made. (I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve spoken/written publicly about it.)
Historically, August 4th has been a conflicted day for me. It is my birthday. Today I am 30 years old.
Mary 1.0 celebrating her 21st birthday 2010
My twenties were tough, as they are for most people, but just as so many other aspects of my life – my career, my relationships, my home – have finally started to feel settled and comfortable, my birthdays also seem to be improving with each passing year.
I attribute some of this upward trajectory to inevitable maturation, but I also need to be frank: none of it would have been possible without first learning how to manage and live with my depression and anxiety. I intentionally claim both – they are mine. They are petulant sidekicks, but they can be managed. (Mental health is not something I’ve written about in the past, but it’s a topic I’m beginning to feel comfortable discussing.)
Real life everyday #mentalhealth #endstigma
Managing my own mental illness meant several years of therapy paired with finding the right medications. It was work to find a solid therapist and psychiatrist, but once I did, I finally started to gain a little traction, then a little more. From where I’m sitting right now, the past three years feel like an incredibly joyous and productive blur.
Given all of this, what better time to officially roll out MBC V3.0 than my 30th birthday?
And so, now that I’ve explained my blog title, I will explain the title of my first post: “What is Remembered Lives.” While I haven’t been able to confirm with absolute certainty the origin of this phrase, I’m confident that it is a Pagan concept.
Naturally, the phrase resonates with my archival inclinations. Even more valuably, it brought me great comfort during a time of grief. It was early 2017 and I was mourning the loss of a dear friend. The idea that she would live on in memory – surely not a novel sentiment – gave me what I needed to get through the most difficult days. I printed photos. I wrote down everything I could remember about her and our relationship. I remembered, and in a way, she has continued to live on.
I find that I still think about that phrase a lot.
“What is remembered lives.”
It inspires small actions, like taking a minute to write down whatever I’m thinking or feeling, as well as bigger actions - projects.
As for how this valuable and versatile Pagan phrase relates to MBC V3.0, my goal is for this blog to grow into a manifestation of my experience of the phrase. Each post is a new perennial – this one, Echinacea – planted in a garden that I intend to nurture for many seasons to come.
Echinacea, commonly known as Coneflowers, blooming in MBC’s garden 2019
