HEATH & WRITING
Although I didn't make my customary entry here on my anniversary of first seeing Brokeback Mountain, 9th February 2006, a date which is now also associated with Heath's memorial service and cremation/ashes scattering (I don't know which) in Perth, I nevertheless thought about both those anniversaries when the day came, and marked them on the forum I run, http://www.heathledgerplanet.com/forum/index.php
I was already a sort-of-fan of Heath before seeing BBM - how could I not be after he'd played my beloved Ned Kelly so beautifully? - and so it was partly because of him and partly because I'd heard remarkable things about this new film that I went to see it that day. I held off for a week because we had a family wedding to attend and I wanted to give the film my full attention and not be worrying about shoes and bags and what-have-you. As it happens, the marriage failed whereas the life-changing effects of the film never did. In an odd coincidence, I visited the couple just a few days after Heath died. (It was the first birthday of their daughter.) On the drive up there, I looked over to the hills where Ned Kelly roamed, and found myself thinking of them as "my boys' hills" - Ned and Heath conflated briefly in my mind. During the birthday party I expressed my feelings about Heath and was more or less told by a younger relative to "get over it", that the time spent in sadness didn't indicate the degree of loss. I hoped then - and now - that the girl who said it never has to realise the unkindness of what she said. For me, Heath and BBM remain constant parts of my life.
Writing was one of my responses to BBM, as is obvious to anyone who's glanced through my LJ page! But after Heath died I felt so strongly that I couldn't let his example of creativity go to waste on me. So I resolved to actually start entering my original fiction into competitions, etc. It's something I would never have done in the past, being a shy and rather easily discouraged person, but writing BBM fanfic got me over those two hurdles. I recently won a competition, and when asked to write a short bio to accompany the story I at first thought of writing something which sounded "proper", then I realised how stupid that was. So that bio pays tribute to Heath, to Brokeback Mountain, to Annie Proulx, and to fan fiction. As it should do.
On my Heath forum I have a thread about my writing (and in fact anyone who wants to start their own thread about their own interests or pursuits is welcome to do so) and it hops along in the ragged fashion that forum threads do. If anyone is curious about my non-BBM writing, that's the place to keep up to date with it. Not that I am setting the reading world on fire or anything. You'll find it at http://www.heathledgerplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=101&t=581&start=0
Those of you who have read and commented on my BBM writing don't know just how important you have been to me. Thank you all.
I was already a sort-of-fan of Heath before seeing BBM - how could I not be after he'd played my beloved Ned Kelly so beautifully? - and so it was partly because of him and partly because I'd heard remarkable things about this new film that I went to see it that day. I held off for a week because we had a family wedding to attend and I wanted to give the film my full attention and not be worrying about shoes and bags and what-have-you. As it happens, the marriage failed whereas the life-changing effects of the film never did. In an odd coincidence, I visited the couple just a few days after Heath died. (It was the first birthday of their daughter.) On the drive up there, I looked over to the hills where Ned Kelly roamed, and found myself thinking of them as "my boys' hills" - Ned and Heath conflated briefly in my mind. During the birthday party I expressed my feelings about Heath and was more or less told by a younger relative to "get over it", that the time spent in sadness didn't indicate the degree of loss. I hoped then - and now - that the girl who said it never has to realise the unkindness of what she said. For me, Heath and BBM remain constant parts of my life.
Writing was one of my responses to BBM, as is obvious to anyone who's glanced through my LJ page! But after Heath died I felt so strongly that I couldn't let his example of creativity go to waste on me. So I resolved to actually start entering my original fiction into competitions, etc. It's something I would never have done in the past, being a shy and rather easily discouraged person, but writing BBM fanfic got me over those two hurdles. I recently won a competition, and when asked to write a short bio to accompany the story I at first thought of writing something which sounded "proper", then I realised how stupid that was. So that bio pays tribute to Heath, to Brokeback Mountain, to Annie Proulx, and to fan fiction. As it should do.
On my Heath forum I have a thread about my writing (and in fact anyone who wants to start their own thread about their own interests or pursuits is welcome to do so) and it hops along in the ragged fashion that forum threads do. If anyone is curious about my non-BBM writing, that's the place to keep up to date with it. Not that I am setting the reading world on fire or anything. You'll find it at http://www.heathledgerplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=101&t=581&start=0
Those of you who have read and commented on my BBM writing don't know just how important you have been to me. Thank you all.