Saturday, April 12, 2014

K is for Karass

It's the A to Zed Challenge! I'll be posting the first half of the month from Ottawa where I'm staying with my youngest and his partner and their newest - a little guy who was born the end of March. Yay!

Theme? Writing and Life is what comes to me... how to balance the writing life with the other tugs you may have...

The ABCDEaria of the Writing Life -


K is for Karass

For those of you who don't know what a karass is the Urban Dictionary defines it thusly - "A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial linkages are not evident. Created by Kurt Vonnegut."

 Why do you need one to keep balance in your creative life? We need community and sometimes we need cosmically significant community - that is those who get without too much explaining, what you are up to, because they are up to the same thing - or some version of it. I know who my karass is. They are who I get a hold of when I get rejected and need a good ear, or when I receive some kind of kudo and need someone who knows what it means to me. Some of them are online pals, some are not, some are writers, some are not. Some of them have extensive family or political groups they belong to, some don't. It is none of these things that makes them part of my karass but something else. Some are Buddhists, some are atheists, some Wiccan, some Catholic - that doesn't matter either. Some are men, some women, and some haven't entirely joined a gender yet. Some are supportive and some bracing. Some are nurturing and some demanding. Peasants and princes, dreamers and doers. If you think about it you'll know who your karass is. You just will.

Be there for your karass, they will be there for you whether you are or not, but it is better karma to be there for them too. I think this new little bean might be part of my karass. I hope so.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jan - You've just explained far better than I could why we need more than one of us on the planet. We're all connected, and some more deeply than others.

Liza said...

Karass...makes me think of caress. A karass is a group of folks who understand when your soul needs a caress. I like it. And that little soul in the picture is such a love.

Liz Brownlee said...

Aww, what a sweet little babe! I have akarass too. I didn't know it, but I do! Which book is that in? I have read some KV but not all... Welcome to the monkeyhouse, Slaughter House 5...was that him?

Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com

Trisha said...

I think that would be cool to be responsible for creating a new word that is in a dictionary. Even an urban dictionary. :)

I definitely consider this writing blogging community to be one of my karass...es.