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“It was once suggested to me that, as an antidote to crying, I put my head in a paper bag. As it happens, there is a sound physiological reason, something to do with oxygen, for doing exactly that, but the psychological effect alone is incalculable: it is difficult in the extreme to continue fancying oneself Cathy in Wuthering Heights with one’s head in a Food Fair bag.”
—JOAN DIDION
in her 1961 essay “On Self-Respect”
@estherschindler
kind of a brutal suggestion. If the physio oxygen wree the reason, why not breathe into a bag? But head IN a bag has additional possible meanings: stop looking at others' reactions; get out of our sight; you already look rediculous; bag it & take it to a bin...
Joan Didiion's writing can be so layered, insightful or oblivious, maybe both at once. Very painful, her eyes.