Fig Tree - Tumblr Posts
the only thing that keeps me going is the hope that i will one day know true peace and acceptance and sense of self/belonging
Contemporary Dining Room - Dining Room An illustration of a large, modern great room with a light wood floor and a beige floor, white walls, and no fireplace
Do you know about the fig tree analogy?
It's from Slyvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar. It basically states what you could or could've been in life. The fig tree represents life and the figs represent all the options you have. You pick one, but must let go of all the others.
When you're all alone, in your bed, looking up at the ceiling, do you ever think of what might've been? what could've been? or what could be? Because I certainly do. I think about the risks I should've taken, the decisions I should've made and how it would shape my life. I think about how I dream of becoming an astronaut, a fashion designer, a business owner, a doctor, a journalist, a pianist and an artist. I think about how life would be if I experienced teenage romance.
I sometimes wonder if it's unhealthy to ponder about these things, after all we're taught to be content with what we have. And as depressing as it is, I also see the beauty in it. Imagine how life would be for you if you picked the wrong fig, or maybe the fig is still ripening, waiting for the perfect time to be harvested.
With all the options you have, I do hope you pick the right fig.
Can we please please please make girlsplaining a thing? Like "Okay, honey, clearly, you don't understand the significance of Sylvia Plath's fig tree analogy so brace yourself because in today's 5 hour ted talk--"
Beach Style Porch - Backyard
Great Room Kitchen
Open concept kitchen with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, solid surface countertops, green backsplash, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, and an island in a mid-sized transitional galley style.
Me core ౨ৎ
My 2024 fig tree
Happy new year! I wish everyone the best of luck in completing their goals.
I drew a moodboard in the form of a fig tree, based on Plath's fig tree analogy. The idea is that I pick as many figs as I can in 2024. Some of my goals aren't meant as careers and are just basic things to improve my health or well-being.
My figs are:
Continue using Habitica to track my progress and get inspiration for new challenges
Read 24 books (around 7 books for school, 2 books about science, 3 French books that are not for school, 1 audiobook, 2 poetry collections and 9 other books of choice)
Get better sleep by going earlier to bed, waking up earlier, avoiding my phone in the early morning and late evening, having a morning and night routine and by logging how much I slept, used my phone and how much I read.
Clean my room daily
Use sundays to prepare for the week (outfits + weekly reflection)
Practise the piano daily, experiment with making my own music and discover new music
Watch at least one film each month, reflect on it and experiment with writing my own script
Read at least 2 books about science
Learn every week a new bit of ancient Greek (grammer or a new text) and review daily
Write an outline for a novel and write 6 poems.
Post more on this blog (I am thinking about using it as a girlblog and posting every two weeks)
Make nice memories with new people and record it in a diary
Finish my homework a few days before the deadline and review new material beforehand.
Exercise a little bit every morning and begin learning ballet online
Image from the film 'Black Swan' (found on Pinterest)
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig-tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and off-beat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig-tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
