A Brief Appreciation for Sylvia 💌

To be a 20 year old girl, both well lived and yet still naive, reading the journals of another 20-year old girl. To feel both comforted and frightened by our emotional parallels despite nearly a century of time between our existences. This is a direct homage to the profound impact of literature. Plath eloquently expressed her connection with women across time, intertwining the past, present, and future in our collective memories. She saw herself as part of a continuum, where the experiences and emotions of women transcended the boundaries of time—we are simply recollections of each other. I feel precisely what she means. I feel true, deep sorrow and love for Sylvia. I feel her fervent presence with every word I read.

Throughout the week, immersing myself in her journals led to frequent existential debates with both Sylvia and myself. The resonance with her thoughts on identity, writing, and love blurred the line between her experiences and my own. Drowning in her ideas, I struggled with discerning what truly resonated. Her severe bouts of depression, ultimately leading to her tragic end, created a disorienting experience—feeling shockingly seen one moment and encountering an unfamiliar melancholy the next. It became difficult to navigate what I truly related to. Her grim emotions lingered throughout my day, prompting both positive and negative reflections on my own purpose and identity.

While I was stunned intellectually, and am blessed to have witnessed the depth of her mind, I felt deep relief when I was finished.

Her journals have deeply influenced my writing and literary practice. I have profound respect and love for her— I feel linked to her in many indescribable ways. I cautiously recommend her journals to those in the literary field and all women.