Selma Blair channels quote from classic Joan Didion book about mourning as she takes a swim: ‘Let go of them in the water’
Selma Blair had to reach deep inside her physical and spiritual self when faced with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2018, and subsequent chemotherapy treatments the following year.
And now, with COVID-19 pandemic still raging and picking up steam in the U.S in 2020, the actress appears to be channeling famed writer Joan Didion, and her classic book The Year of Magical Thinking, as a way to make sense of grief and loss.
On Sunday, Blair took to Instagram and shared one of the profound quotes from Didion’s book that uses water as a metaphor to mourning and letting go of loved ones.
In the first photo, Blair stood in a pool, soaking wet, in a white, one-piece bathing suit, while staring directly into the camera.
A second snap showed her diving head-first into the water, and a third saw the actress floating on her back in a relaxed state.
‘We all know that if we are to live ourselves there comes a time when we must relinquish the dead, let them go, keep them dead,’ Didion wrote in her 2005 book, which is considered a classic about mourning.
Deep: Selma Blair appeared to be channeling famed writer Joan Didion, and her classic book — The Year of Magical Thinking, as a way to make sense of grief and loss
Poetic: Didion’s quote uses water as a metaphor to mourning and letting go of loved ones
For her social media post, Blair began with the next line: ‘Let them become the photograph on the table.’
‘Let them become the name on the trust accounts.’
The Cruel Intentions star’s post ended with: ‘Let go of them in the water.’
Didion’s follow-up line, ‘Knowing this does not make it any easier to let go of them in the water,’ seems to sum up the human condition, in context to the death of a loved one.
The human condition: Joan Didon’s The Year Of Magical Thinking was an account of the year following the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne (1932-2003)
Classic: The Year of Magical Thinking is considered a classic book about grief and loss; it won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2005 and was turned int a Broadway play in 2007
The Year of Magical Thinking, an account of the year following the death of the author’s husband John Gregory Dunne (1932-2003), won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005.
It was later adapted into a play, which premiered on Broadway in 2007.
Blair went public with her MS diagnosis in October 2018, after suffering for years with unexplained symptoms like falling, dropping things, and foggy memory.
She would go on to endure two months of grueling chemo treatments in the summer of 2019 that was followed by intense physical therapy.
By September of 2019, the Michigan native talked about physical therapy as being ‘the beginning of my journey to healing’ and ‘the long road to getting where I want to be.’
Health scare: Blair, 48, went public with her MS diagnosis in October 2018, after suffering for years with unexplained symptoms like falling, dropping things, and foggy memory
Courageous: The actress would go on to endure two months of grueling chemo treatments in the summer of 2019 that was followed by intense physical therapy