Happy Birthday, Maybe? – to Shakespeare, my Imaginary Friend!

The reason for the ‘maybe’ is that it is not definitely known if April 23 is the day Shakespeare was born. However, it is known that he died on this day. Furthermore, it is the feast day of St. George, the patron saint of England. All fits together nicely, if it is true that Shakespeare was born on this day . . . Meanwhile, I wrote this post for mariasmind.com and I am resurrecting it for the day on which Shakespeare’s birthday is celebrated. Hope it makes you smile.

One of the highlights of my visit to London, England in 2022 was exploring Westminster Abbey. Specifically, I was enchanted by Poets’ Corner, where there is a memorial to Shakespeare, who is buried in his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. I recorded this while I was in the Abbey.

I am sitting at my annoyingly, but familiarly, cluttered desk, trying to write, and staring at Shakespeare. My mind is whirling like a busy bee, lighting briefly on fruitful, important-to-me topics like caregiver burnout and perspective, but rejecting them – for now – because I can’t seem to calm my mind. Shakespeare understands. He gazes back at me, benevolently and wisely, understanding that everyone has their context, with its peaks and valleys, and we journey through it as best we can. By the way, he would definitely approve of me using words and phrases in a non-traditional way. A cursory reading of his plays and sonnets supports how he inventively used language: “Nouns became verbs and adverbs; adverbs became adjectives” (Bill Bryson Shakespeare: The World as Stage). For example, old King Lear, fulminating about his oldest daughter’s disrespectful and public disregard of his kingly expectations, calls her, among other original insults, a “plague-sore.” 

However, I think that Shakespeare also disapproves a bit of my procrastinating ways – organizing paperclips may make my space look marginally neater, but it doesn’t add to the overall objective: building a successful blog that people will want to read. Based on Shakespeare’s total output of approximately 37 plays written in slightly more than 20 years, he was a very busy man. Actions speak louder than words. Therefore, he does not need to speak to make it clear that he expects me to be like that industrious bee, using its senses to effectively select the sources of nectar that will add to the communal effort, the end goal of the bountiful honeycomb. On Shakespeare’s behalf, I would brag to students that he was the only playwright of his generation to retire wealthy, returning to Stratford, his hometown, after buying one of its biggest houses, imaginatively named ‘New Place.’ He didn’t get rich sitting on his hands. Some staring into space is allowed, but deadlines, whether imposed by the boss or the self, must be observed.

Despite being intimidated by his brilliance, I would also inform students that I would have loved to have met Shakespeare. At his local pub, over a meal of meat and vegetable pasties and a couple of ales – at room temperature- we could discuss politics, how to stay motivated and what Hamlet really meant, in arguably the most famous and most memorized words spoken aloud to oneself, “To be or not to be.” Although I’m sure he would be flattered to hear that his revered plays, especially the tragedies, continue to be performed, he would be bemused and uncomprehending to be told that his plays, in written form, are still studied and analysed by scholars as well as reluctant and intimidated students, all over the world. 

Shakespeare, in solid form, first entered my life on a trip to Stratford, the one in Ontario, and sat or napped – depending on my mood – on various teachers’ desks in the classrooms I settled in, or kept me company on a shelf in my workspace in the English department office. He is immediately identifiable as Shakespeare with his receding hairline, goatee and ruffed shirt, copying one of the two paintings that have been reasonably verified as resembling him. I think students were generally amused by his presence beside the box of no-name Kleenex, the stapler, that never stapled, and the containers of extra pencils, pens, erasers and other necessary detritus that covered the outer perimeter of my desk. Although Shakespeare was generally an amusing, reassuring presence, one young man, sitting daily directly in front of him, reached his breaking point one day and blurted out that Shakespeare was making him uncomfortable by continually staring at him! Of course, I did not want to evict Shakespeare, so after that, I tried to remember to seat him so that eye contact could be avoided – Shakespeare, not the student.

I am fascinated by Shakespeare: his insights into human nature, his dexterity with words, and his admirable work ethic. As my children know, and my former students may remember, I can talk about him ad nauseum, which is probably how many feel once I get going . . . Meanwhile, his comforting presence and unspoken prompting continue to reside on my work space and provide continuity as I try to figure out, like that bee, how and where, and with others’ help, to gather my knowledge and interests into a satisfying next stage of my life.

“Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast.”