Explore: February Notes

Hello Gentle Readers. This leap year day, the sky is blue and a brisk wind blows the clouds across the sky. I've picked up sticks and small branches several times. The March roller coaster weather arrived early with seventy nine degrees on Monday, a blustery cold Tuesday, and a low of eight degrees on Wednesday. Today the temperature bounces up to fifty degrees. The juncos are still in the garden and at the feeders. When they migrate out, winter is officially over. I did see a big flock of robins on Tuesday.

This is a post on my 2024 word, explore. 

Since late last Fall, my writing practice felt stale and stuck so I set out to explore ways to reenergize my writing. I have more than a few books about writing that say similar things in slightly different ways.  All have value and from time to time, I return to my favorites. I like Natalie Goldberg's freedom and the thoughtful approach in The Joy of Mindful Writing by Joy Kenward. Julia Cameron makes the point that anyone has The Right to Write. An older book that I started with, Writing for Your Life by Deena Metzger is dog-eared, full of bookmarks, and underlining. Although it might not be for everyone, her approach interested me. Most of the books on writing that I own were written by women although there are a few exception. 

To date, I've resisted online writing communities as I prefer pen, paper, and privacy. Once I open a screen, distractions are harder to avoid. In January, I subscribed to James Crews' weekly newsletter, containing a poem and a prompt because I can look at it or not. I admire the poems collected in his anthologies. 

I decided to wander though ideas about creativity. I am reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. What he has to say isn't earth shattering but a good reminder of what I have read elsewhere plus some new ideas. I appreciate his beginning statement saying he is recording his thoughts and that some, all, or none of them may be true. In other words, the reader should adopt what is useful to her. 

Coincidentally I'm rereading Willa Cather's, The Song of the Lark, a story about a young girl from a small Western town who grows up to become a vocal music artist. It's a favorite and a way to read Cather's ideas about creative growth. I suspect she drew on her own experiences when creating the Thea Kronborg, the main character.

The concept of space when creating has appeared in my reading. It came up in both Rubin's book and Enchantment by May. Thea in The Song of the Lark, takes an extended trip to the Southwest to rejuvenate and consider her life as a performing artist. I wonder if Cather's trips in the Southwest did much the same for her. Fiction is another avenue for exploring space and creative pursuits. 

These are my notes for February. I'm exploring ways to incorporate space in my writing practice. Space to be still, space where I can wander, space to write some pieces that should never see the light of day. Space to let poems and essays rest to see what they might want to become. 

Thanks to Carolyn for providing a link for posts about words of the year.