Here I am, up at 7:30 a.m. to feed the cat and go for a bike ride along the Rio Grande, with a stop at my favorite coffee shop. Something about the moving meditation of pedaling (or walking) opens my inner ear to what may come.
Thanks for this post; much needed! Honestly, I motivate myself when things are really overwhelming with...wait for it...shame. How can I ask my students to write regularly if I don't! So I just open the journal and start. I have learned that not having any expectations makes it safe to start again (you mentioned the pressure--refuse the pressure!). I have never regretted a single minute writing. I can't say that about many other things. Thanks for the pilot light image. It helps!
"embrace limitation" - yes, wherever it comes from, whether it's permanent or transient. I, for one, can never discount the erratically cyclical and occasionally disabling nature of my own health.
This is what saves and helps heal me: "Sometimes I just research or read. I go down rabbit holes on archaic words or botany or artworks. Mostly I just … inhabit the space." A wonderfully expansive way to think about what constitutes writing.
Now that I am retired I can embrace slipping off with my small notebook at all times of the day. It's a brave new world for a carpenter who resented being woken by words. Radha, you might enjoy this one. Weston
I suspect the pilot light is always "on" for writers, poets, and other creatives. I cherish that "bright blue burn flame," which I seek (actively and passively) in all the ways you suggested in your essay. Plus, this month I am combing through books of poetry I've read or want to read, books where just one poem or even one line has stayed with me. Thanks for a frank, honest, and illuminating letter.
Here I am, up at 7:30 a.m. to feed the cat and go for a bike ride along the Rio Grande, with a stop at my favorite coffee shop. Something about the moving meditation of pedaling (or walking) opens my inner ear to what may come.
Thanks for this post; much needed! Honestly, I motivate myself when things are really overwhelming with...wait for it...shame. How can I ask my students to write regularly if I don't! So I just open the journal and start. I have learned that not having any expectations makes it safe to start again (you mentioned the pressure--refuse the pressure!). I have never regretted a single minute writing. I can't say that about many other things. Thanks for the pilot light image. It helps!
First, Radha, I want to say - great post.
"embrace limitation" - yes, wherever it comes from, whether it's permanent or transient. I, for one, can never discount the erratically cyclical and occasionally disabling nature of my own health.
This is what saves and helps heal me: "Sometimes I just research or read. I go down rabbit holes on archaic words or botany or artworks. Mostly I just … inhabit the space." A wonderfully expansive way to think about what constitutes writing.
Thank you, Radha! You've given me some things to think about, to react for, and just a bit against. :) Glad to be with you!
Now that I am retired I can embrace slipping off with my small notebook at all times of the day. It's a brave new world for a carpenter who resented being woken by words. Radha, you might enjoy this one. Weston
https://westonpparker.substack.com/p/vain-words
I suspect the pilot light is always "on" for writers, poets, and other creatives. I cherish that "bright blue burn flame," which I seek (actively and passively) in all the ways you suggested in your essay. Plus, this month I am combing through books of poetry I've read or want to read, books where just one poem or even one line has stayed with me. Thanks for a frank, honest, and illuminating letter.