This Writing Life

There were "the before times," and then there's now. A year and a half into a global pandemic, and where is my literary life? Has inspiration flown like the security and normalcy we cherished? Certainly my blog has been silent. Certainly there have been no escapes to writer's homes for inspiration. Scotland stands out like the apex of "life as it was" - one grand finale to a world changed forever. There have been words - many words - during this time. There were many words as I fought through Covid myself. They've been introspective words, soul searching words, words of transformation. Illness forced me to go deep - to find those internal things that needed attention, healing, change. It was a vast time of dark exploration, but now I give it a nod of gratitude. Quiet fortitude and peace have a place they never had before. Acceptance. Putting aside hurt, grievance, regret, sorrow - anything that would hinder healing. Meditation has a place now, as does a ...

A fair portion of my ancestors are Scot-Irish. Even though my family has been in America for 300-some odd years now, they still retain so much of their culture, mindset, and mannerisms, it makes you wonder about inherited genetics. They are a people slow to change, and yet they are as steadfast as the hills. They tend toward fascination with the fatalistic, and the ballads that run with blood are alive and well. They are a cautious people, and so they have endured. And yet...while happy to embrace the fantastically creative side of this lot, I have long felt the need to "conquer the Scot-Irish" mindset of fear. So what did I do? I went "home." And I unwittingly did it during the beginnings of a pandemic. I seized the opportunity last summer, when a friend who has created the unparalleled Muses Escapes adventures, sent out an invitation to stay in the highlands - in a 16th century castle far removed from technology or the outside world - for a writing retreat. ...

As a writer, you have "those icons." The writers you connect with most, the ones whose words leave you breathless with inspiration. Emily Dickinson falls into that category for many of us, and rightfully so. As our guide in Amherst recently said, "Emily makes you work." How beautiful to be able to write "in Amherst," for yes, I have been! I stood in the town and remarked about the fact with the same disbelief and fulfillment I had when I said, "I am in Spain." My intrepid adventuresome sister and I set off in the remnants of "Tropical Depression 17" to make this trek ~ we were not to be deterred. We passed through stunningly dilapidated New England towns ~ former mill towns with sprawling factories left abandoned to broken glass ~ but we found Amherst bustling with the several colleges active there. We'd not eaten, nor taken a restroom stop for awhile, and we really just stopped at the house to check in and see about tourin...

The second book is a sacred thing ~ it's going forward with the promise to yourself that you are a writer. That you will keep doing this thing. In this case, Chrysalis is a compilation of three years of my life, through caregiving, grief, and recovery. It's verse, a day here, a day there. One of my friends at the Left Bank Writer's Retreat said she thought she could do a haiku a day, and that was my inspiration. I thought "I think I could manage that, too." Being able to just jot a short line often emptied emotion in a powerful way. It was hard to revisit some of these poems to type the manuscript, but in the end, they showed me that I survived, and that others can as well - and maybe not just survive, but also take flight.

Sometimes in this busy life, it is hard to sit down and take the time for thought, let alone the depth of thought that writing necessitates. Sometimes we need a little help along the way. On my last venture to the bookstore, I came across a section of Piccadilly books ~ they offer inexpensive little guided journals with a rich variety of writing prompts! I bought a book called "Write the Poem." It provides a topic, lined pages, and eight words of potential association. Add to that your pocket rhyming dictionary, and you're off! Each action leads to more action, each thought leads to connections. There's a whole set of these books ~ "Write the Story," "Draw the Picture." I know I'll be back for more! Learn more about "Write the Poem" Learn More about Piccadilly's "Get Inspired to Write" series

Sometimes a chance comes that you can't deny ~ that denies belief, even. When I saw that Julia Cameron, the "high priestess of creativity" and author of the Artist's Way was going to be at the Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, NC, there was no way I could miss such a chance. It has been an immersive experience, not only of writing, but of learning how to breathe, how to stretch, how to meditate, how to eat, how to expand. I came seeking clarity of purpose and heart, and it has been a firm beginning. From the first fast-paced session in the dark of 7:30 on a windswept mountaintop, we have opened our hearts and minds to strangers we can now call believing mirrors.  Julia has fit most of the 12 weeks of the Artist's Way into three days, the effect is powerful. The fog that was pervasive the day we arrived has cleared and left stunning new vistas all around.