Trust and strength

This morning I’m doing something I truly love - writing. While that may not seem unusual, this is the first time since early fall, I’ve been able to put “pen to paper.” Like so many of my writer and artist friends, it’s seemed difficult, if not impossible, actually to create something. It’s not as though I’m not inspired or that I don’t think of things to write. It’s more that I cannot seem to motivate myself physically to do it. So. Writer’s block. That numbing, paralyzing, seemingly insurmountable gray feeling that causes our color-filled artistic world to stop. It happens to all of us - especially now during the pandemic. There are ways out, hard as it is, trust in that.

I’m sure it was a resilient little wren that caused my block to crack just a bit. I awoke this morning to her staring through the window, demanding to know why her breakfast birdseed was late. She literally pulled me back to my artistic senses. I suddenly realized - why not break my routine, step away from the endless, daily search for “gig work” (i.e., income that helps pay the bills…), and devote some time to something I actually enjoy? (!) Writing. So, here it is, this end-of-a-challenging-year blog entry.

Of course, while writing, I searched the web for the “why” of creative blocks. One of the prime suspects is being distracted by countless events - how can we not be distracted this year! In a way, it’s incredible that any of us can still form sentences. This year has been a tragic, debilitating time. When a “wren moment” happens, it pulls us together, brings us up from the depths, and compels us to act. Realizing there’s so much to be thankful for, I’m endeavoring to stop listening to my perfectly tuned chorus of negative voices, change my inner dialog, and get on with what I love – writing. I trust the rest will begin to fall in place. Thanks to all of you who’ve supported and read these entries this year. I’ve enjoyed writing them and plan to continue in this coming year. Wrens are small but mighty birds - their spirit and wings can help us begin to fly again. Here’s to the blessing of creative joy for each of you in the coming year!

Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

Artists Block and COVID

All About Birds - House Wren

The gift of late summer flowers

These late summer-early autumn days have splashes of colorful flowers everywhere. People are gardening more and yearning for something beautiful to help them get by during this pandemic. Over the past month as a Census enumerator, I’ve had the opportunity to visit people across urban and rural areas. Whether the yard is full of flower beds or there are just a couple of flower pots outside a screen door, there are colorful reminders that there is still beauty in our world.

Late summer flowers are a sturdy crew - coneflowers, mums, asters, hollyhocks, and poppies can continue blooming up until the first frost. Flowers have conveyed messages of love and hope for years. We use all of our senses when we engage with flowers - smell, sight, touch, hearing (breeze through a field of sunflowers), along with our spiritual and creative selves. We may not love flowers to excess, i.e., an “anthophile,” but almost everyone appreciates them. Whether just a handful picked in a field or a dozen expensive roses, flowers reflect and convey our sentiments and dreams. A quick search will show there are over 400,000 different types of flowering plants in the world - along with around 150 common flower types in this country.

Returning to late summer flowers, I can’t help but make a parallel to those of us who either began or revisited our writing practice later in life. Sure, the poems I wrote as a teenager are full of power, energy, and a definite edge. But there’s a reason I don’t have a collection called “My Wonderful Poems Written at Fifteen.” And we all know what it is :-) Much better to have collected and curated all those memories of tumultuous spring, hot summer, colorful fall, and intense winter. For now, into October, enjoy the beauty of late summer flowers - appreciate that beauty and strength in yourself as well. Honor it in your writing - especially if you start your creative practice later in life. Late summer flowers can be glorious!

Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

25 Fun Facts About Flowers

Late-Summer Flowers

The simple gift of routine

I’ve started several recent blogs with “when I was a kid…” These pandemic times cause many of us to turn inward - childhood memories surface as we consider thoughts around simpler times. Today, I’m remembering the first time I perched atop a dairy cow being milked. I was about seven years old, and a family friend picked me up and plopped me down on top of her. I remember how broad of beam she was and how it didn’t bother her one bit that some kid was thrilled to be king of the world on top of her. There are other cow and steer (look up the difference :-) stories, of course. Riding horses with my friends and outmaneuvering some unhappy Angus steers. Waiting patiently on a New Mexico dirt road, empty, except for one large Longhorn steer right in the middle of it. But I’ll save those stories for another time.

Dairy cows have their own personalities as well as a predictable routine. They usually live life in three eight-hour segments: eat, chew their cud (re-chew everything), sleep. Milked the same time every day, cows produce around eight gallons of milk each time. They stand up and lay down about 14 times a day. The milk they produce goes towards any number of delicious products. In the credits below, I’ve noted a wonderful local dairy that’s the gathering spot of many folks just about any day - regardless of season (think ice cream or hot chocolate).

For my “how does this tie into writing” thoughts - let’s focus on the “predictable routine” part. I’ve mentioned before that many writers do their best writing in the pre-dawn hours. Others are night owls. Regardless, find a time that you are at your creative best and stick to it. Fit writing into your day as if your creative life depends on it - because it does. There’s something about a routine that helps settle daily angst - it’s as if the body and spirit know, “Ok, now we get to focus on creating something.” That “something” could be a few words, a chapter, or a storyboard. But that time is for you, your moment to write or paint, to create. Cherish that time. You’re worth it!                                                                                                                   

Photo credit: (Screenroad on Unsplash)

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

Interesting Facts About Cows

https://mapleviewfarm.com              

Sound surprises

When I was a kid, one of my uncles taught me how to “whistle” a blade of grass. The length, width, and stage of growth of the grass are paramount. The blade of grass needs to be a bit longer than the length of your thumb. Why? Because you’re going to press it between both thumbs while cupping your hands and then blow across the blade into your cupped palms. (You may have to use your left or right index finger to help hold and stretch the blade, aka “reed,” taunt enough to vibrate.) The first time I was successful, I thought I was the cat’s meow. None of the other kids I knew could do this. And, of course, this elevated my uncle to stardom. When you’re successful as well, and it does take practice, you’ll be surprised by the number of unusual sounds you can make. You’ll produce everything from a duck call to a shrill and loud whistle. There are lots of videos out there and even a Ranger Rick™ site that explains how to free your inner kid to whistle grass. I’m sure there are probably contests and people who can play a tune courtesy of grass blades.

But the purpose of mentioning here (other than to encourage you to have fun with it), is to illustrate the benefit and joy of surprising sounds. In your writing, this might include using techniques to rhyme or alliterate. Or it might consist of such a vivid description of sounds that the reader is completely shocked and surprised. Here’s part of a phrase from Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway: “Music began clanging against the rocks up here. It is a motor horn down in the street, he muttered; but up here it cannoned from rock to rock, divided, met in shocks of sounds which rose in smooth columns (that music should be visible was a discovery) and became an anthem, an anthem twined round now by a shepherd boy’s piping.”

Oh, that we all could write like that :-) But what we can do is play with sound, writing about sounds characters make, sounds in the background, sounds that advance the plot and leave the reader anxious about daring to turn the page. Or, perhaps you’ll decide to write a poem about a summer day when you sat all by yourself, in the midst of a field, and learned how to whistle a blade of grass.

Photo credit: Kahika via Unsplash

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting article:

How to Whistle with A Blade of Grass

Breaking ground brings riches to the surface

I’ve written more than one poem with a line or two around plowing a field. I learned to plow on a Farmall Cub tractor, later using our Ford 2000 to turn the ground “in” during the fall and “out” in spring. Turning the ground “in” means laying one furrow beside the next as you progressively turn in larger circles. After plowing, we’d hook up the harrow to break up the furrows into smoother, finer earth. The final attachment is a cultivator - making rows for planting. (And later using the cultivator to weed and turn the ground between rows.) It’s hard, but peaceful, driving a tractor and working the earth. I cherish the memories. Beyond all of that, though, there’s a treasure trove of history around plowing.

For one thing, there’s terrific terminology around horse-drawn plows. We could talk about the “angle of the draught chain,” “doubletree,” and “moving the hake.” (See the Small Farmers Journal reference below for explanations :-) Thanks to a conversation with a farming friend of mine, I can also point you to another great website, “Welker Farms” in Montana. I thought the farm equipment I pass sometimes driving through the eastern part of N.C. was massive, but the operation in Welker country is unbelievable. Back to my little patch of truck crop heaven, what does all this have to do with writing?

Breaking new ground and properly preparing it before planting helps ensure successful crops. Similarly, there are some things we can do before, or in parallel with, drafting a new novel, poem, commercial fiction, etc. Even for a poem, I think about the people who appear and the setting where they appear. For my prose, I interview the characters - try to find out more about them. Why they are who they are, and so on. I also graph the arc of the plot, inserting characters, and their challenges to be sure the story progresses appropriately. (That is, with tension, mystery, and surprises.) Once the book or collection of poems is ready for “harvest,” then a whole other set of processes kicks in. But for now, look at the wonder of a blank page as an empty field. Then, let yourself feel the excitement around seeing what appears when the creative earth is turned and prepped for your next book or other artistic work!

Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

Learning to Plough

Welker Farms YouTube Channel

Shifting sand creates forever

A couple of weeks ago, parts of the East coast of the U.S. experienced haze caused by sand from the Sahara. Carried here courtesy of strong winds, dust from the “Saharan Air Layer” can travel across the Atlantic Ocean. Side-effects included gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, along with breathing issues. I remain in awe of the fact that I saw haze caused by Saharan sand. I’m much more familiar with the soft sand of N.C. beaches. Dunes shimmer in the summer heat, but what joy in fall and winter to snuggle up to the warmth of a dune. (Smoothing out where you were before you leave, of course.)

When you hold a handful of sand, you’re looking at the results of millions of years of erosion. Rocks, breaking down to pebbles, and then to sand particles. Wind and weathering in arid areas cause desert sand inland. The color and makeup of sand come from the source. White sand beaches come from shells, coral, and bits of quartz -- black sand results from weathering of lava. The finer the sand, the older the beach. Dunes form when the path of windblown sand is blocked by sea oats or driftwood; some type of obstruction. Most dunes are not higher than 15 feet. However, there are also “sand hills,” most likely formed from storms pushing up and depositing large amounts of sand. Jockey’s Ridge in N.C. is an excellent example of this.

There are many observations we can make about sand and writing. Walking on a beach is one of the best ways to let one’s mind wander and create. In addition to how beautiful sand can be, it can also be an irritant. Walking off the beach, sand in your shoes is usually tolerable, but only until you can empty your shoes or wash the sand off your feet. Analogous to an idea in the back of your mind that won’t go away until it’s written down. On your next coastal trip, take a moment to hold a few grains of sand in the palm of your hand. Note how each is different and, in its way, unique and beautiful. Then look up at the sand and dunes around you. Let your imagination and spirit take it from there.

Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

NC-Pedia: Sand Dunes

Sahara Wiki Page

The power of the unknown

This time of year, folks enjoy heading to the beach. The 4th of July weekend is traditionally a time filled with barbecues, family beach houses, and fireworks over the ocean. Not this year, though. The pandemic is forcing beaches and restaurants to close, and there are no baseball games with fireworks displays. It’s just plain challenging in our current time to be joyous about much of anything going on in our country and world. There’s so much that remains unknown and unknowable about the coming days and weeks.

So, earlier this week, when I found myself at the coast, I treasured morning walks on the beach, sitting on the sand, watching as the ocean waves came in and out. Quiet thoughts until something caught my eye. A pole, about the size of a broom handle, was vertically bobbing up and down. It reminded me of a small version of Crater Lake’s “The Old Man of The Lake” hemlock log. I watched as said “pole” pitched and bobbed its way almost within reach. But not quite. I wondered, should I go in, grab it, and pull it out? What buoyant thing on the bottom was causing it to float straight up and down? Was it stuck in a jar with a message? Was it coral around pirate gold? Was it an unexploded ordinance from the nearby military base? WHAT was it?!! 

I’ll never know because I didn’t swim out to check. Nor did it wash up overnight with the tide. It reminds me of the line of poetry that comes to you at 4:00 am, and you neglect to write it down. You can’t remember the exact wording. It’s an eternal mystery, the opportunity to know, gone forever. There’s angst around “not knowing” and yet also immense opportunity. As artists and writers, if we don’t know the “reality” of something, we can invent whatever we want to about it. The only considerations are the extent of our imagination and whether or not the structure of what we’re writing can contain it. In truth, I wish I had found out what “it” was bobbing in the water. If it happens again, I’ll make the other choice and investigate. Until then, I’ll let imagination take over and give in to the mystery and power of the unknown.

Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting websites:

National Parks Conservation Association        

Life is full of magnificent surprise

A friend of mine from town brings her dog to the country to run and play in our field. Said dog has already had several encounters with country critters. (Amusing to us, exciting to him.) On the other side of the fence, he’s seen the most massive “dog” ever (a deer) and the slowest “thing” ever (a tortoise). He’s also raced after a rabbit, squirrel, and flock of birds. But nothing could’ve prepared him or his owner for their surprise during last week’s drive home. Not long into their journey, in the distance, they saw what they thought to be a vulture by the side of the road. Slowing down, the vulture suddenly turned into a magnificent peacock who screeched and put on a full feather plume display. Prompting a phone call to me saying, “There’s a peacock in the road near your house!” Followed by my, “Yes, it’s the neighborhood peacock. No one knows if he belongs to someone. He’s handsome, isn’t he!” :-)

Peacocks can fly but display their tail feathers as part of a courtship ritual (or, apparently, in mutual surprise on seeing a Labradoodle.) “Peacock” refers to the male, with peahen and peachicks completing this peafowl portion of the pheasant family (say that ten times before your next reading…) A group of peahens is a harem, and a collection of all is called a “bevy.” The luminescence comes from the reflection of light on “crystal-like” structures in the train feathers. A delicacy in Medieval times (!) their feathers can be collected after they molt.

My takeaway for our art and writing practice is to go beyond “expect the unexpected” to “expect something magnificent!” Why not? You can welcome magnificence into your art and life. Just before writing this, I heard Lizzo interviewed - she said, “Look your insecurities in the face.” There’s no reason in the world that you can’t channel your magnificent creative energy into unique creations. The opportunity to do that will almost always arrive unexpectedly. So, as you travel on your creative journey, anticipate magnificence!

Photo credit: Photo by Ricardo Frantz on Unsplash

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

Peacock Facts

10 Feathery Facts About Peacocks

Change is constant creation

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful piece of porcelain pottery perched near the edge of a shelf. In an attempt to move it, a person (not me, thank goodness) broke off a piece, reducing its value significantly. If only this had happened in Japan, then perhaps the pottery would have been fortunate enough to experience “Kintsugi.” Or the art of putting pieces of broken pottery back together using gold. In the natural world, we can also see examples of new form emerging from old. Even in an old and broken tree, new layers of bark can still appear to bind and heal.

Plants play a role in Kintsugi, as a special sap, dusted with gold, is used in the bonding of the broken pieces back together. The repair becomes an integral part of the history of the object. The lesson being that what’s created becomes unique and valuable, and in a way, even more beautiful than the original. Kintsugi becomes a metaphor for embracing our imperfections – reminding us that what we use in repair only adds value to the result. Value meaning wisdom and new-found resiliency. The bowls in a set of pottery, will not break in the same ways. Repairing them using the art of Kintsugi, they become a new set of unique pieces of creation. Perhaps another metaphor for us to remember.

In our writing, I like to think of the process of revision as repairing what we’ve written by using the creative gold of “second sight” - that is, seeing how to put the text back together to form an even more powerful image, character, or story. When I’m working on a poem, there are times I purposely “break” it. Moving lines about randomly reversing word order, beginning with the ending, and so on. Looking at the “broken text” helps me see new options for putting the poem back together again. The precious gold of creativity - you have it! Embrace it, create, recreate, and remember to celebrate the outcome.

Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

How the Japanese art of Kintsugi can help you deal with stressful situations

Kintsugi: the art of precious scars

Sweet innocence, trust, and strength

If you’re lucky enough to have happened upon a fawn hidden away in the woods or corner of a flower garden, then you know the flood of feelings that follow. Emotions that range from “how innocent and beautiful!” to “where’s mom?!”. Followed by wisdom passed down or read somewhere - “leave it alone! Mom will come back; all is well.” A doe routinely leaves her fawn somewhere safe while she goes away to feed. She’ll carefully return during the day to nurse, until dusk when she prods her fawn to follow her to a safe place for the night.

Fawns are born in May or June. Over the years, I’ve watched doe “present” their fawns when the little ones are big enough to jump and run. The presentation usually happens early on a June morning and always unexpectedly. The doe is there just long enough for all to view and smile before she and family disappear back into the woods. At birth, a fawn weighs about five pounds. The little one’s spotted coat (averaging 300 spots) serves as camouflage until about five months when the fawn’s first winter coat begins growing. Even though they seem so fragile, by three weeks, fawns can often outrun danger.

When I’m drafting something, especially poetry, those nascent lines are hidden away and carefully nurtured. The fact that I’ve even written something new stays hidden until I’m confident I can safely present my creation in the light of day for my trusted poet friends. That’s perhaps my main suggestion about new writing. If you’re like me, at the outset, neither of us are sure yet where a poem or story may go. Exposing our new work too soon can open the door to confusion - well-meaning feedback that can complicate the next writing steps. New work can bring up all the same feelings as discovering a fawn - amazement that it’s there, a sense of wonder, and worry that all will be okay. Here’s where finding the strength to be innocent and trusting comes in. You created this new work from a mysterious and wondrous source. Have the courage to bring your creations into the world, care for them, but also, sometimes, leave them safely alone. Your new writing will mature, gain strength, and come into its own over time. Trust in the process of growth - yours and your creations.

Photo credit: Contributing photo to Times News

Seek wonder. Embrace joy!

Supporting articles:

Baby Deer - Wildlife Center         

Some Fun Facts About Fawns