The image here for the post is a stack of journals, tied with ribbon that sit on top of a bookcase to the right of my desk. I keep these journals here to remind me of the turtle pace of change and the landslide that seems to ‘appear’ once we’ve been in the process of change for a while.
The image is not a very good one- I shot it after I’d opened the blog to start this new post- I needed a picture, I grabbed my camera, looked around my office space and shot. I keep inspiration close at hand.
Although I had an idea of what I wanted to write about this morning the shot of the journals reminded me of a few important things. Firstly, I want to write. I want to write regularly with great skill and humor and a literary voice that captures my reader, enticing them to return. Secondly, this is a lifelong want that has manifested in various ways throughout my life thus far. Journals, many started but not well loved short stories, a few screenplays, novel treatments and a few blogs later writing is something that is cyclical in my life.
For me writing is the best conversations you can have with yourself over time.
Most recently my writing happened in the form of Morning Pages, a tool of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. In March of 2010 I began reading The Artist’s Way on my own. Soon after I began reading I found a group- a creative cluster- to work with as I completed the book. I was religious in my devotion to my Morning Pages. In a time of great personal change that devotion was a discipline that anchored my day; if I did not get to write, if I did not get to have that conversation with myself first, the rest of the day seemed lacking. For some people this is coffee, for me it was the silence and solitude of writing.
Thirdly, the anchor of writing allowed me to be daring in other areas of my life. The lifelong wants and loves were no longer buried but fully present asking “So, what about me?” I began answering- a trip to the Smithsonian to see a new photography exhibit, afternoons with a book and packed lunch reading sitting by a fountain on the National Mall, a call to inquire about Photography programs in my area-I answered.
My devotion to my Morning Pages continued until about May of 2012 when life became the best kind of busy. That call about a photography program led to enrollment, classes, new people, homework, new arenas, new information, new conversations- even a new sleep/rest schedule. Life became the new new in meta. The best kind of busy, indeed.
Possible topics for today were- setting up the shoot, studio lighting set-up behind an image I’ve been waiting to share; my musings on color theory based on a conversation we’ve been having in my Color Photography class with Michael Austin Kane; how my hearing loss has led me toward my lifelong wants, like seeds that are now sprouting- to name a few. I could not get my head around any of these as I sat at the computer this morning. Trying to hold on as things speed up and get a handle on the new new of my life-
