Sunglasses, magnolia blossoms, and poetry: Day I

The last few days I have been practicing playful presence. A very close friend of mine, Ahava Shira, was doing a month-long silent retreat at Spirit Rock which ended this past Saturday. I had promised her that I would be there to pick her up and whisk her away for a few days together before she headed home to British Columbia. So on Saturday morning I set off for Spirit Rock, winding my way through picturesque towns up into lush hills dotted with professional cyclists pumping their way up steep inclines at speeds that I shall only ever dream of. As the road leveled out slightly, I saw a driveway to my right, and a sign for Spirit Rock Meditation Centre, so I swung my car into the driveway, and headed off to find Ahava. Ahava and I met on Prince Edward Island at a conference on Poetics. You know those "random" meetings that happen to be far more than "random"? Well meeting Ahava was one such encounter for me. I met her at a time when things in my life were starting to shift, and I was ready for some major life changes. Since then I have moved to California and started writing for myself, and Ahava has completed her P.h.D., launched a poetry CD, and started her own business leading retreats and writing workshops for women.

The parking lot at Spirit Rock was full of cars, but there were no people around. I decided to head up a hill towards the dining hall in the hope of locating my friend. I had barely started up the incline when a sprightly figure with long, full, bouncing honeyed curls came bounding down the hill at me. I had to smile. Ahava has a way of filling my chest with laughter, and seeing her racing towards me over the lush green hills of northern California made me laugh out loud.

I have never been the first person to come into contact with someone who has not spoken for a month, so I was not quite sure what to expect. As it turned out, Ahava's re-integration into life outside Spirit Rock was a joyful one, filled with a steady stream of exclamations. I had been thinking of ways to help Ahava integrate back into the fast-paced life of California gradually, for days, and had relocated a lovely little spa in San Anselmo that a friend had taken me years earlier that I had loved. Us being of like mind, my suggestion of going to relax in a hot tub in our very own little Japanese garden was one that Ahava approved of immensely, so we set off in search of Shibui Gardens Hot Tub Spa, and before long were immersed in warm water, surrounded by greenery. It slightly more run down than the last time I had visited, but still exceptionally relaxing and rejuvenating. I listened while Ahava started sharing about her retreat while we enjoyed the steam and warmth of the water.

From San Anselmo, Ahava and I headed across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. Ahava cracked out her camera, rolled down the window, and snapped shots of the powerful cables, the geometric shapes of sky between steel beams, the bay below us, and other tourists exploring the bridge. As I navigated the city traffic, she delighted herself with shooting photos of colourful fruit stands, people, shop windows, side-streets, reflections and street signs (while giving me kind and reassuring support that I could, in fact, stop on an intimidatingly steep hill and start up again without causing an accident or stalling). We arrived in San Francisco and stopped briefly at the MOMA before heading across the street to Samovar Tea Lounge. A relaxing evening of tea-sipping and catching up had been the reason for this trip into the city. I had figured heading out into the city proper or trying to go gallery hopping might be a bit much with the crowds. So tea it was. We wandered through Yerba Buena Garden on our way to Samovar, enjoying the blossoming magnolia trees. It seems to be the season for these spectacular trees. With the rain showers of the previous days, some of the petals had fallen to the grass below, carpeting it in pink petals. Ahava and I stood under one tree in particular, studying the blossoms and attempting to photograph them despite the rain that had begun to fall on the city.

 

The back side of Yerba Buena Gardens has an amazing waterfall memorial to the civil rights movement, with a series of glass panels displaying Martin Luther King quotes in many different languages. There were many beautiful quotes, but I was still surprised to see Greek among the languages represented:

Ahava and I finally made it into Samovar, where we settled into cozy chairs and ordered an Indian-inspired meal of tofu curry and rice, with cucumber yogurt, that was accompanied by hot mugs of their masala chai, which is to die for. For desert we had a delicious sweet that I have written about before, and that is just as good the second time around as it was the first: rose-infused Greek yoghurt with dates, toasted walnuts, fresh mint, pieces of sliced apple, and coconut syrup. While we ate and drank, and enjoyed the complex, rich flavours, we also talked, shared our dreams, thoughts and struggles over the last year and a half. It was a sublimely relaxing evening, and we were reluctant to leave....

...so we were still there three hours later when the tea lounge shut, emerging into the rain for a slow walk back to the car, faces upturned to feel the shower against our cheeks, enjoying the sound of the fountains bubbling and water falling and sliding over stone, and the reflection of lights against the wet city streets.

We made the drive up out of the Bay area with the windshield wipers going steady, Ahava's bare feet tapping on the dashboard, both of us singing to David Francey's fantastic tunes (which, if you are not already familiar with them, I highly recommend you have a listen to here).

Sparks of inspiration at 2am

It is almost 2am, and I am sitting here wide awake, thinking about all the exciting ideas, initiatives and people I have come across in the past week. Ok, so it is possible that the multiple cups of black tea that I spent my evening sipping, while discussing business ideas with two close friends, contributed to my middle-of-the-night inspiration, but I would rather stick with the "I'm so inspired I can't sleep" story! I usually lie awake just thinking, but I have come to realize that if I am awake, and full of creative energy, the best thing to do is to put fingers to keyboard and share some of the cool things that are spinning around in my head!

Photo from: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject, December 2010

 This past week, a good friend of mine who I mentioned in a previous blog, Louise Mould, shared a very cool project that she is taking part in with me. The project is called The Sketchbook Project. 28,833 artists from 94 countries have been sent moleskin sketchbooks to fill with artwork, and send back in. The sketchbooks will begin a tour of museums and art galleries all the way across the United States, starting at the Brooklyn Art Library, on February 19th, 2011. So far the tour list includes Portland, Maine; Washington, DC; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Winter Park, Florida; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Seattle, Washington. Sound like a great way to spend an afternoon/evening? You can check out the dates that these little gems will be on exhibit in each city here. And for a video with more details about the project, click here.

Image of notebook belonging to Kate Castelli. From: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject, December 2010

I have come across a number of other inspiring connections this week. One is Gwen Bell, who is an inspiring entrepreneur, yoga practitioner, blogger, social media strategist, and so much more. Gwen was named one of the most influential women in technology in 2010, by Fast Company, as well as one of Forbes 14 power women. If all of that were not cool enough, in addition to working as a consultant, helping people "find the humanity in technology," she owns a yoga studio in Japan. You can learn more about her on her website. You can also watch an awesome video that I think captures the heart of why she does what she does with her life here.

Today, while migrating through an ever-branching and growing network of blogs that I am ever-so-slowly exploring, I came across a blog entry that I loved, by Seth Pollins. It is a letter from his uncle, Dean Young, who is also a writer and poet. The letter, about the journey of discovery that being a writer is, is open-hearted, honest, and thought-provoking. One line that I especially love, is "there's a lot of luck involved in being struck by lightening, so you want to make sure you're holding a pen when it happens." You can read Dean's inspiring letter in full here. Apparently Dean is currently having serious heart problems, and needs a new heart. Seth posts a link to an open letter asking for contributions so that Dean can get the new heart that he needs to be able to continue pursuing his life-long passion of writing and inspiring the rest of us on our journeys as writers. If you feel so inclined, you can make a contribution to his new heart here. If you are interested in learning more about Dean's writing, or learning about other ways you can contribute, please read Anna Clark's blog recent entry. 

So much inspiration swirling around in the universe. Here's to a weekend full and overflowing with it! 

Reverb10, Day 3: Things that keep my pen moving

Prompt: Writing. What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing -- and can you eliminate it?

Prompt Author: Leo Babauta
focusmanifesto.com
@zen_habits

I realized today that I confused the writing prompt for day two with the prompt for day three. Blame it on how late it was last night when I sat down to write, and the activity I had been engaged in all night. So I am answering yesterday's prompt today.

It is a very grey Friday. It rained all night, and has been drizzling on and off all day today. Perfect weather to stay in and write! I finished the first draft of my first official article since arriving on the west coast and deciding to pursue my writing professionally. It felt good to finish it and send it off, but I am actually looking forward to getting it back with notes on things that need reworking. I have been reading a lot about the craft of writing, and how important learning to edit your own work well is. This week I read the Ken Follett's Materclass, which had some very interesting reflections on the writing process. I just read Ken's book Fall of the Giants this past week, and was thoroughly impressed with the depth of research that goes into his books. I had never read anything by Ken Follett before, and I wish I had found his books earlier. His writing style is completely different from my own, but he is a master of the craft of writing. The tips he shares in his Masterclass are thought provoking and practical.

As a writer who is just trying to launch her career, I have been feeling rather overwhelmed by the amount that I have to learn. I did my undergraduate degree in creative writing, with an emphasis in poetry, but I turned down the offer of a place in an MFA program to go do my Master's degree in Island Studies, so my creative writing has taken a backseat to academic and other forms of writing. Having written mostly poetry in college, I am not familiar with the many guidelines that help writers of fiction or non-fiction to hone their craft.

When I first decided I wanted to focus on my writing, late this summer, I went out and bought a number of magazines that I enjoy reading, and spent hours studying them. My goal was to take notes on what kinds of articles these magazines accepted, whether they accepted submissions from new writers, and how someone like myself, whose publishing experience is limited to academic articles, organic agriculture policy analysis documents and the text for my previous company's website. I started with the Magazine Islands, because I did my MA in Island Studies, and have a great love for Island cultures and environments. I checked a pile of books out of the library on the topic of writing magazine articles, and the process of writing proposals for editors. I came up with an idea that sounded like it would make an interesting article, and sent off a proposal. I read that some magazines like to receive proposals by email, and others will not look at them unless they come in hard copy. The library books told me that the magazine should tell you which they prefer, but unfortunately Islands did not, so I had to just take a leap of faith. I wrote up what seemed to me to be a fairly strong proposal, and mailed it off.

I had read that you should never submit the same article to more than one magazine, because editors would not want to publish an article knowing that it had been submitted to another magazine simultaneously. I had also read that it could take three weeks or more to get a response, so after sending off my proposal, I waited, and waited, and waited. I never got a response. Not even a note acknowledging receipt of my proposal and telling me that I was not experienced enough to write for their magazine. Before sending off my proposal, I had read a lot about how many rejections new writers get before they get one acceptance. I thought I had steeled myself for the letdown, but after three weeks with no response at all I realized how discouraged I felt after having sent out only one proposal. It is hard to put all that thought and work into something and get nothing in response.

Over the last few months I have learned a lot more about writing novels and non-fiction and articles, but I still feel like I am just scratching the surface of what I need to know to improve my writing skills. I have been finding that there are certain things that help me to stay encouraged and focused -- to keep going even when I feel like I may never cross paths with an editor who wants to print one of my pieces. I know the subject of this entry is supposed to be things that undermine my writing process, and I can mention some of those too, but I find that the biggest challenge as a new writer is feeling discouraged, so finding sources of encouragement is key to triumphing over any obstacles that I encounter in my path.

One thing that I have found helpful is to keep reading books that inspire me. I have become intimately acquainted with the library since arriving in California. I have a list of books on hold that I add to every week, and sometimes four or five arrive at once, which leaves me three weeks to read four or more books. So I have to read every day. I look in the newspaper to find what books are on the bestseller lists and I read reviews on Amazon.com and then order books that sound interesting to me. I find that tactic seems to work well, although I do come across the occasional book that puts me to sleep. I also find that some authors list books that they found inspiring in their books, so I have a long list of books in my journal that I turn to when I am running low on inspiring reading material. In addition to fueling my own imagination, I find that reading about the authors of books I especially liked is very helpful. Reading the life story of Abraham Verghese, after I read his novel Cutting for Stone was fascinating. And reading about Ken Follett's writing process, and how many books he had to write before he actually published a best-seller reassured me that not succeeding immediately does not mean I never will succeed.

Another thing that I find helpful is to subscribe to other people's blogs. Reading well-written blogs challenges me to improve my own blog, and gives me new ideas into things that work well or that take away from a blog. For some reason, I especially enjoy subscribing to blogs written by women, maybe because it makes me feel like I am writing in a nurturing, encouraging community. Just today, for example, I came across a blog called Kikolani.com. The entry that interested me most was a list of other inspiring female bloggers. You can check the list out here.

I have been going to quite a lot of readings lately -- mainly poetry, but sometimes fiction. I am working on writing a novel at the moment -- very shyly working on writing a novel-- and I want to get as much exposure as I can to novelists, and to hear what they have to say about their writing process.

Another thing I did recently was sign up to a few different sites. I joined 750words.com, which sends you prompts every day to write at least 750 words. And I also joined Reverb10.com, which sends me prompts every day for the month of December to encourage me to reflect on the year behind and prepare for another full and exciting year in 2011. Joining these groups is a small step, but sometimes all it takes is that extra reminder to make me sit down and get writing every day.

And finally, I have started trying to get out in the natural world a bit more. I find that the natural world is an enormous source of inspiration for my writing. I have lived so intimately with the natural environment for the past six years in Canada, and I notice that living in a city now means I am lacking that wealth of inspiration that was so easy to come by living on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. A few weeks ago I went on a guided hike to the Sutter Buttes with a group of complete strangers just to get out of the city. It was one of the best days I have had since arriving here, and I am working on a poem that was inspired by the amazing landscapes of the Sacramento Valley, the rice fields, the birds skimming the surface of the flooded fields, and the volcanic rocks that I began learning about on the hike. I am realizing that if I remain in a city long term, I am going to have to consciously find ways to get out into open natural areas if I want my writing to have an important source of fuel and inspiration.

So I come back to the initial question here at last -- what do I do every day that does not contribute to my writing. I stay in the house too much now that I am not working on a farm, that is one. I sometimes let small letdowns discourage me, and I know I have to come up with creative and effective ways of overcoming this. I do not share my writing with people who are in front of me much. I would like to join a writers group so that I am interacting with other writers who are actually in my own time zone. These are some things I would do well to change.

It is evening now. The light is fading fast. I am heading out to a devotional gathering followed by a board games night with a group of friends, so it is time to close. More tomorrow!