Is this not a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonize.
George Eliot
Weather extremes on the Canadian prairies mean that it is critical to take advantage of every opportunity that presents to seek solace in nature.
This year, in particular, it seems more urgent to escape the angry noise of the strange and unusual world around us.
Scaled back Thanksgiving celebrations again this year mean connections are abbreviated so simple pleasures have taken on heightened meaning.
Carving out time for reflection rather than turkey, simmering savoury soups with mature garden vegetables, and enjoying the crunch of leaves underfoot.
Perhaps the slowing and semi-isolation will give rise to new creative energies, appreciations for the things we take for granted, and time to pay attention to what is truly important in our lives.
Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness
Anni Albers
Fall often brings the urge to purge and declutter. This year with the dearth of opportunities to volunteer or give back, I have tried to be thoughtful about where I send donations of things that are gently used but still have purpose and life in them. This process uncovered never used art supplies, still in packaging so I wanted to find the right place where I might donate these creativity tools.
Tiny little libraries have been popping up in our neighbourhood for many years but this one was a breath of fresh air. A tiny library just for children. Wondering what would happen if I placed a box of never used pastel crayons on the shelf alongside books placed in this unique tiny library, I decided to give it a try while out on an early morning walk.
Curious to see if it would still be there, I walked by the tiny library later that evening. It was gone. So the next day I walked back to the little library to place a box of sidewalk chalks that had been languishing in plastic tub labelled “outdoors” although I still am not certain when I acquired them or where they came from. (The side effect of this process has been the inadvertent realization that it is far too easy to accumulate stuff that doesn’t get used or necessary for optimal functioning in day to day life.)
Once again I passed by while out for an evening stroll and sure enough the box of chalks had disappeared and I was delighted a short distance away to come upon a proliferation of colourful designs blanketing the cement sidewalk. Perhaps it was wishful thinking that the sidewalk art creations were a result of my “donation” but the handful of art supplies that I had to give away quickly vanished.
There are now very few ways to connect with the children in our neighbourhood during this horrible fourth wave so perhaps the idea of brightening a child’s day is what makes this tiny endeavour appealing. I’m not sure why this resonated so much, but this exercise gave me a flash of positivity that has lasted for awhile. And, I’m sure my overactive imagination was also in play!
Walking by this tiny library this morning, I noticed someone else had placed a small box of watercolour paints on a shelf of the little library. And I hope that by this evening when I walk by again, this gift for creativity will be gone.
Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time
Jean Paul Richter
A notification popped up on my phone this morning to remind me to send a birthday message to a friend. And it also reminds me that I have missed the opportunity to celebrate so many birthdays for family and friends face to face during these past many months. How do we acknowledge these special moments and stay connected to those we care about as we enter yet again another wave of Covid?
During these times of disruption, it is worth thinking about reaching out and connecting with everyone important in our lives not just on special occasions like birthdays and other milestones but as often as we are able to while we collectively continue to try to manage to live with this virus. How easy it is to drift along and isolate ourselves without realizing that we are actually doing so.
There is so much that we have missed out on that has been beyond our control. It’s also been challenging to avoid the political pandering and the angry vitriol that has been spreading as fast the as the delta variant in our community. But we do have the ability to maintain and keep our important emotional connections active and well.
If there is someone in your life who has a birthday or other milestone event coming up, take the time to find some unique and different way to celebrate.
Now is the time to seek out silver linings for ourselves and those around us. In spite of the fourth wave and all the rest of the chaos.
There’s an instinct in our species to tell stories. It’s a way of explaining the universe and explaining our world.
Joyce Carol Oates
If there was ever a time to retreat from the present pandemonium into the world of story, it is now. We are surrounded by chaos, conflict, villainous characters, changing plot points, and it appears that we may all be on some type of a hero’s journey. Where we will end up, who knows?
Our current setting conditions don’t exactly seem to lend themselves to a clear outline with a satisfying ending. Nope. We are beyond the debate as to whether or not you should fly by the seat of your writing pants or plot out a carefully determined sequence of chapters with a contrived ending.
Just when we think it all makes sense and we will arrive safely on the other side of the abyss, the villains rear their ugly heads and thwart our hard earned efforts. Heading out into the world feels like we should take a healthy dose of risk and hope alongside our masks in order to avoid the villains and the evil virus. Seems like just when we believe our story is done, we must backtrack to rewrite and edit and rewrite and edit…
Will the protagonists prevail in the end? Or will the villains run off with the spoils from the battle. All of the elements of fiction seem to be present and available for a myriad of story telling opportunities. Omnipresent in fact. Speculative fiction, thriller, satirical comedy, multi act play or epic poem, any genre will likely work. Regardless, it seems as if it may be some time before the ending reveals itself to us.
Everywhere we look, it seems as though we are inundated daily with strange and bizarre happenstance. So we can’t help but find inspiration which prompts us to create unusual and bizarre fiction.
A new school year means new beginnings, new adventures
Denise Witmer
I’m never sure why but the beginning of September with children returning back to school always feels like someone has hit the refresh button. In many ways, this is the time of year that I set goals and chart my path for the upcoming months. Certainly this year, things are not exactly the same as before the pandemic but in spite of everything I find that I have a swing in my step and feel invigorated.
Perhaps it’s the weather changes, warm during the day but cooler at night, the subtle changes in the colours of plants in the garden and the odd pop of golden foliage in the trees. The calendar shows that autumn is still weeks away but there is promise in the air. Of what I am not certain but it brings with it a welcome change in energy.
Rummage sales that have been cancelled for the past 18 months provide opportunity to delve back into an abandoned decluttering project. Sorting and packing up books for the annual Paperback books for Prisoners drive. Looking for a piece of art to donate to a local fundraiser suddenly suggests needed changes to the art hanging on my walls. Searching closets for warmer jackets and footwear, just in case Mother nature changes her mind in a hurry.
Time floats by as cleaning, clearing and editing parts of my home takes hold.
Thinking thoughts of gratitude and excitement for our upcoming writer’s group. Have missed my kindred creative spirit friends being able to meet face to face. Socially distanced but can’t wait. Dusting off the calendar to write down dates for writing and photography courses, so far all offered online but crossing fingers that we won’t have to spend our winter months hunkered down using Zoom again. Yoga class in person? Maybe, maybe not.
Regardless, fall brings a different bounty of vegetables and fruits to the table. Soup making, canning to preserve that wonderful summer taste feel like wondrous activities rather than chores to be endured.
And writing. Writing every morning for the past two weeks. Both on the computer and by hand with the shiny new pen found at the least crowded back to school store I could find. Projects placed on hold over the summer months seem to spring to life bringing along with them a sense of hope. And a welcomed feeling of renewal and optimism that perhaps this back to school season will bring better things.
No matter how challenging things may be, there’s always at least one thing that’s going well.
Kathleen Adams
It’s challenging to remain positive in the face of the never ending emotional roller coaster we are riding these days. I have retreated to my journalling practice and have been reflecting on the negative tone that has emerged in some of my entries.
Reading what I have been writing over the past several weeks, I can see that it is all too easy to focus on what has been worrisome or not going well rather than on what is good or important in life.
Lifting oneself out of a downward spiral once it starts requires energy and effort. Especially when all that surrounds us are anxiety producing events and conversations. Anger. Agitation. Fear. Fuelled by news feeds and social media, negative emotions abound and seem to multiply much quicker than positive ones.
But by spending time writing and focusing on even just one aspect that is going well in our lives, that we feel passionate about, inspires hope. Seeking out others who share the rays of light that they have discovered creates positive energy.
Time to shift focus and work hard to pay attention to where the light shines brighter than the darkness.
The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.
Peter F. Drucker
Somehow I feel like we have been in this space before. Worried, nervous, fearful, uncertain. Moving towards the “fourth wave”, hoping that in this giant ship our vaccines have been disguised as life jackets. Will they keep us safe? We threw away the other public health measures. It’s like try to navigate the high seas without a compass to guide the way.
Do we have to isolate, lock down again? Really, why can’t people just work together.
School is starting soon and anxiety is amplified. Whether you believe this is going to be a problem or not, it seems that everyone has an opinion and feels compelled to share their beliefs. And the individual holding on to those beliefs is without doubt and certain that they are the only correct ones to have.
What about shaming and blaming? Does it help? I am left wondering what our lives would be like if we were just kinder to one another. Worked towards societal collaboration. That doesn’t seem to be a viable option for many.
If we were flying in an airplane and we were about to move through turbulence, a pilot would tell us what was going to happen, what we needed to do, and encourage us by indicating that all would be okay. We would quietly pray, hope, ignore what is happening, talk through it, or simply go to sleep. But we would all do the same thing so that at the end of the rocky ride we could land safely together.
We seem to missing a pilot for this upcoming turbulent ride. I wonder if that is all we are missing.
Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Imagine a world where:
There would be global understanding and actions on all measures required to address Covid to end this pandemic;
Countries share in commitments needed for the sustainability for vaccines and health care resources regardless of where you live on this planet;
Health care workers are shown the respect they deserve by people doing all they can to prevent illness rather than small groups banging pots and pans;
When people speak of individual freedoms, it just means being able to live in a world free of this virus;
Angry rhetoric gets replaced by care and concern for all peoples as a shared priority around the globe;
Political pandering is replaced by collaboration and co-operation to educate, encourage, and support and challenge the spread of misinformation;
Economic supports actually benefit real people so they can stay home when ill and struggling small business owners rather than bloat balance sheets of large corporations;
Efforts to continue professional sports are equally afforded to all artists so they may continue to bring their healing works to the world;
Hope becomes the driving force behind everyone’s desire to achieve a new normal where we could prevent this virus from disrupting and devastating lives again and again.
If only we could do more than just imagine a world where….
The difference between a dream and a goal is a deadline
Gina Raimondo
Do our dreams move forward more easily when they have deadlines attached? I have been thinking about this a lot lately. One of the interesting aspects of my writing life has been my tendency to procrastinate which was not something I did when I worked full time. Although deadlines in my past life were at times stressful, the urgency with which they propelled me forward and kept me focused on meeting goals and task completion wasn’t something I ever thought much about.
The past couple of years have been remarkably deadline free but I have noticed when I am in a situation where deadlines are in play, I am considerably more productive. I just finished a flash fiction writing course that was likely one of the best I have ever participated in. In a week I produced six stories that with edits and time will likely be pieces that I will submit somewhere for publication.
Having to post a story each day was the impetus to move my writing craft forward in a way that I previously thought was missing. And I think it is all about the deadline. An externally imposed deadline. Being accountable to people in the course and the instructor by having to create new material in a short window of time was beyond motivational.
Although I had moments of doubt when words wouldn’t come or ideas didn’t gel, writing to deadline seemed to fuel my creativity. It would have been such a struggle to fall behind or to give up and miss the opportunity to receive feedback on my pieces and to lose the connection that was formed in the writing community that developed during the week.
When every member is working towards similar goals, there is a sense of collective support and camaraderie that develops quickly. And everyone is faced with the same deadline urgency so being productive and taking risks to share your fresh and raw work seems to heighten the process. Being able to comment, share and receive feedback on the work of group members also plays into the generation of creative energy.
Deadlines often have a negative connotation but I realize that they have an important place in a creative life. And if taken seriously they can elevate a writer’s work to new levels. It seems that externally imposed deadlines might actually drive dreams and take you to the place you truly wish to be.
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it
William Arthur Ward
Recently I received a hand written thank you note. Not for any special occasion, but a simple thank you for something that I considered a rather small gesture for someone I care about. I have been reflecting on the power and simplicity of this generous and touching action.
How often do we let people in our lives know when we are thankful for something they have done for us?
And how rare is it to receive an actual handwritten thank you note in the mail delivered by a postman.
There have been trends where we are encouraged to be thankful for what we have in our lives. Like spending time to write three things we are grateful for in our journal. Or to meditate on the things we are thankful for in our lives. Sort of a self-help version of this concept yet no one would ever know about it except for us.
So I decided to pay it forward and wrote a note of appreciation to someone I care about for a small thing that I found meaningful. It felt great to do it and I learned after it was received, that person felt an emotional boost just by opening the envelope and reading the note.
I wonder how we have come to a place where this simple action that could deliver so much is not something we “do” anymore. I can’t help but wonder if our lives could be just the smallest bit better if we took the time to let those we care about know how grateful we are for even the smallest of things that they do.
Visions of Transition 