I couldn't find a pencil today. Finally found two, both rather short and dull, one yellow and one with Hello Kitty. I took the dull dull yellow pencil and filled two pages in my new journal, with roses and typewriter on the cover. As if the cover would make my writing more beautiful or meaningful. The pretty cover makes me smile. The empty pages inside laugh at me. This is the only journal writing I have done in the past three weeks.
This summer there are other things I haven't done. Like exercise.
When you live in a summer house with people in every room, and with little space and time for yourself, the health warriors would find a way to do yoga on a small carpet between beds before others wake up, or they would go running through the village. Not me. The last time I ran was sixteen years ago, not that anyone remembers this anymore.
I haven't taken many photos either. It feels as if I take the same pictures over and over and over again. Another flower, another butterfly, another sea scene.
Two daily routines I have kept are morning mindfulness exercise and reading. I read books, writing about books, books about writing. Maybe I shouldn't read the books about writing.
Gornick is convincing. I believe her. Yet, I am still writing today, because I also believe all the other people who say that writing is good for you. It doesn't have to be perfect. Catching some thoughts on the paper and reading them later might help to understand oneself.
During my walk in the village I had some thoughts forming in my head. Lost most of them. What remained: it might be that the human communication during the school year is beyond my natural capacity, so I need the summer to turn inward, cherish the seldom moments of solitude, and I'd rather not see anybody on my walks through the village street.
Morning from Nyack Terje,
ReplyDeleteI remember that feeling about summer and how replenishing it can be. So many possibilities... but to breathe and feel free... so important to get back to what you love and live with summer rituals that you can take with you into school life. I like what you think about.
My summer is most unusual. Glad I began it in June... and my writing has become a ritual just for me now.
Enjoy your scared time
Bonnie
The notion that writing can't be taught ... is likely controversial, no? As a writing teacher, I bristle at the notion but I am willing to contemplate the idea that the seeds of writing are in us all. Teachers help bring the water and sunlight.
ReplyDelete:)
Kevin
As a teacher we have to be "on" all the time.
ReplyDeleteYour soul needs a little rest! It is ok.
:)
To me, writing is all about the ebb and flow of life, about turning moments around and inside out to see their meanings, what they're really made of. I do love the phrase on the gift of expressiveness being a "natural sense of structure of language sink(ing) down beneath the surface of description" but I believe it's images and awareness that sink into our consciousness first, and the challenge is finding the words to convey them. This can be developed. Yes, reading helps; it's the body-building protein, or, in this case, the word-building one, but writing itself is the workout routine, and the more we do it, the more we see the world with writer's eyes. What food for thought you've given us today! This is a lovely piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteI think that creativity needs the space just to pause, replenish and nourish itself. Your summer is that time, and it sounds as though you are doing exactly what your creative soul calls for you to do at the moment. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about my summer writing practice--or lack thereof! I love your conclusions here--the need for a time to turn inward, to cherish those moments of solitude. Gornick's claim is provocative and certainly gives me much to think on. I find the notion of writing as somehow inborn quite curious. That may be--but if it is, then I believe it's something we are all born with. It's just more latent in some!
ReplyDeleteI always looked at summer as a time to recharge. Everything I saw it did was tucked away for future use during the school year. We all need time to look inside ourselves and collect experiences. Let life happen and write about it when the time is right.
ReplyDeleteLove that your wrote today and shared your thinking with us. I think it's okay to not write, I've actually skipped a couple of weeks of writing slices this summer. I've always been afraid that if I didn't write, I would never write again (at least not in this public space). But this summer I discovered I can miss a week and still write the next. You need this time for recharging and whatever feels right for you is perfect for you!
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely. I think that reading and morning mindfulness exercises sound perfect. Summer is a perfect time for introspection and drawing inward. I read books about writing too, and I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to them.
ReplyDeleteSuch an introspective piece Terje. You revealed your process with much honesty and that is what adds power to the writing you have done here. Your readers will see themselves reflected in your words. We are not alone- as curious learners, readers and writers we are connected through our strengths and frailties, our doubts and our achievements. Writing is indeed good for us...
ReplyDeleteI read Tara's piece, Elisabeth's and now yours all on the process. So individualized but so relatable. That give me comfort.
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