Today's Mood: Relaxed. Today's Music: none yet--but I can't wait to go buy the new Coldplay CD! Today's Writing: only the blog so far. (have plans to write for my hour after the girls go to bed.) Today's Quote:
"Start from a foundation of your own fantasies and feelings. Because the character you can't fantasize and feel with will fail." -Dwight V. Swain, in Creating Characters: How to Build Story People.
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Coming home from Glen Lake is always a strange mix of bitter and sweet. My youngest only partially lived up to her promise to be mean to me--because I left. My eldest was glad to see me, but spent the whole rest of the day up in her room playing. It was good to see the garden and what was blooming, good to talk and have dinner with my family, good to sleep in my own bed. But at the same time I missed talk of writing, missed sitting down at my computer and thinking 'okay, what happens next?', missed the feeling the spending time writing was not only okay, but expected.
I feel cut adrift, not quite sure of what I should be doing. Oh, there's plenty to do, but it all involves choices and prioritizing and planning. Up at Glen Lake, there really is only one priority: to write. Granted, I choose to do other things at times--swim, paddleboard, eat, talk--but writing is always there, running in my mind. When I'm at home, there are so many other things that the hum of the story can grow very faint.
SO, my resolution (for what it's worth) is to write EVERY day, even if it is only for 10 minutes. That way, the song of my story will still be audible. And when I do have more time to write, it won't take as long for me to tune into it.
I feel cut adrift, not quite sure of what I should be doing. Oh, there's plenty to do, but it all involves choices and prioritizing and planning. Up at Glen Lake, there really is only one priority: to write. Granted, I choose to do other things at times--swim, paddleboard, eat, talk--but writing is always there, running in my mind. When I'm at home, there are so many other things that the hum of the story can grow very faint.
SO, my resolution (for what it's worth) is to write EVERY day, even if it is only for 10 minutes. That way, the song of my story will still be audible. And when I do have more time to write, it won't take as long for me to tune into it.
13 comments:
Sara,
Great to see the picture of Rick and Gloria and the sunset and the Lake. Wow. I have a pile of laundry that still smells of smoke and s'more stains. Great to see everyone this past week and big thanks to all of you for all of your inspiration.
Mike
Sara;
What beautifully written thoughts! I think you spoke for all of us and the mixed feeleings and receptions we get. Life forces so many things on us. Like right now I'm writing before work. My heart is outside working on wildlife projects, where I'd much rather be. From your words, sounds like Glen Kake did you a lot of good.
Yeah, Glen Lake does me good. And it stays with me for awhile, despite the routine to mundane life and all the details it contains. I wrote for an hour last night--late. It felt good, but I missed looking out the window and seeing other cottages lit up and knowing there was people writing.
And I hear you, Mike. I'm doing laundry even as I type this--and there are still piles of it left to do.
But the story goes on....
Hi Sara!
Scrubbing dead bugs off of ledges and floors at Kmart gave me the perfect chance to reminisce about Glen Lake today. I have yet to totally re-immerse myself in normal life. For my first year hanging out with you guys, it felt very comfortable and much like a home away from home. Thanks for that! For a second when I wake up, I expect to see the lake from my window and hear my house mates giggling in the next room. *sigh* Just the wall.
Ah, and thanks for reminding me about laundry. *laughs*
Amberleigh,
So glad you came up to Glen. I remember the first year I attended the Glen Lake summer retreat. Didn't know a soul there, but yet, by the end of the week, I felt like I was leaving friends.
My journal has been to the dentist office, the back deck, and the beach. And yes, a few words were written down in each of those places. Can't wait for Friday--kids go to daycare and I've got the day to write! And all this prewriting means I might even have an idea of what to write.
BTW, what sorts of emotions do you think might be common in a mall?
May I respond? Given this day and age almost any emotion could be possible from fear and apprehension to anger--I have to find a stupid card and I'm late--to shame for a couple of teens meeting who have been forbidden to see each other. Happened to me once in H.S. She couldn't handle the lying to her parents, sneeking around, etc. Not sure I ever really got over her because the choice was not ours.
Ooo, what a good story! Forbidden love. Thanks, Larry. I needed some place with lots of people and lots of emotions--and a place that a mother would take her daughter. I think it will work.
I almost put off writing tonight because my sister called and we talked longer than I planned--but then I looked at the clock and thought, what the heck? It's only 11:30! Lots of times up at Glen I was just getting started at that time.
So, here I go, wish me luck!
Glad I could be of help. If you need any ideas for background, etc. let me know. In my case, the parents, especially the father, were very strict. If we went to a basketball game at school, less than five miles away, he gave us a half hour or less to get home. This was a 17-year-old junior in H.S. Once I got her home safe and sound, i.e. not touched in any way, I could stay until midnight. Makes one wonder what they did while dating. He almost always sent out for pizza and ordered it with anchovies, even though no one else liked them. The shit hit the fan when they found out we were going steady.
To quote one of our mutual favorites: "I wish the real world would just stop hasslin' me."
It took me much longer than usual to wind my way home on Saturday. I played around in town, lingered at a favorite beach, stopped at the Borders in T.C. to get the new Coldplay cd (worth the stop!). But leaving Glen Lake often feels a little like someone is taking a seam ripper to me, cutting those close ties a little at a time until it's time to really cut loose and tear. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else.
With two writers groups already this week (yipes!) I haven't had much time for the "write everyday" resolve. But it is something I plan to do on a more regular basis. Because when it's good, it's REALLY good. And there's a bottle of cherry soda sitting in my office waiting for me to type "The End." I'm aiming for those magic words to appear before the big job shift in the fall (yes, another one). I know the change will mean more delays in writing time while I adjust yet again to something new.
Well, I need to get some sleep. My schedule still hasn't adjusted to the real world.
Thanks to everyone who made Glen Lake so wonderful and for sharing in my huge Ah-Ha moment. :-)
Robyn
For those of you who don't recognize the quote, it's a line from "Real World" by Matchbox Twenty. I love those guys.
Listening To: Viva la Vida by Coldplay
Word Count: not sure; I haven't put the documents together in a while; could be interesting
Robyn,
I get the seam ripper! And I got the new Coldplay cd as well as A Rush of Blood to the Head by them as well.
Good stuff!
Hi Folks,
It was great to re-connect with everyone at Glen Lake. The perfect cottage coupled with interesting/surprising/congenial/supportive/nurturing/loving roommates made for a wonderful time! I even loved climbing into my wood hollow (affectionately called the closet by others who have lodged in such rooms) for naps and at the end of the day.
I'm going to try and do what you do Sara and write at least an hour a day. I was telling my doctor, who was on the medical faculty at MSU and is also an esoteric healer about my (perceived) stuck-ness in writing and she suggested having a conversation with my soul. So, I've been having conversations between my Personality (ego) and Soul (higher self/God/whatever you want to call it) and it's been really interesting. I'm finding I'm looking forward to writing now and that I'm just writing whatever comes. It's been really effective.
Thanks again to all for making Glen Lake a special experience.
KXJ
Kimm,
I like that. Conversations with my soul. I think maybe that's what poetry is for me. I haven't written poetry for awhile, just might have to let it out again.
I have my soul to soul conversations while I'm walking our land. My thoughts are almost too maudlin to share with anyone. I find delight in the simplest things. The other day I just had to touch the flower head of a common timothy grass stem. The way the tiny blooms held to the cattail-like head looked so cool, almost shimmering in the slightest breeze. There are so many grasses with so many different textures and seed heads.
Then there's the diminutive Deptford pinks. More weed than flower, the hot pink blossoms stand out against any background. The butterfly milkeweed is just showing buds. Soon several butterfly species will be sipping its nectar. Common vetch is entwining any plant taller than itself and cloaking the field in shades of purple-blue. There's just something about discovring plants that grow on their own with no help from man.
Or maybe I just haven't grown up yet.
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