Worky Work Week Sanity Saver (Day 6): Poetry

This poem, "Meditation at Five Islands" by Dave Lucas, feels perfect to me. I keep reading it, wishing I had written it and feeling, in a strange way, like I did. The best writing does that: kicks up a spark of recognition inside of you and then spreads out in a warm glow of knowing. I think the best poetry (and prose) feels familiar and fresh at the same time. Lucas's poem was published in the September/October 2012 issue of Orion magazine, which is a beautiful publication with the mission "to inform, inspire, and engage individuals and grassroots organizations in becoming a significant cultural force for healing nature and community."

Meditation at Five Islands

There is no help for it after all,
nothing to keep one's unlived lives
from dragging their heavy chains
along the bottom of the sea,
full fathom five and so forth.
The heart wants what it wants,
which is everything....

[read the whole poem here]

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Worky Work Week Sanity Saver (Day 5): Tranquility

twin lakes park, summer 2012 (iphone; instagram)

 
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Worky Work Week Sanity Saver (Day 4): Over the Rhine

Everything about this mini-film of Over the Rhine is gorgeous, from the production to the scenery to the ideas expressed in it to (of course) the music. I've loved Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler and all things OTR for the last 17 years, and I still adore their music, which always makes me feel more alive, less alone, and more at home. This video (part concert, part documentary, part interview, part inspiration) is one of a series called "The Song That Changed My Life" from BYUtv. Even if you don't know OTR's music, this 25-minute morsel is well worth watching for its beauty and thoughtfulness. (The series also features a handful of other amazing musicians, including Dar Williams and Sixpence None the Richer.)

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Worky Work Week Sanity Saver (Day 3): Photos

I have been slowly scrolling my way through these 50 entries from the National Geographic Photo Contest 2012, all featured on the Atlantic's In Focus with Alan Taylor. I look at about 10 at a time, savoring each one, and leaving some to come back to later. (And when I get through all 50, there are still loads more over on the National Geographic site.) I won't post any of the photos here, since that would be a violation of copyright and bad mojo, but I implore you, go look at the crazy, saturated beauty of this world. (Seriously, I implore you!)

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Worky Work Week Sanity Saver (Day 1): One debonair cat

This week I am eyeball-deep in work. The workish kind of work that is much more work-like than I like. The kind of pay-the-bills work that I'm deeply grateful for but not so punchdrunk giddy about. I know that for the next sever or eight days I won't be able to keep up with that pile o' responsibility and write anything substantial in this space. Up to my eyeballs, I tell you. But I'm keeping my eyeballs above the fray and committing to finding one thing each day, an image or a moment or a thought, and sharing it here, mostly as a reminder to myself to honor my need for daily doses of joy, wonder, and beauty. It'll be my worky work week sanity saver. I hope to share something the same day that I notice it, but I'm giving myself the latitude to pull from my archives of photos and notes in case nothing tickles my fancy on any given day (or if I get to an evening and realize I forgot to capture anything). In fact, those photos above were taken a few weeks ago, and I'm okay with that. (Isn't Gatwick the Catwick debonair?)

A bright spot this week is the supportive, creative energy happening in Alchemy Inspiration: Start Writing. In another week I'll have so much more breathing space and time to create the kinds of things that I do love. October is going to be great, I can feel it. I'll be recommiting to creative work that flows instead of deadlines that stifle. I'm going to give myself space to dream and wander (inside and out). I'm thinking about partnering with a creative guide to help me see some next steps more clearly. I have a week of "staycation" with my husband planned to celebrate our 11-year wedding anniversary, and then a five-day jaunt to Vermont to see friends, hide away in a spare room to write, walk through the woods, and have a horse riding lesson or two. And then at the end of the month, the final session of Alchemy: The Art & Craft of Writing starts. (Yes, this is the last time I plan to offer that course in its current form. It's been a great run, and I still love the course and still believe that the material in it is good stuff. But I can feel that it's time to shift and to make way for new things to come into being.)

I can't say I'm looking forward to this week, but I'll be here, trying to stay grounded, eyeballs open for the joy-wonder-beauty connections that shimmer, pop, and flare everywhere, even in the midst of workishness.