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creativity music & images poetry transcending writing

The touch and reach of poetry

July 18, 2010

I write poetry – true confession. A rarefied art if ever there was one and you wonder why you do it, what calls you, why it defines you, this thing you are so passionate about but hardly ever talk about.

Colleen Wainwright (aka the communicatrix) in a recent post, ‘My narrow, narrow bands of interest and utility,’ discusses the search for a defining way to talk about such life passions and goals and the overwhelming drive to write that is for her a connecting thread:

To my creative intimates—the fellow strugglers in writing workshop, or elsewhere behind the scenes—I share the only thing I know for sure: that I want to write, and that I am doggedly pursuing it, placing structures where they need to be to support it, addressing what obstacles I can see that might be getting in the way of it.’

I relate very much to these words. Poetry and other writing, the urge to create, the sense of this being an underlying connective piece, the pursuing of ways to further its creation and finding the lifestyle that allows and fosters a writing life are all key themes for me. It  is not easy, especially when you have written for a long time and it has not gone very far it seems. Poetry especially can feel like a driven art with not many places to go. It’s easy for it all to go underground for a while in between other things like work and family, but it springs back up eventually. You cannot keep it down forever it seems.

This initiation into poetry started for me in an English class in my second last year of high school at the age of 16. A wonderfully inspired English teacher, Miss Furlong, chose the words of songs by Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen and Harry Chapin to teach us about poetry. We listened to and studied the words of ‘People’s Parties’, ‘Twisted’ and ‘Trouble Child’ from the gorgeous album ‘Court and Spark’ and  ‘Jungleland’ and ‘Meeting Across the River’  from the explosive and gutsy ‘Born to Run’ album. We interpreted these words and we wrote our own poems.

I loved these musicians already, I was good at English, I had started scribbling words like poems already, and whether it was the combination of all this or just the right inspiration at the right time, the words came out – in response and in creation. I wrote a poem called ‘Touch the Earth’ based on an elegant book of the same name, subtitled ‘A Self-Portrait of Indian Existence’ with sepia images by Edward S Curtis and statements by North American Indians compiled by T C McLuhan. I wrote a poem of deep connection with these images and the people portrayed, forming and emerging onto paper in a surprisingly sensitive lyric piece capturing what I had been reading, seeing and feeling.

I got 30 out of 30 for my response to the poetry in song of Joni, Bruce and others and 25 out of 25 for my first full-blown poetic effort. I also received some feedback and a question: ‘I can’t fault this, Terri – your perception is startling – far beyond your years’  and ‘From where did you get your inspiration?’ I don’t know where it came from apart from the book and the connection with the words of songs I loved. I don’t know how I was able to articulate responses about relationships or other people’s experiences I had not directly experienced in any way at all.  But I found, from this writing experience, a way of accessing an inner knowing. I found a way of using the strength and music of language to interpret and understand the world as I was experiencing it. It opened my eyes to another level of feeling and thought, a latent talent, a lens of creativity I could see the world through. It was there already but the connection needed to be made and I was touched by poetry.

Sometimes you wonder where it will all go as you write, as you journey through crafting better and stronger poems and as you try to find a place for poetry internally and in the external world, such as through publication. I am heartened by Ted Kooser’s closing words in ‘The Poetry Home Repair Manual’ (p157):

‘I wish you luck with your writing, friend, and I hope that you’ll write a few poems that someone will want to show to the world by publishing them. Remember that the greatest pleasures of writing are to be found in the process itself. Enjoy paying attention to the world, relish the quiet hours at your desk, delight in the headiness of writing well and the pleasure of having done something as well as you can.’

I love these words. There is much valuable advice about crafting and publishing poetry in this wise and gentle book but I am calmed by the reminder to enjoy the touch of poetry and the moments that it brings regardless of where it eventually goes. The words of Sylvia Plath also echo the pleasure to be found in poetry and remind of the miracles of poetry reaching the people that it does touch:

Surely the greatest use of poetry is its pleasure – not its influence as religious or political propaganda.  Certain poems and lines of poetry seem as solid and miraculous to me as church altars or the coronation of queens must seem to people who revere quite different images. I am not worried that poems reach relatively few people. As it is, they go surprisingly far – among strangers, around the world, even.  Farther than the words of a classroom teacher or the prescriptions of a doctor; if they are very lucky, farther than a lifetime.”

Quoted in Charles Newman (Editor) The Art of Sylvia Plath, 1971, Indiana Uni Press p 320 – from  ‘Context’, London Magazine, no 1 February, 1962, p45-46

What are your reflections on the touch and reach of poetry?

 Image, Dreams by jecate from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license. See Dreams link for poem accompanying the photo.

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blogging writing

Gems #4 Putting yourself out there

July 9, 2010

 Some gems shining a little light this week.

I loved Justine Lee Musk’s recent post on Tribal Writer on ‘5 ways to put more ‘soul’ into your writing’ . Justine reflects on what makes writing invoke an emotional engagement, how to make writing original and distinctive and issues of vulnerability in writing. I found this post to be an insightful and deeply reflective piece, enacting the ‘soul’ in writing it was talking about. There are also practical tips and exercises for how to put more soul into writing. These tips are around the adage of  ‘show rather than tell’ but Justine fleshes this concept out with fresh perspectives you can apply to your writing.

Pushing Social post  ‘Lady Gaga’s 8 point guide to larger than life blogging,’ has attracted a lot of interest in recent weeks. Stanford Smith cleverly unpacks the genius of Lady Gaga’s  business and social media presence and how this might apply to blogging and your own ‘digital show’. The message is about being distinctive and unique, and the outcomes from a combination of hard work, clear vision and an incremental approach.  Lady Gaga has just reached 10,000,000 fans on Facebook, the first person to do so, so she certainly has some tricks up her sleeves for building an online presence that we can learn from.

I enjoyed the recent Creative Penn podcast interview with Dan Poynter on self-publishing and book marketing tips. Dan is a long-time player in self-publishing having started in 1969. From his long and varied experience, the interview provides valuable tips on self-publishing options, digital publishing, business models, marketing options and multiple streams of income from writing and related activities. As always, Joanna Penn’s podcast interviews open your mind to a wealth of possibilities for where your writing can go and how you can carve a writing life based on these options.

 Image, Gypsy Gem by Robyn Gallant  from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license.

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family history love, loss & longing transcending writing

The healing power of family history

July 5, 2010

 

My family has had a traumatic time over the past years. My younger brother died very tragically in November 2007. It was the saddest day and life was never the same. My father then died suddenly in May, 2009 so another wave of loss ensued and my happy, stable family of four was halved. Like all people dealing with grief, I struggled to get through the days, the weeks, the months after each episode and still feel the deepest sense of loss. I connect to them, especially my brother, through music as I drive to work first through the bush and then through the traffic. Music is such a powerful source of memory and connection.

Another way I found myself managing these terrible waves of grief was through family history.  I had already begun my search before these events, tracking back like a detective through the generations following the links. With the separation and the trauma from the deaths of those so close to me, family history and  ‘looking back to look forward’  has become a link to my brother and my father. My extended family, also their family, the closest link.  I could find the line anchoring us. I could lose myself in the research and discovery about where we came from. And from that, the story of our history could emerge and connect us. New narratives could form; old buried stories could be brought alive. Christina Baldwin in Storycatcher (details below) talks about tending the fire, the responsibility of being a storycatcher and the power of story to connect, ‘heal, remind and guide us.’

It’s not the only answer but:

  • if moving through is having something to cling to that helps you think about the future, ironically by planting you firmly in the past….
  • if moving through is knowing more about where you came from and the shared history you take forward…
  • if moving through is finding stories that connect you, knowing more about the stories of your ancestors and finding those that resonate…
  • if healing is about losing yourself in something so you are not completely overwhelmed by thoughts of grief and moment to moment anguish…
  • if story helps anchor your creativity and move you forward into something new, to integration and resolution even if it’s all not perfect or ever the same as it was…

then family history offers a healing place, a space to learn and engage with your origins, as far as you can, to take you forward to help you face a new future.

I am not a therapist or an affiliate of any family history sites or the resources below. I speak from the experience of working through family history as part of a  personal healing journey over the past few years. For me, it has led to an immense inner resource of narrative that I wish to tell in other ways such as through the writing of novels based on the stories of my ancestors. I am researching and planning this work at present.

For some people, family history research may not be possible or easy for various reasons, but I encourage people to consider the value of story to help connect in whatever way possible. Our stories of being disconnected also need to be told. The story from my family history that is the most compelling is one of absolute disconnection and  it is demanding to be told.

Some resources I have found useful on this journey are:

Ancestry: Amazing site with so many electronic data bases of records and existing family histories. You need to join up for the full benefits but there is much to gain from this.

Storycatcher: making sense of our lives through the power and practice of story, Christina Baldwin: an excellent book on story and the value of narrative to help frame new worlds.

The pictures on this page are some of the relatives I have found out more about through my searches. The woman above is one of my great, great, great grandmothers, Susannah Morris ( nee Richardson). The man below is her husband, William Morris. Both were early Australian settlers. How these photos have survived from such an early time, I do not know. My thanks to extended family member, Allan Morris, for passing them onto  family member and fellow researcher, Alex McDonald and I. This is the other thing that happens – you find new family connections and forge new links that you never knew you had.

Do you have any stories to tell about the healing power of family history?

 

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blogging creativity writing

Gems #3

June 27, 2010

Some gems shining a little light this week:

I absolutely loved Chris Guillebeau’s recent post, ‘Free Advice’. Talk about challenging things you generally accept without thinking and turning them on their head! This post does this in a fabulously thought-provoking way. I have been reflecting on the thoughts therein for the past week and have certainly found myself challenging some common concepts that are often blindly accepted. Like ‘the customer is always right…’ Are they? Equally fascinating was the stream of comments that emerged from readers with waves of fresh thinking. Like ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too.’ As one wise reader, Patrenia, comments, ‘Why have the cake if I can’t eat it?’ Indeed. Some great fresh perspectives on all manner of things – customer service, checking emails in the morning, twitter, projects and team – in this post and its flow on comments.

I thoroughly enjoyed Joanna Penn’s podcast interview with Scott Sigler on ‘How to be a NY Times Best-selling Author’. It was another ‘blow your mind’ moment in terms of shifting my thinking about publication, especially self-publishing and podcasting as ways to get written work out there. The world of publishing has changed radically in recent times with technology and it is fascinating to hear the stories of writers such as Scott and their success across different platforms. Joanna Penn’s podcasts at The Creative Penn are full of such dynamic and inspiring stories of innovation in all genres of publishing and social media. Scott Sigler’s newest novel, Ancestor, has its own book trailer developed by him which is amazing and perfectly geared for other visually based media such as YouTube.

Loved this post from literary agent, Rachelle Gardner, on ‘Resources for Writing Memoir’ (via Twitter, Joanna Penn). Not only does it have great  tips and resources for writing memoir, it also has an excellent list of memoirs to read, some of which were familiar and loved and others that were new and endorsed by many – so a great list to delve into. I also love Tristine Rainer’s, ‘Your Life as Story’ about writing memoir and highly recommend it if this is an interest.

Image by Opals-on-Black.com,  from flickr and used under a Creative Commons license.

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blogging creativity planning & productivity writing

Planning to be fluid

June 14, 2010

I have a plan for this blog and where it’s going, and part of the plan is to be fluid but focussed. It’s open; open to intuition, influence and the flow of other thoughts. I have a sense of structure, of where it might lead. You can see this in my category headings  on the right and also in the first post explaining its raison d’etre. All this I will explain and probably understand further in time as it evolves.

The planning underpinning this involved many months of reading, writing, brainstorming, mind-mapping, researching, learning about the blogging process itself and also engaging in the experience of reading blogs and and connecting through social media. I’m still learning so much but it was all about reflecting on my key message, what I felt I had to tell and contribute and learning how to do that in practice, at least enough to begin. Then, getting the courage to start.

But it all needs to remain fluid, to be able to evolve and to take in the constantly new perspectives and thoughts from reading including those from online sources. It is an infinitely fascinating space, the online space, especially influential in how it can shape your thoughts in a positive way.

The other day, I caught up with Chris Guillebeau’s recent post, ‘Transitions‘, a very powerful and beautiful thought piece about holding onto the space of transition before moving on. He encourages focusing on the moment of transition rather than rushing to move on, be it in the sphere of work, travel, relationships or anything else…‘hold on to the moment as long as you can…’, the sheer poignancy of it and what it means.

Somehow from this, I started thinking about the space between planning and intuition. How you need to plan, schedule, have a strategy, know what success looks like, set objectives and set the measures for how you know you have arrived, but that you also need to remain open to intuition, what the stream of consciousness delivers, the post that asks to be written despite your original plan for the day, the work project that needs to be messy and possibly get worse before things can be resolved and moved on.

Allowing a space for openness and  intuition within a plan can only enrich it in the long run, as long as you know where you are heading. The plan is important to keep your overall direction intact but it’s also critical to avoid being rigid and immune to influence once you have a plan and are on your way.

For setting goals in the first place, I have found the following posts and processes useful:

Chris Guillebeau’s annual review process

Chris again and the importance of strategy vs tactics and the need for clear strategy – love the quote in this one.

Paul Myers’ ‘A simple system to achieve your goals’ – great for identifying your contacts and resources amongst other things

Carrie McCarthy and Danielle LaPorte’s book, Style Statement’, I absolutely recommend for understanding your authentic self as a tool for life choices

Shanna Germain’s  musing on goal-setting as a writer – she sets high goals for output and achieves much in the process

The communicatrix’s take on her experience with the goal setting process and what it brings up in its wake

It’s fascinating to see how all the stars who have influenced me are working on goals and strategy. It seems once the direction is set, it’s easier to engage with and reflect on the journey wherever it takes you; easier not to get lost in the important sidetracks or paths that might come up; and easier to assess if a new direction is required.

What’s your take on planning vs intuition?

Image: Fluids’s reflection, by Sergio Tudela via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license

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blogging creativity poetry writing

Being a work in progress

May 26, 2010

Image, La felicità – work in progress by stefozanna, via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

I am reminding myself it is okay to be a work in progress: to begin, to carve and craft as I go, to collect and synthesise, to draft and revise, like forming a poem. It is worse not to begin.

With writing a poem, you capture the image, the association, the string of words that comes in the middle of the night. And from that, you start, draft, craft and revise again. Miss that spark of ignition and you might miss the critical association that could begin your poem. Then, you might hold back from developing it for fear of not achieving the illusory perfected whole poem in your mind.

In a recent inspiring post, Starting with what you have, Chris Guillebeau provides a valuable way to break the feeling of paralysis around starting something: ‘Don’t look at what you think you lack, look at what you have and find a way to make it work.’  He provides some excellent examples about how and where to start for business, writing, art and travel and they are mostly small, focussed, like a kernel, something obtainable or possible.

So I am reminding myself,  it’s okay to be a work in progress, starting with a piece, a step, a chunk, an idea and learning from there. You might need to do some planning, preparation, reading and research to guide how you start and where it leads, but make a start from that essential spark.

Take this blog, for example. I have learnt from reading and watching others and their blogs, from listening to podcasts and reading blogging experts. I have the spark of a connecting idea. I’ve worked it over time, mined it, mind-mapped it, associating and gathering ideas. But starting here each time,  there is more. I am engaging with writing, blogging, flickr, posting, comments and generally putting what I have learnt into practice. Already the connections and response have been beyond my dreams. I have talked about stars and their shining light and I feel very illuminated. Where the light goes and what it illuminates is another thing, but it’s out there, into the dark, an offering.

Not starting is about a lot of things: a desire for perfection, what Danielle LaPorte in an article in fear.less calls a fear epidemic: ‘Everyone is struggling with the same thing: ‘fear of being his or her true self’, a lack of authenticity and all this becomes a form of resistance that can develop a perfectly normal appearance that absolutely freezes you. Creative work suffers from this incredibly and can seem unnecessary or frivolous. You wonder why you would do it and undermine your own creative thoughts and plans.  

Apart from finding a small way to chunk your start and become a work in progress, Steven Pressfield, in the final words of his wonderful book about resistance ‘The War of Art’, suggests that starting is a responsibility: “Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”

So let’s get that work in progress. Before you know it, the posts are connecting around a theme you can stitch together into some larger work; the poems you are posting could become a self-published book and in any case, you realise, more people are reading them this way; you find you are writing a novel or a memoir through what you post; getting your photos up there makes you start thinking in images again; you find a  reason to write and that breaks the hiatus of many years; you find a business idea developing from the responses coming back to you; you create a creative course to get people writing or moving through something. Suddenly you are moving, not frozen.

So what are you considering starting? And what happens if you don’t?

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