Creative Living

Day 3: Walking on Sunshine

Kim4 Comments

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One of the ways I fuel personal creativity is by immersing myself in Nature. I am fortunate to live in the middle of farm fields with hills, valleys, lake and sky out every window I look.

This morning I took a truly satisfying walk. I stepped out of the door into the cool sunny embrace of the day. I walked slowly, taking in the cornfields that the farmers have been harvesting, some already bare, some still standing. I saw the lake faraway, reassuring me that something is right in this world. The Amish farms, tidy and exuding industry and old-fashioned wholesomeness, were to my right as I walked down the hill. I could hear a killdeer shouting, crows gossiping and crickets singing a slower, cheerful early fall song. Doug the dog at the small house near the bottom of the hill stood sentinel and simply watched me. I continued carefully on by so as not to work him up. The sun warmed my right ear and my neck, the slight breeze held the edge of a chill. I remembered what my therapist told me last year: to take walks and just observe sight, sound, scent and relax into my surroundings. So I did not hurry and attempted not to think about calories burned or steps walked.

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In the nestle of the hollow, I heard rustling of small fauna within the shelter of the trees and breathed in the sweet scent of decaying leaves. The creek was very low, nearly dry. As I came up the hill on the other side I noticed the hay rounds had been removed. I guess I should’ve snapped a shot of them when I had the opportunity. Maybe next year. After the shade of the wooded area, the sun warmed me considerably and I pulled off my sweatshirt, slinging it around my waist. An Amish buggy approached and a young woman with sunglasses waved as she passed, her black horse carrying her away. The sound of their buggies always causes me a bit of a fright. I guess I expect the grim reaper instead of a good Amish. I chalk it up to my overactive imagination. When I reached the corner where the horses stared at me I turned and headed home.

It was as if by doing an about-face the weather changed personalities. Out of the South a strong wind blew into my face and I walked uphill with dried corn stalks flying at me as the farmers harvested.

Trying not to get bits in my eyes, I squinted against the now glaring sun and kept my mind on home. The romance from earlier had definitely flown. As I passed the lower farmhouse, Doug barked twice to let me know he wasn’t fooled by my lack of interest. At last, I hauled myself into the shade of the driveway and felt an overwhelming sense of love and gratefulness for this house that shelters me from Nature and all her moods. I was definitely ready to be productive with the rest of the day. Indoors, that is.

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Tell me about your walks and what they mean to you. I’d love to hear where you go and what the landscape is like where you live.

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Day 2: Ukulele and Me

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The ukulele is a pop thing over the past few years. Since I don’t listen to enough pop to know if one particular song or star launched the current craze, I will just talk about the ones I am aware of. Twenty One Pilots has a cute little ukulele video of “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You“, plus they feature ukulele in several of their own songs, like “House of Gold” and “Judge“. Meghan Trainor sang “Better When I’m Dancing” and “Just a Friend to You” and most recently she teamed up with Michael Buble to sing “Someday“. All include ukulele. My favorite is probably the late Brother Iz singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow“. That’s what really decided me on learning to play uke myself.

Last Christmas, Alan surprised me with my very own. I was thrilled but scared at the same time. What if I couldn’t actually play? As I do often when I’m afraid or intimidated, I procrastinated. Anyone else? But by July I knew I needed to open the case and begin learning the chords. I shut my library door not wanting Alan to overhear and laugh at my pathetic attempts at strumming and forming chords. When he did hear me, he was super encouraging and said he couldn’t believe how quickly I was catching on. He found me a few tutorials on youtube and that helped me learn better than simply going through a list of chords. I practiced “Just a Friend to You”, “House of Gold”, “Someday” and it felt great, even with mistakes. Then I decided to use the chords I could play to write a little love song, which we will eventually record and release. And now I’m learning “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and getting ready to take on more challenging chords. Being able to strum with Alan is lots of fun. I had to purchase another ukulele with a pickup so that I can plug into our sound system. And now we are getting ready to debut these ukulele songs at our next performances.

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We’ll be at:

Bandwagon Brewery (Interlaken) on Sunday October 8 from 2-5pm and

Ithaca Bakery on Friday October 13 from 6-8pm.

Are you learning to play a new instrument this year? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below.

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Day 1: Here I Go!

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I am looking out at a sun dappled afternoon with evergreens shimmering in the clear light, branches swaying in the slight breeze. I listen to Haydn in an attempt to block out the sounds of football in the next room and rap over my head. And I’m thinking about the book on writing by Natalie Goldberg that I finished last week. Her books always push me, like a parent or mentor might push a reluctant child or student to try something new or work harder.

She stresses writing practice–write and keep on writing! She actually suggests two years of constant writing practice before attempting a book. Probably sound advice. In the book, Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer’s Craft, she gives different writing practice scenarios: on one’s own at home, in a cafe, with a friend, at a retreat or other group, for a short time or for a day or longer.

She addresses the fears and voices that nag at writers to give up, that no one will ever read their work, that they are no good, that there are much better ways to use one’s time, etc. The only antidote, it seems, is to simply keep writing through it.

The chapter that I took away with me, that stood out from the rest, was “She Had To Love Chocolate”. As Natalie describes writing her first novel, she said, “Now it was demanding courage of me. I couldn’t hide behind my tintype characters, I had to give them muscle. I had to hand over my life force to them, show my real raw self, not just the self I’d like everyone to believe in.” (p. 59) She had been writing while trying to hide the truth, to make sure she would never offend a reader with what she wrote. Everything was stiff and unrealistic. She had to release her characters to become all they were supposed to be, to let them have experiences and say what they needed to, without worrying what readers would think. This is how her novel came to life and then gradually took on a life of its own. This resonated with me, as I know how often I censor my writing out of fear of offending.

What books on writing have inspired you lately? What is one thing you learned?

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The Practice of Creative Living (31 Days)

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