More than ever...
A hundred things flash through your mind. Sometimes all day. Like a train that won’t stop. The dark of night offers no respite. Depending on where you are in this world, things are easing up or have not yet peaked. COVID-19 has us captive. All cooped up at home and if you have children at home too, the impact is ten fold. We cope emotionally with a frenzy of funny and fuzzy internet shares. Some dig in to try to understand. The incredible selfless heroism of health professionals leave us in awe.
It is at times like these, more than ever, that as writers our creativity and imagination are our strength. Our advantage. Our protective gear. Our immunity. We are isolated but ironically with technology, we have never been more connected, and we find we need each other. Now too, is the time to ask…are we connected to our inner self? This unexpected, enforced isolation, gives us an opportunity to say HELLO to that inner self. And get this…it comes with a bonus… Yes, when you connect to your inner self you are never alone.
“No Refuge but Writing.” The playwright Tennessee Williams was an extraordinarily gifted writer. His fertile imagination and acute sensitivity have given the world countless moments that lay bare the human condition. His personal life was a difficult one, a melancholy and painful one. Who knows it could be true that suffering opens your heart. Most artists know pain. Feel deeply. Through the centuries, people who struggled with their emotions and the complexity of life.
But take heart for I am not suggesting suffering is a prerequisite.
Sometimes, like now, there’s simply...no refuge but writing. We don’t set out to write a masterpiece…just to write.
I find my head tumbling with ideas. So many “what if’s”…
March 29th - This poor man in the tube station went to use the toilets on the platform and now, due to a water-main break, he’s stranded, overnight, alone. No exit. Maybe he witnesses something horrific. Or…he has an epiphany.
So many what if’s…
April 3rd - Steve and Ginny meet cute across the airspace between two tall office buildings during a lockdown prompted by a bomb scare. It starts with them noticing each other and waving hello.
April 13th - All we want to do is to be free again, to go outside, to see people, to brush shoulders with strangers. So we look for ways to escape. I can suggest an exceptional film that is sure to transport you to another time and place. Honeyland from Macedonia. It was among the 2019 foreign language film nominations.
Running around all over town is a faint memory so how about having a wonderful time running around in the playground of our minds. Even dreaded words of today can find cheerful relevance tomorrow…
April 17th - So ok…you’ve washed your hands and you’ve washed your hands and there’s so much lather…and bubbles…and more lather and more bubbles…. One time, you move away from the sink and flick your hands, and a nice big, beautiful, shining bubble, floats through the air and gently pops open on your face! And yes you get infected…infected with one of those ideas or one of your own.
As artists, part of what we do is see things in a different way. So an infection can be a beautiful thing, like laughter, laughter you can’t resist. And you laugh and you laugh and the next person laughs. And the next… We have each caught the beginning…the germ, of a wonderful idea, which, with work, will lead us to story.
So take refuge in your writing, travel far and wide, and have fun. If you want to pursue your work further contact me and lets see what we can do together. Learn more by clicking below on the TEACHING or CONSULTING links. And feel free to leave a Comment below, good or bad I’m open to all.
For now, thank you for reading my blog. But most of all stay home, stay safe and stay well!
See you next time.