Category Archives: Nurture Yourself

Books about Writing

My shelves of books about writing.

I’ve made a big decision.

I’ve decided not to buy any more books about how to write for two months.

Now you may not think that’s such a hard task, but I am the sort of person who likes to buy a book about a subject in lieu of actually doing it. I’m a big one for research. If I’m going to take up some activity, say, crochet for instance, then I am the one who will chug down to the library and take out all known books on crochet, in order to find out everything I need to know about the subject. For two days I read avidly and become an armchair expert, without even touching a ball of wool. And then I lose interest and the books gather dust on the coffee table until they have to be taken back to the library before I get fined, no crochet having ever been done.

I’m the same with books about writing.

Once every three or four months, or so, I resolve ‘to take my work more seriously’. This usually involves going in to work with my husband, who is a University lecturer, and settling down in the campus library to tap away on laptop undisturbed. (Never mind the fact that I really struggle to visualise and write in that library, but there you are!)

To get to the library, I have to walk past a bookshop.

(If you love books, you just know where this is going to end, don’t you?)

Add to this the fact that this University runs one of the first, and still best, courses in Creative Writing in the world, whose alumni include the likes of Dame Hilary Mantel, Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan. You can imagine how good the bookshop’s section of writing is.

Let me tell you, it is hell to walk past.

This is the reason why the bookshelf beside my desk is so crammed with ‘How to Write’ books. I buy a book every time I decide to ‘get serious’, because of course, buying a book is a prerequisite of ‘getting serious’. I’ll read a few chapters. And then I get bored/move on/get ill/realise its shortcomings/decide I want to take up crochet instead etc. So now I have a bookshelf full of books about writing and how to write, many of which are very, very good, dozens of which come highly recommended by friends and in other books about writing, and almost none of which I have ever read cover to cover.

Just call me a butterfly.

Today is another of those ‘I’m going to get serious’ days. Today I am not going to buy a book.

This is partly because I am completely broke, and saving up for a new pair of spectacles because the ones I have got are close to useless and I’m fed up of having to take my glasses off in order to read.

But mostly because its because I need not to read about writing and how to write, but to actually DO it.

You can’t be a writer unless you actually write. And when you write, you learn far more about writing than you ever could from a book.

Books about writing are great. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got a lot out of them. But there comes a time when you have to leave them alone and learn by doing.

I’ll let you know whether I stick to my guns or not, though I have to say I don’t think my groaning bookcase can survive even one more purchase!

Happy Creating,

Scottish Sunshine

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If you are wondering why things have been quiet here at Evenlodesfriend lately, its because I am soaking up the sun in Scotland while attending the Islay Whisky Festival. Now, I don’t drink, but Husband’s ‘on the side’ business is in whisky, so its a bit of a work ‘jolly’.

Nevertheless, here I am on this beautiful island with a bunch of friends and a toddler, staying in a little house on the beach. The weather is distinctly Un-Scottish. In other words, 22 degrees most days, and lots of sun (and resulting sunburn). The midges love it, but so do I.

Drawing in progess – the ruins of the summer castle of the Lords of the Isles, Lagavulin Bay.

One of the things that strikes me about being on holiday is the tendency to carry on the drive to stay busy that we bring with us. I’ve been feeling a bit ‘If its Tuesday, it must be Caol Ila’, if you know what I mean. We have been filling up the time with rushing around, doing the sights, and whilst this is to expected with a different distillery putting on events every day, there comes a point when you have to say:

I am on holiday and I want to stay still.

Even if its just for one day.

With a two-year-old in tow, its hard to make time to be still, but nap times help. While she’s asleep, we can journal, draw, write, read, stare into space, go for a quick walk along the strand, or just doze. Even so its easy to get sucked into the OUGHTS and SHOULDS when you only have a week to get around and see all the wonderful sights this island has to offer.

I have been rediscovering drawing and photography. There is lots to take pictures of here, from the rock formations on the beach to the bleak mountains.

But today, I am staying still. I am sitting on the bed with my laptop, staring out over the bay through the window. From here I can see across Loch Indaal to Bowmore, where the distillery makes a solid white edge to the water, its name painted in huge black letters on the whitewashed sea wall of the bonded warehouse. The sky is bright, the cloud high, and cows are ambling along the water’s edge. I find it hard to write when I am away from home, but of all the places I could be, this seems pretty good right now. And after all, I am on holiday…

If you are interested in knowing more about our whisky adventures, you can read about it all here.

(I’d upload dozens of fabulous photos of Islay here, but the broadband is iffy so I shall save that for another post.)

Happy Creating,

Take a Break

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It probably sounds like a ridiculous thing to say on a blog about writing and creativity. You probably came here wanting to read about how to kick-start your novel or fanfic, not to be told to

HAVE A BREAK

Sometimes, though, it is just what you need.

Let me be clear here. I am not talking about those Creative Seasons we all have, ‘a time to write and a time not to write’, to paraphrase Ecclesiastes. I am talking about when you are in the midst of a huge creative streak, you are going at it hammer-and-tongs, lost in your story world, your painting series, or the new symphony you are composing.

These are dangerous times. These are the times when it is very easy to burn out.

Sometimes it is healthy for your Muse and you to have a break from one another. Just twenty-four hours or so. Nothing big. We aren’t talking rupture here. Just time to stand back. Take Stock. Take a breath.

Because we all need to take a breath.

(And if you have ever realised that you are so absorbed in a painting or a story that you have been holding your breath, you’ll know what I mean.)

The risk of burning out is a good reason for doing this. You might call it a ‘creativity detox fast’ or something like that. A short spell of time when you can recharge your batteries and see your work from a different perspective. Take a rest. Make sure you look after yourself. Breath. Eat. Move. See your friends. Remember you have a life.

Yes, you have a life outside your creative endeavour. You remember that? The place where the emails have to be written, the laundry done, the cooking, the dusting, mowing the lawn. Remember that place? The one where you have to wash and brush your teeth, and sleep?

It is easy to forget real life when you are caught up in your creative surges. There lies the path to madness. Or at the very least, gingivitis.

This happened to me on Sunday (not gingivitis, I hasten to add!).

I had been writing pretty much non-stop for over a week. I had thought of nothing else. And then on Sunday morning, I woke up sick of myself. Sick of my own thoughts. Sick of the pile of dirty clothes I had to step over to get to my laptop. Sick of existing on gluten free fish fingers from the freezer (Tesco do reasonably good ones, if you are interested…)

There comes a time in every writer’s life when she has to tear herself away from her Word document and do the necessary.

I did the washing and the ironing, and went to the supermarket for fresh veggies. I did all those horrid, niggly jobs that had been floating about in the back of my skull all week, the things I had been putting off because I didn’t want to do them, and this time I had an excellent excuse (I was writing!!!!). I didn’t power up my laptop till late in the day, and even then, I kept my activity very limited. I didn’t think about my story world, forced myself to not think about it, policed not thinking about it very sternly. (Of course, the fact that I was sick of thinking about it helped.) I watched the film version of Oscar Wilde’s ‘An Ideal Husband’, which was delicious, and read a lovely book.

And for the first time in days, I felt relaxed.

Today, I have resumed writing again, relieved by the knowledge that the bailiffs won’t turn up at the door, as I have now put the cheque for the heating oil in the post. And I feel so refreshed. My writing is better for it too, I think.

Riding your wild donkey to finish your novel is all very well and good, but not if it comes at the expense of your health or your comfort. So be mindful when you are on a creative binge. Yes, ride the wave and enjoy it, but be aware that sometimes you can ride it even longer if you just stop to enjoy the scenery along the way, and do a little housekeeping while you are at it.

Happy Creating,

Trying New Things

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Finished cupcakes

One of the best ways to kickstart your creativity is to try new things. Especially if those new things are far from your normal comfort zone, and especially if they involve play.

Yes, play.

Play is an essential part of creativity, and of our lives as human beings, but its something that is trained out of us as adults.

I am especially bad about this. I freely admit I have forgotten how to play. I never do anything that doesn’t in some way equal productivity. I’m not able to bring myself to undertake any activity that won’t result in some positive learning outcome or tangible deliverable object. Its so bloody worthy!

So when a friend suggested I join her at a cupcake decorating class, I jumped at the chance.

Okay, there were concrete deliverables involved – yummy pretty cupcakes were the result. But the point is that I have never done any kind of sugarcraft before, and I haven’t used an icing piping bag in what feels like centuries, so it seemed like a fun thing to try.

We made sugar paste flowers and polkadot wellies and glittery butterflies and plump little heart shapes out of icing. We learnt how to roll and knead and colour our sugar paste. And then we went mad with the piping bags and learnt to make icing grass, piped roses, ‘Mr Whippy’ toppings (which you probably won’t understand unless you are British and have eaten a ‘Mr Whippy’ ice cream!) and piped hydrangea flowers with edible pearls on them. So pretty!

In other words, we played. For over two hours. And it was brilliant. Even putting the cupcakes in a presentation box at the end was pretty and fun.

Cupcakes in their presentation boxes

I spent an entire evening, not using my left brain at all, and believe me, it was just the pick-up I needed. Since I tried this fun new activity, I haven’t made or decorated any cakes, and I’m not too bothered if I never do. But I’ve written lots and I’m excited about writing in a way I haven’t been for months. Total release.

So if you are stuck in a rut with your chosen creative path, whatever it is, why not try something new. Muck about. Have fun with friends. Do something with absolutely no emotional investment in it, and just enjoy it. The worst that will happen is that you go home with a tray of delicious cupcakes. And frankly, thats not really a bad outcome now, is it?

(NOTE: All the cupcakes and icing were gluten free. Recipes for the cupcakes and the butter icing came from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, and the sugar paste was Sainsbury’s Fondant Icing.)

Happy Creating,

Inspiration Monday: Gardens and Gardening

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Ickworth Garden Temple

(WARNING: photo-heavy post!)

You think gardening is for oldies, don’t you?

Not so.

Go and visit a big garden in your area, a park, a stately home if you have one nearby. As you wander round, take the time to look at the flowers, plants and trees. Take the time to appreciate the long vistas the designers have laid out for you to enjoy. Think about why each plant has been positioned exactly there in the scheme.

The garden house at Ickworth House, Suffolk

Who has walked this path before you? What is their story? Read ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ if you can’t think of something better, or watch ‘Downton Abbey’ to clue you in to what might have happened in a garden like this, the secret assignations between the lady of the house and the gamekeeper, the Lord and the scullery maid, or the married gentry who came to visit for shooting weekends in winter, eager to continue their private affairs without their spouses knowing, stealing away into the shady nooks of the different garden ‘rooms’.

Inside the Yew Hedge at Blicking Hall, Norfolk – who might have hidden here?

As for public parks, well, imagine all the spies who have met their KGB handlers by the duck pond, the mothers who have pushed their prams through the rose beds and contemplated running away from loveless marriages, the children who have imagined faeries and elves in the trees.

If writing is not your thing, you only have to look at what Monet did with his garden at Giverny to see that gardens can be an endless source of inspiration for visual artists of all kinds. Maybe your garden flowers could inspire a colourful quilt or embroidery. There is so much beauty in your back garden and local park – all you need to do is use your eyes.

What about getting your fingers in the soil yourself? Gardening is a true art form. It allows you to create a complete world within the four hedges of your back yard. You might prefer growing vegetables to flowers, in which case, google ‘potager kitchen gardens’ to see how amazing kitchen gardens can be.

Roses in my own garden.

There is nothing like actually getting down to business with the mulch and seeds. Yes, it is often hard work, and it takes time and patience, but it is so incredibly rewarding, creative and satisfying. Even if you just have a tiny balcony or window ledge, you can fill it with pots of colourful bedding plants and grow-your-own lettuce varieties. Go to any Mediterranean village, and you’ll see what marvels of gardening can be achieved with a few old olive oil cans, some white and blue paint, and some bright geraniums!

And once the hard work is done, you can get out your deck chair, and muse. And then maybe paint a picture or write a story about your green empire.

Happy creating,

Journal Friday: Core Practices

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I’ve been experiencing something of a ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ lately, a deep, dark journey into the Underworld. Being creative has been a distant dream. The only space or energy available has just been for survival. That said, I’ve realised that there are three core practices that have helped, and continue to help me keep (relatively) sane.

Core practices are those habits you keep going, no matter what. Activities that keep your engine running even when there is no energy, space or time for anything else. You keep up these habits through the times of joy and abundance, and those of despair, desolation and drought. They help sustain you, and keep you in a state of awakened readiness for when the next shower of inspiration comes. They are part of the minimum requirements that you need to function as a happy, healthy human being. They are different for everybody, so yours might vary from mine, but they will give you the same comforting, nurturing continuity in your life.

I started thinking about this idea the other day, when I heard Jamie Ridler talking about them in her recent podcast. The core practices she sites are Movement, Meditation and Morning Pages. Morning Pages are a practice popularised by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way, and I’ve written a little about them here. Cameron herself would probably site Morning Pages, Walking and the Artist Date as her core practices.

If I had to name mine, the three things that have kept me going in recent days against the tide of despair, I would say they are yoga, meditation and journalling.

Yoga helps me to keep grounded inside my body. Even when I am very ill and have little energy, a single pose can help. Yoga eases the chronic pain I live with, and gives me a sense of achievement. I like doing it outside in the garden in the summer, but usually my yoga mat gets spread out on my study floor. I light a candle, ask for a blessing on my practice, and do a few asanas. I also enjoy doing a few poses before bed at night, as this helps calm me from the day’s stresses, but also helps counteract the tension my body builds up during the night. If you fancy having a go, you might find this website helpful.

Meditation is something I am trying to do. I’ve been trying to do it for years. It occurs to me now that maybe thats the whole point. Even when you get good at it, you are still battling the butterfly nature of your mind as it dances about between the shopping list and the peerless beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch’s mouth, or something similar! Lately, I’ve had quite a bit of success with the Insight Timer app on my smartphone, and I also like Susan Piver’s free meditation instruction sessions – ten minutes out of your day for such huge benefits has to be worth a try. When I get it right, when I manage to concentrate on my breath even for just a tiny bit, I experience a sense of peace, achievement and oneness. I’ve tried Vipassana body awareness meditations by Jon Kabat-Zinn too, and they are really good.

Journalling. Do I really need to add much about this? I’ve been writing continually on this blog about journalling practise since I started a year ago, explaining the benefits and the pleasures of keeping a diary. I’ve been doing it for 40 years this year (erch! Is it really that long?), and I can tell you that it has saved my life more than once. Check out my other Journal Friday posts to find out more.

Journal Exercise:

Get out your journal and take a little time to ground yourself. Take a few breaths and be present within your body. Then think about your life. What are some of the things you do regularly that sustain you emotionally, physically, spiritually. Spend some time writing about them, about why they help you, why you do them, how they nourish you.

If you have trouble zeroing in on one, two or three things you do in this way, try thinking about your minimum requirements for a happy life. What do you go nuts without? When your life gets a bit haywire and you find you feel out of control, what are the things that have slipped? It might be anything from drinking enough water and eating fruit daily to spending time with friends and family, walking the dog or reading a good book. Make a list of the things that you know you need in your life to sustain your wellbeing.

As always, don’t get too draconian about either of these exercises. Remember these are not the things you think you OUGHT to be doing, or what your friends are doing, although they may be things you might like to try, but haven’t yet. Take time to explore. Be gentle and compassionate with yourself. And if you can’t identify anything yet, allow the answers to evolve over time. Gently ask them to come to you. Ask yourself what you need in your life right now, and enjoy your discoveries.

Happy Creating,

Inspiration Monday: A Day Out

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The Scallop by Maggi Hambling, Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

Warning: This post has lots of pictures!

Its a lesson my mother taught me. After my father died when I was 13, she used to take me away. Just for the day. Somewhere. She would ring the school and say I was sick and we would run away somewhere. Salisbury. Portsmouth. Winchester. Even the Isle of Wight. Somewhere that was within a day’s drive. Anywhere that was not home, not full of memories and sadness. It recharged our batteries, gave us the time to talk about what we had lost, and grow closer. I have very fond memories of those stolen days.

Running away is a lesson that I have brought into my adult life. Now, when things get a bit much, when we need to recharge, escape, or just rememebr who we are, Husband and I run away. This weekend, we ran away to Aldeburgh in Suffolk, which is about an hour’s drive from home. It is the town famous for its links with composer Benjamin Britten, and the music festival he set up. It is also the seat of a number of literary festivals, and the setting for MR James’s haunting ghost story, ‘A Warning to the Curious’. Fishing vessels work from the shingle shore, and you can buy fish straight from the boats, as well as smoked from the new smokehouse. (I recommend their smoked prawns with garlic dip, eaten straight from the packet on the beach, yum!)

Fisherman’s shack where you can buy excellent fish caught fresh that morning, or crab, lobster and various local shellfish in season.

Since I am trying to get back into the swing of taking photographs again, I took my camera, and here are some of the results. I hope they get your creative juices flowing.

And if you are lacking in Inspiration this week, why not plan a day to run away and just be.

Fishing boats hauled up on the shingle shore. Is that the figure of Willam Ager running along the strand?

Dead seedheads by the coastal path.

Old fishing boat on the shingle in the mist.

The Scallop by Maggie Hambling, a local Suffolk-based artist.

The Scallop is a memorial to composer Benjamin Britten, who lived in Aldeburgh. The words are from his opera, Peter Grimes: ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned.’ (Are these also the voices of creativity, calling us?)

Approached from the Thorpeness (north) side, the Scallop is said to look like a knight riding a charger.

Approached from the Thorpeness side, the Scallop is said to look like a knight riding a charger.

Utterly mad cow wallpaper found in The Crown Inn, Framlingham on the way home!

Happy Creating! EF

Journal Friday: Every Moment

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Every moment is a new opportunity.

Don’t think about all the books you haven’t written yet. All canvases you haven’t filled, the dances you haven’t danced, yet.

With every new breath, you have an opportunity to DO DIFFERENT.

Didn’t write your diary yesterday? Do it now.

Didn’t do your writing exercise or sketch. Do it now.

There will always be an excuse. Why listen to it?

Every moment is an opportunity to change what you do. Its a choice. Every waking moment. You can choose to keep on keeping on, doing the same old same old, thinking the same old thoughts, being a victim, blaming other people because you never made the time to learn the piano or whatever.

Or you can choose to live the life you want to live RIGHT NOW.

If the life you want to live involves living in a villa on a Greek island painting huge abstract canvases, (confession: this is my dream retirement) and maybe you can’t run away to the sun just now, well, just get some paper out of the photocopier and some coloured pencils or pens and make some colours on the page. Be the change you want to see.

You can be the person you always wanted to be RIGHT NOW.

You have a choice RIGHT NOW.

Be your own hero.

Choose now.

Make your choice and be it.

Happy Creating,

Journal Friday: Lists

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Your house and your life will be full of lists. Most likely shopping lists, most infamously, To Do lists. We all make them. They are the most efficient way to remind your brain about the important, and the not-so-important things.

But did you know they can add an extra dimension to your journal practise?

We keep lists because they are an easy way to record a series of items, whether they are things we already possess, things we need to get (like shopping lists),things we need to do, or remember, or worry about, or understand.

Lists also allow us to create hierarchies within them. You can order your list in terms of importance or urgency. You can use each item as a heading, and include a sub-list beneath it. Or you can just scribble items down in the order they come into your head – which is in itself a kind of order, though the meaning of that order may only be understood by you. And yes, I do use mind maps too, but I don’t find them half so useful, because they don’t have the implied order that a list does. You have to impose the order on them afterwards, which seems a waste of time to me – why not do it as you go along?

I like using lists in my diary to gather together thoughts that are floating about in my head which don’t really fit anywhere. For instance, the other day, I made a list of all the items I wanted to buy which would need to be saved for: new spectacles, a juicer, a steam floor cleaner, and other things. Each of these items came from a separate train of thought: ‘I can’t see to read these days, I need to get an eye test’; ‘Maybe drinking green juice would help me feel better’; ‘Its really muddy outside and we are trailing a lot of mud into the house, and I am fed up with mopping the floor all the time, maybe there is a quick alternative.’

None of these things really go together. Normally, I would put them under headings like ‘Health care’, ‘Diet’ and ‘Housecleaning’. But I don’t have a place to record any of these ideas (I confess – mea maxima culpa – I don’t keep a Home Management binder or a GTD planner, shame on me!) They are all good ideas, but if I don’t write them down, they will get forgotten, and I will no doubt then waste valuable mental energy thinking them up again, or coming up with new solutions. Now I have a list recorded, I can forget about it until I need it.

Something else I have been doing for years is using lists to help with emotional challenges. I frequently get myself into a state of profound anxiety by worrying about half a dozen things at once. Or sometimes more! Usually, when I get like this, I find myself struck down with a migraine, so its something I prefer to avoid, if I can. Out comes the diary, then, and away I go, writing down a list of all the things I am worried about, and why. I may end up with pages of bullet points. Then I revue them. Usually I can see a pattern emerging, and I can work out that there are one or two core issues coming up that the sheer volume of worries are masking. Once I have identified what is really wrong, I can make a list of things I can do about the problem – because taking action of some kind, however small, always makes me feel better.

When I am feeling completely overwhelmed by everything I feel I have to do, I take the time to make a list of everything. Then I can identify the SHOULDS I am imposing on myself can rule them out, because they are usually neither Urgent nor Important* in the grand scheme of things. Also, writing all the things I have to get through somehow makes the mountain less intimidating. Life seems more manageable when you can get it down on a sheet of paper.

(*Knowing the difference between Urgent and Important is crucial when you have limited resources. Urgent is something that has to be done NOW. Important is something which needs to be done as a matter of priority for your future wellbeing/happiness/security etc. For example, Urgent could be putting the laundry in the machine because you won’t have any clean knickers tomorrow if you don’t. Important is getting your tax return in to avoid late filing fines. Of course, tax returns could also be Urgent, if you are within a few hours of the deadline, and the laundry might be Important if tomorrow is also the day when you have an interview for a potentially life-changing new job! But you can see the difference. Urgent changes your immediate future, whereas Important is more long term. Which is why a list helps you to identify which is which!)

I also really like using lists to explore an idea. I give myself time to visualise the concept in my mind, for example, that of Bear energy, which I was talking about the other day. Then I do a word association around that idea, writing down all the words and feelings and thoughts that pop into my head in a list which depicts what that idea means to me. I can then use that list as a starting point for exploring deeper meanings and related areas.

I mainly use lists to dump everything out of my brain because I invariably have a cranium so full of stuff that something has to be offloaded or I will go mad. Quick, thumbnail sketches of stories, plans, thoughts, worries, household jobs, recipes, things to tell my husband when he gets home, and food items we have just run out of, all end up on lists in my journal. It has only been through writing this post that I have begun to realise how addicted to lists I actually am!

The other thing about lists is that they are easily accessible when you read them back. Even a series of one word items can remind you of a whole Mind Palace of thoughts. And once these thoughts are outside your head, you can use your brain to come up with lots of lovely new ones! What liberation!

Tips for Keeping Lists:

Make sure you label your list especially if it is connected with a word association or particular project.

I often scribble lists on loose sheets of paper that I find hanging around the house, and stick them into my diary later – this means I feel I can be as messy as I want with the list because I am not messing up my nice, neat diary page. (When the list is stuck in, I can decorate it and make it nice if I like.)

If you make several lists on several sheets, stick them in your journal together so they make sense on reading back.

Give yourself space when you make a list. There will always be something else you want to add!

Journal Exercise:

You could use any of the techniques with lists that I have mentioned above, but you might like to try this one, from the field of Gestalt therapy.

This technique can help you access unconscious feelings that are causing your trouble.

Do you have an ache or pain that has been grumbling away recently? A dogged headache that resists all medication, a sprained ankle, an aching hip?

Take out your journal and sit quietly, away from noise and distractions. (Give yourself plenty of time for this.)

Focus your mind now on the part of your body that is troubling you, and really dive deep into experiencing the pain, ache, or discomfort, or whatever feeling is going on there. Let the feeling fill you up. Connect with it.

Now take out your pen and, continuing to focus on the feeling. How would you describe the feeling? Whatever word first pops into your head, no matter how unlikely it seems, write it down. Now focus again and look for the next word. And the next. Keep going until your mind empties and no more words appear.

Now read back your list. Are there any words that particularly jump out at you? Any themes that seem apparent? Some unlikely or seemingly unconnected words may turn out to be linked to things that are going on in your life, in friendships, your career or family. They may remind you of emotional issues you have not confronted, or point to something in your life that feels unfinished, unfair or unsatisfying.

Now take some time to journal about the words that seem most meaningful to you. Allow yourself to explore what comes up and see where it takes you. You may find yourself planning a new adventure, resolving old conflicts, or seeing situations in a new light. It can be very enlightening.

You may feel this exercise is a bit mumbo-jumbo, but I assure you, it’s a great way to access things going on in your head ‘behind the scenes’ so to speak, and it can explain a lot. You may also find it difficult to start off with, but practise and you will find it easier over time. You might even want to have a friend help you by writing down the words that come up as you concentrate on your own body. And if you get a recurring pain in the same place, you can go back to your list and do the exercise again, and compare the two to see if something new comes up. You may even find, as I frequently have, that the pain you focus on is significantly reduced or even disappears as a result of its ‘being heard’. It’s is a great way to use lists, and I encourage you to have a go.

Happy list-making,

Developing Superpowers

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I was reading a post at Rightbrain Planner this morning, and these words jumped out at me:

“Planning habits are part of personal assessment for me. Part of knowing what my skills are and being my own hero.”

BEING MY OWN HERO.

Those words blew me away. How is this even possible? Can I be my own hero? Can anybody? And if I were, how would it feel? Would it feel as incredibly freeing as it sounds?

Blogger and artist Andrea Sher often asks: what is your superpower?

Or as the ancient nun Jiko puts it in Ruth Ozeki’s transcendent novel, A Tale for the Time Being:

“‘Nattchan, I think it would be best for you to have some true power. I think it would be best for you to have a superpower.’

She was talking in Japanese, but she used the English word, superpower, only when she said it, it sounded like supah-pawah. Really fast. Supapawa. Or more like SUPAPAWA-!”

Page 176.

I’d like to have a SUPAPAWA. I’d like to be my own hero.

Old Jiko teaches her great-granddaughter Nao how to find her SUPAPAWA through sitting Zazen, a Zen Buddhist meditation. Obviously thats one way to go. The other seems to be to follow the words painted above the entrance to the sanctuary of the legendary Oracle of Apollo at Delphi:

Know Thyself

I truly believe that the only way to do that is to ruthlessly explore ourselves through creativity. Through writing and painting, journalling and making, through dance, music, theatre and the culinary arts, and whatever else we can create out of the raw materials of our souls. That way, by fearlessly adventuring into our creativity, maybe we really can become our own heroes.

If i had to say what my SUPAPAWAs are, I would probably mention two: the knack I have of making people smile, and writing.

Oh, and I make a really mean gluten-free chocolate brownie!

What are your SUPAPAWAs? Could you be your own hero?

Happy Creating,

evenlodesfriend

Speak Your Truth: Writing and Creativity

Category Archives: Nurture Yourself

Books about Writing

But mostly because its because I need not to read about writing and how to write, but to actually DO it.

Scottish Sunshine

I am on holiday and I want to stay still.

Take a Break

HAVE A BREAK

Because we all need to take a breath.

Trying New Things

Inspiration Monday: Gardens and Gardening

Journal Friday: Core Practices

Inspiration Monday: A Day Out

Journal Friday: Every Moment

You can be the person you always wanted to be RIGHT NOW.

You have a choice RIGHT NOW.

Be your own hero.

Choose now.

Make your choice and be it.

Journal Friday: Lists

Developing Superpowers

BEING MY OWN HERO.

“‘Nattchan, I think it would be best for you to have some true power. I think it would be best for you to have a superpower.’

She was talking in Japanese, but she used the English word, superpower, only when she said it, it sounded like supah-pawah. Really fast. Supapawa. Or more like SUPAPAWA-!”

Know Thyself