Recharging My Writing by Marnie Pohlmann

I am not a bunny with endless energy as seen in television commercials. I used to believe the busier I was the more organized I was, but time has shown me that more likely I was simply choosing what area of life suffered to allow another task to be completed.  I no longer have the energy I once had, or the desire to be that busy.

There are ways to ensure enough energy is still available to do what God calls me to do, like write. In considering the theme of “artist dates”, I see how I plug in to recharge for writing. Perhaps some of these will work for you, too.

Plug in to God.
In Acts 3:6 Peter said “I do not have silver or gold, but what I have I will give to you.” I cannot give out what I have not taken in, so feeding on God’s Word ensures a steady source of fuel.  God’s Word is meant to be useful in all areas of life (2 Timothy 3:16, 17), including writing.  Plugging into relationship with God provides me with direction in life, and the energy to do what he asks as I lean into him.

Plug into Others.
Read what others write.  Listen to what others write.  Talk about what others write.   Join a book club. Attend a writers’ group where there is conversation and creativity with others who love the medium of words. In our Peace Region Christian Writers group, we share what we are writing, sometimes just to hear the words play on each other and sometimes for the value of critique.  Sometimes we write a fun exercise to practice something new. Those meetings inspire and make me want to write more.

Plug into solitude.  
This is a favourite of introverts, but extroverts also need time away from “daily life” where they have uninterrupted time to focus on writing. Find a place where the surroundings inspire – a cabin in the woods, or a bench in your own garden.

Another way to plug into solitude is to be alone in a crowd.  Go to the grocery store not to buy milk, but to people-watch.  Or take one of your fictional characters along with you to stand in line at the bank, to see how they react to the wait.  Try sitting alone amidst the smells and conversations of a busy coffee shop.  Inspiration will flow in surprising ways.

Plug into Creativity.

Take time away from writing but not from creativity.  Find another method of expression.  Drawing, music, photography, wood carving, or card-making - anything creative feeds your soul and helps you see from a different perspective, which will also enhance your writing.  I am often surprised at the photos my camera captures as I look for the “macro” and the detailed “micro” of life around me.

Plug into freedom.
Give yourself permission not to write, not to create - not to be productive while still feeding your soul. The television will not do this for you. I do this by climbing onto the passenger seat of my husband’s motorcycle.  It is impossible to hold a pen and paper with the wind whipping around you, yet I use all my senses, which energizes creativity. I see the landscape differently than ever before. I hear the roar of the engine. I feel the road surface and the lean of the corners.  I smell wildflowers and skunk.  I taste the bugs… all right, maybe not the bugs - I taste the cool water from a roadside stream when we stop for a break.  I experience the freedom of not being in control.

There are many ways to plug in to recharge your writing.  Find what energizes your creativity, and indulge yourself.

Photo credits:

Rabbit – http://www.pexels.com - public domain

All others –Marnie Pohlmann

One Thousand Mississippi's - Lynn J Simpson

I open my eyes. Darkness still envelopes my room. I close them again, in the hopes that maybe this middle of night awakening is just a moment that will pass as fast as a blink. But behind my closed lids, images and words begin flashing. Images of tasks that I have yet to accomplish, or plans that I wonder if ever shall transpire into reality. And after a thousand Mississippi counts later, I finally just open my eyes and give in to the awakening in the darkness of this mid-night.

Sometimes it is at these times that I turn my bedside light on and reach into my dresser drawer where my latest spiral notebook lay. Since I was pre-teen, I have randomly kept diaries and journals. Many I no longer have, torn in pieces before emptying into a recycle bin so no one can ever know the contents of those pages. Yet, though the words are gone, the healing of writing those words is everlasting.

I read Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way many years ago.  Cameron taught me how to just let go, and journal through the activity she calls The Morning Pages. An activity of writing three pages every morning upon first waking that is without any worrisome thoughts of form, grammar, and spelling. Just write. It was through this letting go, this purging of old wounds, doubts, and negativity that opened me up to the artist within. And then I began the next step of Cameron’s Artist journey by taking myself on weekly Artist Dates.

In those days I would scan the pages of the local entertainment magazine to find events in my area.

I went to book readings, photography exhibitions, debates in coffee shops, independent movies, and science exhibitions. I would take drives to parks I had never been and walk the trails. I would shop in tucked away boutiques in neighbourhoods I had never ventured before.  Two hours on a weekend I let myself be awake in the new and sometimes uncomfortable.

And I slept peacefully.

An Artist Date may not only stretch me to experience something new I can write about, but also possibly eliminate a mid-night count of a 1,000 Mississippi's. Maybe it is time to for the new and uncomfortable again! What would an Artist Date, the new and uncomfortable, be for you?

 Connecting Stories Blogspot

Chasing the Light ... by Jocelyn Faire

What do you do to re-energize yourself for writing?

Live creatively, friends...

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself, Don't compare yourself with others. **Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.** Galatians 6:1, 4,5  The Message

Last summer I shadowed my photographer nephew on a job, as he chased the light in search of the best image. Energy flowed as I spent time with him.

The morning skies tinged with pink ...

The golden glow of the lowering sun

The play of shadows and light

Angles, shutter speeds, aperture and focus

It was a vivid picture for me as we focused on capturing the best light. Just as Joel pursued the right light for his work, I realize I seek beauty, which is also light, to energize my creativity.

Perhaps at the root cause of our reluctance to take the artist date, is a failure to see God as the creator of beauty, as the one who wants to be my date to fill up the (ink)well. I come from a strong work ethic, where productivity was valued over creativity. Creativity and its pursuit would be what happened after all the work was done, and where work was never done, it seemed artistic pursuit time was almost non-existent. At the heart of the matter, though, I still fall for the line that doing is more important than being. In a Martha world, the Mary artistic endeavours are easily ignored, or relegated to time when everything else has been done. Too often I feel I should not read a book, write poetry, craft, or saunter unless I have put in a certain amount of “work.” But if we do not understand the importance of nurturing the soul, we allow atrophy to happen.

I list myself as a seeker of beauty. A journal in hand, a mug of hot tea or coffee on a bench alongside the river, is where I am often found, in all seasons. Sunrises, sunsets are one of my ways of chasing the light. This past week, over dinner with two soul sisters, we oohed and aahed as pinks and oranges blazed across the snowy mountain tops for a full 50 minutes, as the artist played with the clouds.

Sunrise, sunset, subdued or bright,

The light that shines in the dark,

light that brings beauty to myself

and then flows out to those I meet.

If I do not take time to come apart

I will come apart.

As I chase the light in order to write

Spending time in the word, nature and music

The ultimate light to be chased is God.

Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. 

Matt 6:22 The Message

Jocelyn is the author of Who is Talking out of My Head?  - grief as an out of body experience
She blogs at:  http://whoistalking.wordpress.com

 

Finding God, Finding Vision by Connie Inglis

An Artist's Date. Hmmmmmmm. What does that mean in my life? I must be honest. I don't go on Artist's Dates that often--at least not intentionally. There have been a few intentional ones. Last year my husband bought me (us) tickets to four ballets throughout the year. We wanted to do something cultural that we had never done. Those evenings, the live orchestra, the dance telling a story, were truly inspirational.

However, on a day-to-day basis, my life is not that extravagant. Still, that does not mean I can't find inspiration--that I can't be refreshed daily. The simplest things send me on an Artist's Date, if not physically then mentally and/or spiritually. To me, it's all a matter of perspective. It's all about seeing God, finding God in the ordinary.

Many years ago I helped with a missionary conference. The theme was, "Where there is no vision the people perish." Excellent challenge then and now for becoming involved in missions.  However, as I have started to focus more on my writing and the purpose of writing as a follower of Jesus, that verse has taken on a whole new meaning. I have started to see the world with new eyes--to see the story in everything from the pink cotton ball clouds at sunrise to the anxiety in my son's eyes in battling a mental disorder. There's a story in there--a story to tell the world. A story of God's beauty and love and redemption and HOPE. A story that the world needs to hear, so that they will not perish.
 

So what does that mean when it comes to rejuvenation in my writing? I am finding that I get refreshed by simple everyday things. The sunrise. A piece of Scripture. Words in a book. A song that comes on the radio while I go get groceries. The artwork of my daughters that hang on my walls. Going out for breakfast with my husband. I can see God in those things, if I have correct vision.

In those moments, the trick is to pause and make a mental note or a physical note, and not forget. Or just simply sit down right then and there and write. My poetry often happens that way. I am still learning the importance of this. Otherwise, the vision, the moment, passes and I forget.

That is not to say that I don't need those artist date inspirations. Going for a walk is probably one of my favourites. Reading is a given, especially poetry. Going for a drive with a worship CD and singing LOUDLY (and not caring what other drivers think). And then there's fine art...to see the world the way the artist sees--the brush strokes, the colour combinations. And I see God.

In thinking about this post, I did find a website that had a list of Artist Date ideas. Even reading the ideas was inspirational and I think I will return to that list on occasion when I find my well is dry. I laughed at one of the ideas: Spend your whole day naked. What??!!! How many of us have tried that one! But there was one that intrigued me that I decided to try. It actually came as a result of having my 7-year old granddaughter with me this past weekend. She is definitely one of my main inspirations. I think to see the world through a child's eyes is often the way God sees the world.

One of the things we love to do together is draw/colour/paint. Crafty things. So, I decided to do # 30 on the Artist Date list: Create a self-portrait. Lately I've been energized by Pablo Picasso's work and the way he viewed his world so I thought I'd do a crazy cubism self-portrait. My granddaughter

laughed at the nonsensical curves and angles of me but when I was done she exclaimed, "Grandma, it looks like you're praying. The way your hands are together." I looked. She was right. It was not my plan. It was the Spirit encouraging me--giving me a vision of how He sees me. I was in awe--and still am. I can still hear my granddaughter's words in my head. The Spirit won't let me forget. So, for the past three evenings I've continued my Artist Date. I scanned my pencil drawing and now have three different self-portraits but I think I will stop with three.

These remind me that my relationship with God is reciprocal. I seek Him in the everyday things of life, I seek His vision, and He enters into whatever I do. My prayer is that His presence enters my writing as well. That I can share His vision of love and hope in my writing to a dying world.