The calendar says that fall will be here in two days, but for my creative self, it is spring that is dawning after a five month dormant season here. Unlike the plants and animals who know that they need fall and winter to rest and rejuvenate, I was unaware that my spirit was longing for that time. I have been doing other creative things, including other types of writing, but in the past few weeks, I have been hit hard with the realization that I truly miss this forum, my blog. Yes, I have missed deeply the writing, but perhaps more importantly, I have felt strongly the absence of the daily thoughts, reflection, and wondering that were the spark for my my daily posts.
Several things have happened that, taken together, have spurred me on to begin again here. First, people who were faithful readers have asked why I stopped posting and where I had gone. They were even kind enough to say that the missed my offerings. I am flattered, though honestly I never thought anyone would really read what I write here; I started blogging as a personal discipline, as a means of accountability to no one but myself. If others find a reason to smile, or cry, or experience a little piece of joy, or find a bit of insight in my musings, I consider those are an added bonus.
For many years, I have been a faithful follower of Julia Cameron and her daily discipline of writing morning pages. It is through this practice, that I rediscovered my need to reinstitute writing regular blog posts. Since going back to school a few weeks ago, I have also added to this morning routine a poem in haiku form. I say in haiku form because in the traditional Japanese haiku, this seventeen syllable form contains a kigo, a seasonal word drawn from a defined list of words. The poems that I have written usually contain no such word, but do follow the 5-7-5 syllabic structure of the lines as well as the use of a “ exiting word.”
Here are a couple of these poems:
Uninvited thoughts
Coming and going freely.
Through my mind, they dance. - KEB 9/14/15
Thoughts of things undone
Fester, surface, call to me.
Your attention, please! - KEB 9/16/15
Imagination.
Tool of possibility
Or disappointment? - KEB 9/21/15
As I reflected on my own words, I sensed a theme, one that was calling me to pay attention and to take action, a strong yearning to write….here And so I begin again. Even after all this time away, this is a comfortable place for me. Writing this post is kind of like a much anticipated homecoming.
Oh, and today's Capture Your 365 photo prompt is "jumping." Yes, the prompt was intended in the literal sense, but most often, I am not a literal person, so this post is my idea of jumping today. Now to figure out how to photograph this.
One of the reasons that I have neglected my blog is because I have been writing in other places, new places. That is not an excuse; it is simply to say that I have not done a very good job at time management and prioritizing. I will continue to write in those other places as well as here. And sometimes, it may be necessary for me to “kill two birds with one stone” and share the same material in two places.
One of those new writing adventures is another blog that I am writing with a dear photography friend. As is evidenced by its title, our focus is on friendship, photography and food. If you are interested, it is here:
Also, Weber and I help our blue and orange furry monster, Blueper B, write about his adventures on his blog as well:
Neither of these other forums takes the place of the kind of posts that I have written here in the past and intend to share again, but those other endeavors do take time and energy, commodities which seem severely lacking in my world some days!
If you are still here and reading what I have written, thank you. I am grateful for your presence on this journey. As I did previously, I will continue to share my photographs and my daily thoughts. I don’t promise that they will be worthy of your time and attention, but I do promise that I will do my best to share with honesty, integrity, and a little humor.
Thank you for stopping by!
