The land of the lull

The lull.

I think I know it. I think I've experienced it.
But it didn't come about from sitting in stillness.
Yes, I was sitting at the time, but what happened was just as Sue Woolfe described.

I wanted to write a post for my blog, Seeker & Sage. I had thoughts about topics and ideas but nothing really grabbed me. Over and over those same thoughts, topics and ideas churned in my mind. I walked to clear my head - but I was still unclear when it was over. I washed dishes, but I found myself cooking dinner in my head instead!

I really really wanted to get this post written. So I went to the computer. Right. Write! Sentences came. I would follow them with a great deal of hope - this will be it... And then the backspace button would be furiously tapped. And then, from seemingly nowhere, the right words came and the post wrote itself. I was able to get into 'flow' and as Sue said, "get the writing to write itself."

Until this flow happens, there is torment, difficulty, struggle. It is in my nature to push and keep pushing till the work is done. I grew up in a household where we had to get all our jobs done before we could go out and play. And I am a diligent student - I took it all on board and brought it into my adult life. I live by the mantra "work first, play later." But the thing is, I never do - play that is. I am also a recovering perfectionist - I just keep working cos there is always more to be done. And it can always be done better.

So, you can imagine the shock I felt when Sue Woolfe said as writers "we want to play!" Play and work...together?  At the same time?

But I know what she means. I can honestly say that I am sitting here typing these words as they flow. There is ease. I am in the land of lull. And I am having fun, playing.

And I understand exactly Sue's point when she says "we want to lose control."
When I so desperately wanted to write that post, I was in complete control.  I wanted to control when I wrote, what I wrote, how I wrote. (Did I mention I am also a recovering control-freak?) I pushed harder and harder, and all that achieved was frustration. I blocked the flow.

What I had to do was let go. Lose control. Surrender.
Let my mind write what it wanted to write.

And when I did, time stood still.
The words filled the page.
The writing wrote itself.

Follow Rose to the Fringe

Who is Rose Turtle Ertler I wonder?

I Google her, and come across a very interesting, extremely busy, highly creative local artist with an impressive CV.

Music is her life but she is not your standard singer-songwriter. At the heart of her creativity is collaboration – she likes people, and she likes bringing them together. For Rose, the further away their worlds are, the better! Rose has instigated, supported and nurtured numerous community arts projects and brought ‘unlikely groups of people’ together to create ‘high-quality performance work’.

What really strikes me about Rose is her interest in people. She is passionate about “bringing out the extraordinary aspects of apparently ordinary people.” She believes that no-one has a boring life story to tell and makes it her job to coax the extraordinary out of the ordinary with every group and person she works with.

I ask Rose what is it about collaboration that is so appealing? “I like people,” she answers with a smile in her voice “people are full of surprises”. Rose admits she has always loved working in groups and has a genuine interest in people and a fascination for their stories.

Besides the lure of people, it is creating meaningful worthwhile multi-layered art that is also at the heart of Rose’s inspiration. She is currently working toward a ‘performance installation’ – another great community art project that will involve the people of Horsham. With the theme ‘Things that make the heart beat fast’, participants will create visual works that will be shown with personal soundtracks. It sounds like a performance to look out for.

On Saturday the 9^th of August we will have the chance to enjoy one of Rose’s unique and very special collaborations. In 2012 she teamed up with illustrator Mandy Ord to create a piece for a Comic Festival in Melbourne. They put song to comic and comic to song. The result is artistic, entertaining storytelling that will touch your heart.

Rose and Mandy love working together so much that they have decided to take Follow me down the way further, and will turn it into a children’s book.

To experience Rose’s live performance of Follow me down the way head to the Bendigo Library at 11.10 am on the 9^th of August.

 

Trust and trial

I've been asked to interview one of the performers appearing at the Write on the Fringe Festival.
What a wonderful opportunity, I first thought. And an honour. I was chuffed actually.

And then my old companions fear and doubt paid me a visit. They tried to talk me out of  it.  You don't know how to interview people, they said to me. You're not a journalist. You don't know how to write anything other than reflective wisdom-type creative non-fiction...about yourself!

I did my best to ignore them and decided the best thing to do was to ask for help...after all, I have a dear friend who does this sort of stuff for a living - he'd be happy to help me out.

Yesterday after deciding I would call him, I had a change of heart - something in me said  No...just wait. Intrigued, and for once, happy to be patient, I followed this guidance and this morning I know why.

This morning I felt compelled to look at my interviewee's web page again, to get a bit more of a feel for who she is and what she does.  What became apparent was the need in me to connect. And I did - with her inspiration, her purpose, her creativity. And then it came to me - the hook I needed - my way in to the piece that I would endeavour to write.

This wouldn't have happened if I'd sought the help of my writer friend. I'd have missed the real opportunity here - to get past the doubt and the fear and to trust that I knew exactly what I needed to do. Cos it's not about being the best journalist, or doing it the way everyone else does it - it's about finding your own way. Learning to trust. Learning by trial.

Books banned!

I've put my glasses away for the week.
That's right - the specs have been banned, as have all books!

I'm in the midst of a self-imposed 'Reading Deprivation'.
And yes, if I think about it too much I feel sick to my stomach.

You see, I'm a seeker. And wisdom literature is where I go to when I want answers.  In fact the kind of reading I do is borderline stalking. I get infatuated with wanting to understand the stuff that goes on in my life and any uncanny synchronistic goose bump moment can be the catalyst. And then I'm off! The quest begins and I follow my intuition to the 'right' book, the 'right' words, the 'answer' until revelation is found.

This is how I live. This is how I cope. If you've seen my blog Seeker & Sage you'll know what I mean. So to take a week off is, well, freaking me out a little.


I first read about Reading Deprivation about two months ago in Julia Cameron's fantastic book The Artist's Way. It's a book about discovering and recovering your creativity. All the exercises and wisdom behind them are geared to freeing ones creativity.

I love it! I love the way she writes. I love what she says about writing being a spiritual act. I love reading her inspiring words and gaining more insight into who I am. I love learning and growing in creativity.





 

It is during Week 4, on page 87 that she drops the bomb - ..."No reading? That's right : no reading."
Her analogy - "words are like tranquilisers" - and if we take in too many, too much, we get clogged up. We fill ourselves up with other people's words and ideas, leaving little time or space for our own inner voice - for our own creative sparks to shine.






And be warned : if we take our week of no reading seriously, we will not cheat by flicking casually through a magazine, nor will we fill up the space with other meaningless distractions. Think : no extra TV watching or catching up on missed movies; no deliberately sought long phone calls or squeezing in outings with friends; no radio as our new companion.

No, I have taken Julia Cameron and her words quite seriously to the point where I'm also not using my iPod! This may seem extreme, but the fact that I have about 40 hours of audio books on there just goes to show that I am indeed an info addict, and for this week to work its magic I had to be completely 'clean'.

Today is Day 4, and so far so good.  Although...It is weird going to bed and not reading myself to sleep. And I have to stop myself from reaching for a book (and the web) when the urge to seek strikes. And yes it feels strange going for a walk with no one talking in my ears. But I am slowly settling in to the silence and I'm excited about what it may bring.