In A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver wrote: “Writers must…take care of the sensibility that houses the possibility of poems.” Oh yes! – And I extend this to all writers and artists. I urge you all to understand that this “sensibility” is not something that is easily just turned on, but rather, is something that you cultivate in everything you do in your life.
I remember when I was young and pursuing my photography work, amidst people who loved and cared about me, and therefore urged more practical pursuits. They recommended that I do my photography on weekends. And for a bit of time I took their advice and ended up judging myself a photography failure for not being able to quickly and instantly turn on my creative sensibilities, after working 40 hours at a job that was very far from being my GeniusWork.
So I ask you: What do you need to do for yourself so that your life is the life of a writer/artist? I understand that you can’t sit around contemplating clouds all day, as some romantic versions of a writer conjures up, but neither can you fit your writing into a busy schedule with only a small slot that fits between working out and work, with no attention to the care it takes to “be” in that place where the possibilities of writing can flourish. Furthermore, I suggest that the care of your sensibility can be done throughout your day, not just during the “writing slot.”
Write on!
Sakada
This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 and is filed under Thoughts, Write to Your GeniusWork. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to Cultivating Writing
Posted by Kristina on July 8th, 2008 :
This is such the problem for me! How does one juggle all things and still have time to write?? I find I have written volumes in my head and yet have nothing tangible to show for it—nothing committed to paper…I feel trapped between dreaming and making writing a reality. What is that? Is that fear? How do you break that?? I know what you would say Sakada and believe it or not, I hear you in my head too often. I do know that it is the process and the journey, and not the outcome, but I cannot seem to bridge that gap between knowing and doing…
Oh yes and all those lovely supportive people in our lives, who too long for our success, but demand practicality—what to do with them…
Help! Does anyone else out there feel this way?? What do you do?
Posted by Annemarie Rawlinson on July 10th, 2008 :
Dear Kristina,
Here is a bit of advice from my father, a professor of linguistic, who wrote scientific books with greek quotations that I gave up trying to read. He said: “Don’t wait for the muse to kiss you, just sit down and write!” So sit down every morning, start with ten minutes - and after a while, you may catch yourself noticing that you are writing more than ten minutes and actually enjoying it!
I am a visual artist working in mixed media, with an undeveloped writing talent(Sakada is on my case!) - and find that the artistic process is the same for a visual artist - even if I am not inspired and have no idea what to create, if I go to my studio and start looking through my collection of found objects, ideas start to form… and before I know it, something is trying to express itself in material form.
So my father may be right: Discipline is the answer. You can do it!
Posted by Maryann on July 12th, 2008 :
Oh I so relate to Kristina and Annemarie. I can hear Rilke inviting us to “live the questions.” How does one do the dance between all and nothing. Discipline comes from a root (Latin, I think) that means to follow - so discipline for me means to follow the voice of my deepest truest self- ah - does that mean to keep busy doing - doing something - doing nothing - I need to take quiet time and be willing to listen to what comes up from the well of nothingness - to follow this part that calls me past my ego into what could be expressed through the unique channel that my voice is -to allow words to come from the wordless place =
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