Tag Archives: physical world

The Art of Listening

If you are a writer, you must listen. You must listen to your instincts. You must listen to the world. You must listen to the things that lack conventional voice. You must listen to the trees, the river, the deer, … Continue reading

Posted in Advice, comfort, Consumerism, creativity, Day by day, education, Elitism, emotion, Energy, Exploration, fun with what we do, intuition, Magic, Philosophy, Play, privacy, silence, spaciousness, spirit, Uncategorized, Wildness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Taking it Off

Sometimes. Sometimes I want to take it all off, give it all back. The skin, the hair, the eyes, the fingernails. I want to return it. The bones, the liver, the lungs, the vagina, the clitoris. Has it really been … Continue reading

Posted in Grief, home, Prompts, soul, spirit, survival, the world, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Path

I am often asked how I got to where I am now. I honestly don’t know how to answer this question. I didn’t take a conventional route. I didn’t go to college. I didn’t enter an MFA program. I’m not … Continue reading

Posted in class, comfort, Comparison, creativity, Day by day, economics, failure, fiction, Process, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Make ’em Care

I watched Lonesome Dove this weekend, half on Saturday and half on Sunday. I needed something epic and grand and filled with great scenery, strong emotions, and memorable characters. I needed something like this because, frankly, all I wanted to … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, Day by day, Decisions, Exploration, failure, fiction, Publishing, Reading, Starting a new work, Starting over, The Muse, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Proof of Seriousness?

For years I wrote while holding down some sort of job that had nothing to do with writing. The jobs were not glamorous. House cleaning, bartending, carpentry, costumer, clerk in a grocery store, cocktail waitress, house cleaner again, and again, … Continue reading

Posted in Community; Genorosity, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, economics, Elitism, Exploration, Philosophy, Publishing, research, Uncategorized, work | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Living in Fear

I have been living in fear. I am afraid of my public life. I am afraid of what it might mean to be known for what I do and recognized. I am afraid of what it might mean to not … Continue reading

Posted in comfort, creativity, Day by day, Decisions, depression, emotion, Energy, fantasy, Gratitude, happiness, home, Passion, positivity; grace; light, posterity, privacy, Public appearances, Self-worth, success, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A Day Without Devices

On my walk this morning I found a nub of purple chalk a child had used to scribble on the pavement. I picked it up, an opportunity in my hand. What would I write? I thought hard about it, and … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, Day by day, Energy, fiction, fun with what we do, Gratitude, happiness, home, Journaling, Magic, Maintenance, privacy, Process, Self-worth, spaciousness, Story, Uncategorized, voice, what artists need | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Work

I think there are three ways of earning money in this world. One is to rent out your body (labor), another is to rent out the space between your ears (desk jobs mostly), and the third is to have money … Continue reading

Posted in class, Comparison, Day by day, economics, Elitism, fiction, Self-worth, spaciousness, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Magical Places

Dear Nancy, Well, my first letter was lost somewhere on the beach at Head of the Meadow where we were yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Further back than that I can’t remember. It’s all a … Continue reading

Posted in comfort, Day by day, happiness, Magic, Reading, spaciousness, The Writer's Life, vacation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Eavesdropping and Solitude

Dear Nancy, Just now I’m sitting at an iron table outside a coffee place in Jamaica Plain. I had looked forward to a cigarette with my coffee, but there’s a big NO SMOKING sign and I obey. I’m wide awake. … Continue reading

Posted in Day by day, fun with what we do, home, Journaling, Passion, Play, Process, spaciousness, The Writer's Life, what artists need | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment