Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Lifeguard On Duty?

When it comes to maintaining the creative flow and writing an authentic scene, I love to use photographs for inspiration. The pictures allow me to visually tap into the plethora of senses that my characters are experiencing and the story usually benefits in so many ways. Many writers live inside their own heads, always spinning ideas around and around. We need to attack life, taste the flavors, and smell the sensuality to guard against becoming social shut-ins. When I am lacking for a real life muse or needing to explore the unknown, I love to snap pictures to jump start the process.

The visual stimulation for today is this alert seagull, keeping watch while the lifeguard on duty apparently takes a break. We’ve all had moments when we felt like the lifeguard stand in our own lives was empty but perhaps those are the times when we need to overcome fear and just jump right into the water. Having faith in the magic of a blank page is a lot like swimming in uncharted waters….hope you brought your bathing suit!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Welcome Home

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin


       Moving is the worst. All the packing and cleaning and unpacking and organizing…. I mean, moving is the absolute worst! But moving also means moving forward, moving on, moving up and that is always a little bit terrifying no matter how excited one is over the prospect of something new.
        Luckily the laws of balance have a system in place to ensure that we don’t remain stagnant for too long. The key is to never stop asking the big questions because when we’ve grown as much as possible in one area, the Universe has a way of making sure we become painfully aware that we no long fit. They don’t call them growing pains for nothing, right?
        When we keep bumping up against oppositional forces - perhaps trying to steamroll through the brick wall is not the right answer. Sometimes moving is the only solution and as much of a hassle it is to realize you’ve erroneously pick the wrong paint color…creating a home figures to take a bit of trial an error.
        A house, like a soul, is a work in progress and I will not be satisfied until I find the perfect color that says, “welcome home.”