Memoirous

It’s been a while. A struggle. But, there’s been a breakthrough. I’m not sure what happened— For so long I’ve felt like I was being dragged around by my hair, going from one thing to another without agency, like a monkey on my back. It wasn’t one thing but a million unnamed pressures. A sense of why bother. Fear and self-doubt. I didn’t know where to start. I cleared off my desk, I cleared out my head. I sorted through scraps of paper and opened a file on my computer meant to organize my thoughts. I started with making lists. In January I ordered a used copy of Art & Fear by co-authors David Bayles and Ted Orland. I once had this book but must have given it away or left it behind somewhere. I was reminded of it the end of 2025 and thought: the title alone is worth reading over and over. The fear doesn’t keep me away, I keep reaching, but the state of my soul is brittle. I needed to get beyond a certain paralysis. The result of reading this small book turned into a Su...

Poem (I lived in the first century of world wars)   By Muriel Rukeyser I lived in the first century of world wars. Most mornings I would be more or less insane, The newspapers would arrive with their careless stories, The news would pour out of various devices Interrupted by attempts to sell products to the unseen. I would call my friends on other devices; They would be more or less mad for similar reasons. Slowly I would get to pen and paper, Make my poems for others unseen and unborn. In the day I would be reminded of those men and women, Brave, setting up signals across vast distances, Considering a nameless way of living, of almost unimagined values. As the lights darkened, as the lights of night brightened, We would try to imagine them, try to find each other, To construct peace, to make love, to reconcile Waking with sleeping, ourselves with each other, Ourselves with ourselves. We would try by any means To reach the limits of ourselves...

 then consider buying/downloading (whatever you prefer both a book and an e-version) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q5KBNNC/ref a review at Amazon 5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration Galore Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015 Verified Purchase This book is a miracle of inspiration for writers. I highly recommend it to anyone who even dabbles with the thought of getting stories down on paper. It may be the only encouragement you need to begin. A good book for writers Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2015 This is a lovely and helpful book. Sometimes just the right quote is all it takes to remind me that we writers are in this together--that it's hard for all of us, but that a writing life is a considered life and a terrific life. I came across a number of quotes in this book that I had never read before, almost all of them provocative and useful. I recommend this book to other writers to dip in and out of, for that little bit of inspiration and affirmation wh...

  The following poster was collaboration between Sister Corita and John Gage, Bohemian-spirited composer and musician. Theirs was an unlikely friendship between two artists; one visual and the other audible. Sister Corita came up with the rules but attributed Rule 10 to John Cage. Their friendship helped to promote and popularize the rules.  Now rules were familiar to Sister Corita as she was part of a community and a religious order. She also understood the importance of practice. A religious exercise or practice propels the novice into a regular habit, forces them out of their comfort zone or nebulous world of feeling into a practical duty. But art for her was no duty, but an outward expression of an inward philosophy of being. Which included doing. These rules are not art for art’s sake, but require picking up a brush or pen, opening the laptop, the WORD file, the story where you last left off. It is work, yes, but more than that; it is life. A state of being. Rule ...

My work on a non-fiction manuscript side-winded into a discovery: Sister Corita Kent. Think 60s nun movies like Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! Where a young nun comes along and shakes things up. Sister Corita came up in the teaching order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and taught art classes at the Immaculate Heart College for girls in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 60s. You might be familiar with her work—one of her designs graces one of the most popular stamps ever:   Now I have never been big on word or typography art—especially when it deals with religious subject matter. It comes across as pedantic. It also comes across as abstract light. I remember many church bulletin covers back in the day at my United Methodist church employed this kind of art work. This was a time when “modern” felt like it was trying too hard. It is saying “I’m hip, I’m with it” borrowing the lingo of the kids, but not the political ...

Writing is a journey. Every time we sit down to begin a piece or write the first chapter or the first line we are venturing into uncharted territory. We never know how it is going to turn out. Oh, we have a certain idea, like most pioneers or explorers. But, these journeys can take detours; we have to react to circumstances and often go with our gut. 365 Affirmations for theWriter is about listening to those who have gone before us and letting them guide us with their insight, their own trials. They know the terrain, how harsh it can be; they know where we can find water, shade, and rest along the way. By reading what others have said, we can survey the path before us, count the cost, and plunge ahead. My motivation for compiling 365 Affirmationsfor the Writer is to offer light along the way. From day to day, week to week, we are getting further inside our writing, further down the path. The book is 365 days of inspiration—quotes from writers and writing prompts. Here is ...

How do the professional writers, the ones making money, the ones writing for television—how do they come up with their material? They mine it from everyday life. The other day I was eating lunch and listening to a podcast and the person being interviewed, a writer for a couple popular TV sitcoms talked about the Monday morning writers meeting. This was when he was working on Everybody Loves Raymond. First thing the head writer would say was: What happened this weekend? So the men and women around the table would talk about family matters, misunderstandings, household chaos—the mundane. And, it worked. It fired scripts, kept a show running for 8 seasons. Surely from your crazy/boring life comes a tidbit/germ you can render into a story or incorporate into a longer narrative. Often I will draft half-done stories, knowing there is something missing. A piece to the puzzle that I must wait on. This seldom comes as true inspiration as much as paying attention. If I think wha...