On Risk

From actor, dancer, real estate businesswoman, inventor, and original Catwoman Julie Newmar in Esquire:

"You can't fail. The further you fall, the greater the opportunity for growth and challenge."




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Clutter and Creativity

I heard recently that Clutterers Anonymous is the fastest growing 12-step program in the U.S. Don't know if that's correct, but I can easily believe it.

In recent weeks, I've been on a simplifying and order-bringing binge and it leaves me lighter in spirit, in fact exuberant.

Recent research indicates that people who get rid of their junk also lose weight and have less depression.

On the other hand, there's an image of the creative space as one that's full of odds and ends that the creator can join in surprising ways and combinations to come up with something new.

I'm now convinced that it's possible to have both order and interesting odds and ends. In fact, the interesting ones stand out better when the collection of empty boxes is gone. Or the most interesting box stands out better when the drab ones are gone. And so on.

I'm delighting in this process of dejunking and neatening and that pleasure is one reason for my exuberance. I've always thought of cleaning up as something I should do, because things had gotten so bad--or something I shouldn't do, because I should really be doing something more directly productive.

It finally strikes me that getting ready and cleaning up are part of the process of production. And it feels as if decluttering is something I get to do, not a chore I have to do.




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Overbooking

Freelancers have to operate like airlines, overbooking flights a little, in order to come close to full occupancy. Taking assignments is like that. I've often accepted a little (or a lot) more work than is comfortable because things do get delayed and/or fall through.

This is just one aspect of the writing business that keeps us at the edge of our chairs.

In the last 48 hours I've had one project delayed for a couple of months and one finishing faster than I'd expected. This leaves me with one large-ish job that I'd thought twice about taking. Glad I took it.

More often than not, though, the jobs stick and the workload is heavier than I expected. It has always been do-able. I think there's a sort of internal freelancer's biological clock that knows what would be simply impossible.


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Facing Technology With A Stout Heart

In the last two weeks, my printer and phone died, and I had just started the arduous switch to mainly using a new email address and system.

Now, I'm not a complete tech dolt. But neither am I a techie. And taking on all these new systems and gizmos to click and plug and import, etc. is no small thing. It's a bit like walking a plank between two ships on open ocean. The fact that my identity hasn't plunged into the turbulent sea below is already a small miracle.

My progress so far gives me confidence in the way that Outward Bound is supposed to do: if I can sleep in a hammock in a jungle tree, then I can do anything. If I can venture into a different inbox, I can certainly solve any book problem. This really feels far riskier; we are after all talking about my address book.

So I am resolved: Whenever it's necessary to spend what feels like miserably wasted time on tech details, it helps to keep in mind: the high-wire aspects of it are character-building.

(If you have gadget enthusiasm, this post does not apply to you.)







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Monday Kick Start?

I just ran across a nice list of "creativity kick starts" . If you need something to get you going on a Monday or whenever, have a look.

One interesting thought found there: Adopt a Genius. Essentially choose a tremendously successful role model and study how that person solved the problems you're working on.

Now, that's a little slower than a kick, but could certainly draw me into a new way of thinking.



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When You're Writing and Get Stuck

Write down on another sheet of paper or in a different document what seems to be the problem. This can help in two ways. You’re acknowledging the difficulty and physically putting it aside. And/or, the “problem” can take you to the very heart of what you’re writing.

(This suggestion is an excerpt from a guest post I wrote today for Mystic Lit Blog. Do go visit there for the fuller explanation, and to read the other novelists posting at that fine site.)




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Orwell on Fear and Writing

"Good novels are written by people who are not frightened."

That's from George Orwell, author of some fairly daring novels: 1984 and Animal Farm.

And I know he's right. I had a lot of struggle with my previous novel Sister India, until I pretty much gave up on seeing it published in my lifetime and started revising it to be the way I'd want to leave it when I'm gone. (I did make sure that included a pretty fast-paced plot.) When I finished that revision, my agent sold it in 2.5 weeks.

I think that in letting go (mostly) of how the book would be received, I also let go of fear and the concommitant strain on the writing. Not so easy for me to do until it seems that there are no other options. I may need to learn how to switch into that attitude from the beginning.



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Feedback On My Novel

Here's what I just heard from an editor about my novel-in-progress, Cobalt Blue:

"Is Cobalt Blue a) primarily an erotic novel, b) a novel of spiritual awakening (with sex a strong, integral part of spirit), or c) quality women’s fiction that pushes some boundaries, but is essentially mainstream?

From acquisition to point-of-sale, publishing demands that one clear message be sent about a book. This is unfair and maddening to authors, but the reality we’re all stuck with."

To fit into any of those categories, I'd have to shift the weight of elements of this novel. Whatever I decide to do with the feedback, I do like to know what I'm dealing with. Because then I can decide on my strategy: how to meet market requirements without undoing my intentions in the book.

I've been through this before, and have always found that in the process of revision, the solutions are unexpected and the book has become better at accomplishing my original intentions.




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Keeping the Creative Muscles Toned

From the blog of guitarist and composer Dan Cosley:

"It's important to sight-read some music everyday. We can too easily get bogged down in the minutiae of the works we are preparing for performance. But sight-reading opens a window to a different kind of experience, reinforcing basic musicianship skills which can atrophy if left unattended. Most guitarists are terrible readers but can improve greatly with a daily dose of sight-reading. It's also a great way to explore the vast repertoire which is playable on the guitar. Bach's solo violin works are often on my music stand for this purpose."

What's the equivalent of this practice for your art?


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Seeking Applicants...

The job notice I saw is for someone who is a "JavaScript Wizard." Not me. But this part of the position's description is a noble ideal for any of us:

"• Pride in your work and a passion for breaking new ground.

• Deep knowledge of existing solutions in your domain, the willingness to utilize the ones that are appropriate, and the courage to create new solutions where the old ones won’t do.

• Attention to detail, ability to collaborate and communicate clearly, and the willingness to offer alternative opinions.

• Commitment to delivering work as promised, and ability to perform against demanding deadlines.

• Extra credit: Passion...."




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Late-Night Heroics

I emailed off materials for a grant application last night at 1:14 a.m.--then started the 40 minute drive from my office home. I'd started the last bout of working on this project at almost 3 in the afternoon and then just kept going. Tense and tired and delighted by the time I was done.

Very exciting evening. I love the faux heroics of a rush like that.

Some years back, Prince Charles and some folks here in the city of Raleigh started an altruistic project--Operation Raleigh-- involving a sailing ship with a global do-good itinerary. He said that it gave people the chance for peacetime heroism, adventure with a purpose.

A very useful idea (and it's still going). Because we all seem to have some need for our own style of derring-do. Best that it be channeled into a useful purpose, so we're not going around starting wars or jumping out of planes for no good reason.



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Creative Courage Under the Weather

Hard to be bold
When one has a cold.



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A Huge Goal

Working (playing) in my garden this afternoon, I had this thought: what if I decided to get into my best possible condition by the time I turn 60 next January 8?
Physically, mentally, and most important, in appearance. This would involve more vegetables, more exercise, no caffeine, and two or three other tricky things. I don't know. I continue to ponder. Could be it would just be a narcissistic waste of time. On the other hand, I might live longer. And other nice rewards. If I do it, I'll be gathering a group of like-goaled people. Don't want to attempt this one alone.


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Self-Exploration

From environmentalist John Muir:

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

This quote is from a post on Courage to Create blog encouraging us to spend more time outdoors.

Out of context, I find another meaning in it as well. Muir's thought about going out or going in reminds me that I learn more about myself by going out among people than I do in solitary contemplation.

I do find meditation tremendously valuable, for calm, for allowing ideas to emerge, and as a religious practice.

However, to learn more about myself, there's nothing like a conversation with a client, clerk, husband or friend, about what I can or can't do for them, and what I want or don't want from them, to show me who I am.

Sometimes this "going out" takes more gumption than it might seem. I think that's true for a lot of us.



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"Inspiring Innovation"

The library nearest my house has a magazine swap pile. Bring your old magazines, if you want to. Take anything you like, whether you've brought any or not. What a treasure! I love digging through that pile, and I find some delightful items.

Most recent great discovery: a 2002 Harvard Business Review full of lots of good advice for artists.

It was written for business people to help make their companies more creative. That fits us very well, I think.

The issue pulls together short articles by some business innovators. The titles alone create a nice little creativity coda:

Make It The Norm--from a fellow at Procter & Gamble, who says creativity is "the everyday task of making nonobvious connections"

Put Aside Ego--try looking through someone else's eyes

Mix People Up--for the solo artists, we're the people in question, who need to try doing things differently

Don't Fear Failure--it's a necessary and useful part of the process

Abandon the Crowd--do your own thing

Fight Negativity--it takes strong conviction to stay on your own road

Ask "What If?"

Merge Patience and Passion

Experiment Like Crazy

Don't Innovate, Solve Problems.


The list is from a six year-old copy of a magazine, but the ideas are still pretty good.






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The Long-Running Writing Group

On Thursday afternoons, I meet with my writing group, led by novelist Laurel Goldman. I've been in this group a few months shy of 25 years. As you might imagine, the conversation has strayed from writing a time or two. Also, we have tea afterwards at the Whole Foods grocery across the street from Laurel's office.

In a writing group, there's a higher value placed on total honesty than in other relationships. I want to know any possible negative a reader could come up with about what I've written, so that I can decide how I want to deal with it.

For one of the group to have a critical thought and hold it back would be malpractice.

In marriages and other relationships, total revelation of every negative thought is not required or even desirable, at least by me.

Yet I find that having a group of friends/colleagues with an agreement for full response--positives and negatives--is extremely interesting. And it's excellent practice in being diplomatic and unsparingly direct at the same time. We don't necessarily practice this skill in our commentaries on each other's personal lives, but the habit does persist and we're pretty damn forthcoming in all our talks.

It's one of the great things in my life, this ongoing conversation. I wonder if at the end of my life, I'll look back and think that the group was the point as much as the books were.


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Brainstorming: A Brilliant Energy Source

I've just come from an hour of batting ideas around at the N.C. Arts Council.

Brainstorming, as you no doubt know, is a group experience of coming up with ideas, good and bad, wild and tame, without any immediate judgment on whether they're feasible or appropriate or exactly right. All those questions are saved for later. In the brainstorming moment, no ideas are rejected, all are welcome, and people build on each other's suggestions.

Not only did we produce some good usable ideas and a rough plan of action, we got me very charged up with enthusiasm for my work now that I'm back at my desk.

The hour enlarged my sense of possibilities, which is always a good idea.


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Adrenaline Junkie?

Busy, busy day and it's not over--though it's time for a bite of dinner.

I keep reading that working under pressure isn't good for creativity and that multitasking makes us stupid.

This conventional wisdom about multitasking is probably true for me. But I find that working fast sometimes allows me to see the big picture much more clearly than I do when I'm sunk down into the material and paddling slowly.

Plus, the speed and the time crunch are bracing, a source of inspiration in themselves.

The moral of the post is: better that we each observe how we work best, rather than accepting these ideas unexamined.



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Post-Oscar Courage

Watching the Oscars--an event slightly more important to me than Christmas--always seems like a glimpse at the future fruits of my labors. And thus is very exciting.

This is no doubt a massive delusion. But such things are useful.

And there is a real motivating, booster-rocket push from seeing all those beautifully turned-out folks winning and celebrating.

Every one of those people has fought a tough fight to get where they are. Some reminders that turned up last night on stage or on the red carpet:

*Reese Witherspoon going to auditions and being told: "you're too short, you're too this, you're too that, please don't come back."

*Ben Affleck and Matt Damon working for five years on their breakthrough script Good Will Hunting

*Forrest Whittaker coming from a gang-world neighborhood of south central L.A., without the advantage of traditional leading-man looks

And the final dollop of inspiration: the pair who made the movie Once in three weeks with two little cameras and $100,000, then took home an Oscar last night, one of them exhorting the world to "make art! make art!"

So I start again this Monday morning enlivened.


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Improve-Your-Creativity Resources to Explore

Here are a few improve-your-creativity products that have come across my screen lately. I haven't tried any of them, so can't endorse. If any of you do, please let us all know here. And if you have any such resources that have worked well for you--please don't hold back.

(BTW, that Confidence Club CD that I posted about some months ago is working like gangbusters for me. Now instead of getting up my nerve to broach a difficult subject, I find the conversation is three-quarters over before I'm aware I already launched it. And this is working a lot better than the old hesitant overly-considered approach.)

Anyway, here are the new items:

Unstoppable Creativity, a CD, $8



Creativity Workshops in Crete, Prague, Florence and DublinWorkshops in New York: $750, tuition only.
Workshops in Europe from $1,850 including tuition and housing.

"...Uses Writing, Drawing, Storytelling, and Memoir as tools to explore and develop creativity. The Workshop is designed to help you find new sources of inspiration, break through creative blocks,take pleasure in your imagination, give yourself the permission, time,and encouragement to do creative work, and develop a daily practice to accomplish these goals. ... We teach from the point of view that people are by nature creative and that creativity, like DNA, is different in each individual."



Conquering the fear of writing , a one-day program you can do at home.

Please remember, we'd welcome any news of your results if you try any of these out.



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MadArt

Give yourself a few minutes of what creativity guru Julia Cameron calls an "artist date" and visit MadArt, the wildly imaginative work of Madelyn Smoak.

She makes jewelry that includes seriously whimsical crowns and "art dolls" with names like Queen of the Night Forest and Grand Duchess of the Noxious Weeds. One of her crowns, an homage to fellow artist Louis St. Lewis, drew comments that were themselves pretty interesting; two examples,
"AAAAAAAAAAmMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAZZZZ......ING" and "I genuflect, I genuflect!"

Her take on more conventional forms of jewelry is available now at Etsy.



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Rage to Create

"Rollo May, in his landmark study on creativity, The Courage To Create, gave a word to the central driving force of an artist's creativity: rage. Not inquisitiveness; not friendly upbeatness; not sociability; not cooperativeness; not outgoing personality; not charm; not professionalism. Rage. Now, he meant it not so much in a conventional sense, but as a creative fire. There is a direct connection between intense passion and creative brilliance."

from a website on video games and game design. Grassroots Gamemaster





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A Dose of Courage

For my husband's birthday, we went to hear a double-feature concert at Duke of soul and gospel singer Mavis Staples, and The Blind Boys of Alabama, an African-American men's group formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939.

Staples, from a family of musical activists, sang songs from the Civil Rights Movement. This music helped people keep marching. It's a rousing reminder of a long, long struggle.

A suggestion: For artists engaged in a long, long effort to bring work into the world, these songs can re-energize, refresh hopes, and put difficulties into perspective.

Try listening to a cut of Staples' We'll Never Turn Back, produced by guitarist Ry Cooder and featuring backing from the original Freedom Singers and Ladysmith Black Mambazo It certainly refueled my engines.



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Keep Going No Matter What!

Being a person of a certain age--as well as a seeker of stories--I'm an obit junkie.

Recently I read an obit in my local paper that I found particularly inspiring. Marjorie Anne Klenin, a physicist, lived with admirable flair. In addition to her distinguished career in Germany and the U.S., she was an accomplished pianist.

"Her friends considered her a true 'woman of the world.' Her tastes in art music, clothing, and food were always eclectic, unique and impeccable.

"...Her admonition about playing four-hand Schubert: 'Keep going no matter what!' was a lesson she appplied throughout her life.

Marjorie was always eager to make new discoveries and experience new adventures. When asked, 'What vodka is best, Polish or Russian?' she would resolutely answer 'Polish!' and proceed to tell of how she learned this fact while on a ship in the North Atlantic with an all-Polish crew. They sailed in bad weather--and being the only passenger who did not get seasick--she had the opportunity to spend the entire trip sampling vodka with the crew. This is how we choose to remember Marjorie--vibrant, laughing, and embarking on another unexpected new adventure."



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Inspiring Rites

This weekend, a wedding and a funeral at the same time. I went to one and husband Bob went to the other, each of us carrying the good wishes of the other spouse.

The friend who got married is 65. The friend who died was 44.

I took a lesson from this. Two, in fact. One: it's never too late. Two: don't delay.



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Increase Creativity: A List of Ways

Shanna Swendson, author of Enchanted, Inc. (Book one is Hex and the City)offers a fine list of "Creativity Boosters."

She adds the excellent advice to use these techniques only as boosters, not as ways to procrastinate about writing.




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Help with Book Marketing

Book Candy Studios is a new company that's doing beautiful "movie preview" style ad spots for online marketing of books. Fees range from $350 to $1500+. I haven't worked with them, but am very impressed with their sample trailers.

Getting someone else to help with promotion is one way to make easier the process of tooting your own horn.

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Ten-Second Meditative Moment

Here's a cool, calming and confidence-inducing trick. I found it in a book I put on my list of ideas for my husband of what I'd like to get for Christmas: Kundalini Yoga Meditation: Techniques Specific for Psychiatric Disorders, Couples Therapy, and Personal Growth by David S. Shannahoff-Khalsa. This may not seem like a good stocking item, but it has good stuff in it.

This technique is one piece of a long and complicated meditation for dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder. It's also for use in sticky moments during the day, when one might tend to tense-up. Particularly useful because it doesn't show.

All you do is take a deep breath and hold it for about three seconds, just long enough to think the syllables, vic-to-ry, then let the breath go. I do it two or three times, especially when I catch myself in any nervous habit. This creates a mini-break, slows mounting agitation, and is a nicely affirming message. (Vic-to-ry, BTW, is ideally not victory over other folks involved.)


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Getting Rid of a Phobia

It's not too strong to say that I've had a lifelong phobia about taking care of kids. (see previous two posts)

Well, I think it's busted. And after only two nights with three children, my admirable youngest nephews..

Harley, the oldest at twelve, says that it wasn't baby-sitting anyway, it's pre-teen caregiving.

Even so, the experience involved giving out doses of flu medicine, and being judged competent by five year old Franklin to shampoo his hair.

It went well. I did okay, even though the mother-on-duty at the carpool line at the elementary school found mysterious reasons to laugh at me every day.

Now I'm surprised and relieved and short of sleep. And it's Valentine's Day. An excellent day to leave social phobias behind.



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The Anticipatory Anxiety Was the Hard Part

Bottom line: spending last night with the three young nephews went well. (See previous post for my irrational fears about this.)

All three boys were fun and good company, and the older two told me everything that needed doing. And my husband Bob arrived mid-evening in time to go out chasing Dash, the hound I accidentally let out.

Pizza and American Idol, with our living room reviews of each performance, kept everybody happy.

In fact, with the exception of driving and the security of having an adult around, I think Harley (12) and Tucker (9) could take care of themselves and their five-year-old brother just fine.

I did flub a few things. I thought we could walk out and get in the car and that would take maybe one minute. Wrong. It was more like moving troops and Tucker was worried that I was going to make him late. Also, I left the trash can in reach of the two hounds and they spread garbage all over the breakfast room floor. But nothing serious went wrong.

And so a major barrier crossed--my being responsible, even briefly, for children. Tonight, lasagne, making sure Tucker's school project is done, and perhaps being a little more relaxed.


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Fear of Baby-Sitting

Kids scare me more than almost anything. What's troubling is the idea of being responsible for one or more, the trapped feeling of not being able to look away. This is no doubt a function of my touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which focuses on the fear of doing harm.

Tonight and tomorrow night, my husband and I are staying with my younger three nephews, ranging from age 5 to 12. They're lovely boys, every one.

Still... This is my vulnerable area, and I'll be there for at least two hours before Bob arrives. Intellectually I know it'll all be fine.

However, it still feels huge. Risky. Unsettling.

It's clear to me that one thing I need to do is give myself credit for doing it at all. Another is to let this remind me to have sympathy for people whose fears I don't share: of flying or public speaking or traveling alone.

I'll let you know how tonight goes. I expect that once I get there it will be fine.



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Characters Behaving Badly

From Digital Digressions: Debunking Popular Myths about Creativity:

"Creativity...involves making the familiar strange and the strange familiar."

In writing my novels, I seem to specialize in making the strange familiar. I like taking difficult characters, sometimes behaving badly, and making them clear enough that anyone can understand why they act the way they do.

In my writing, I want to make it possible to identify with anyone. Partly because it's a challenge. Partly because I'm curious about why people surprise me the way they do.


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Getting Results

We've talked in some recent posts about having a theme for the year. Here's an example that seems to be working for Kay Summerlin in California:


"My goal this year has been to FOCUS. I have attention deficit and
am easily diverted with my short attention span, so focusing helps me
stay on track. Dave built me a large bulletin board which covers a two
foot wide swath across my study wall, where I can place pictures,
words and notes about my studies. It seems to be working to remind me
of my quest. I have always tried to do too many things at once and
find that my research gets watered down when I don't keep at it."


Keeping one idea in mind, such as focus, or fitness, or productivity, through all the small decisions of a day can mount up to a big difference.





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Check Your V.I.T.A.L.S.

How Do You Do Something That You Don't Want to Do? Check your V.I.T.A.L.S.

V.
Validate-validate your feelings, the "I don't want to...", there is a real reason for how you feel.

I.
Imagine-imagine yourself doing it peacefully and productively.

T.
Take Small Steps-break down the project into bite-size pieces.

A.
Applaud yourself- encourage your efforts, cheerlead, and coach (e.g., enjoy the feeling of making progress on the project.)

L.
Lighten the load- remember what you are getting out of by doing this (e.g., reducing guilt, shame, or anxiety; avoiding the negative consequences....)

S.
Sweeten the pot -add something during or after that you like, reward your efforts (e.g., enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.)



Used with permission of Meggan Moorhead and Triangle Area D.B.T.



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Three Inspiring Opportunities

1. Learn to use self-hypnosis for putting aside fears and enhancing creativity. My psychologist husband Bob Dick is offering a one-day class at our house in rural Chatham County,NC, on February 22.

2. Writing with Horses: Finding Forward Motion in your Writing will be led by novelist/psychotherapist/
horsewoman Billie Hinton on March 1 and 22, also in Chatham County.

3. For those who can't get to North Carolina in the coming weeks (and the rest of us),Coach Laura Neff of Charlotte invites all to take part in a Living Boldly call-in discussion.

I highly recommend all three of these.


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A Message from the Universe

"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write."
John Adams, 1765

This quote was printed on the receipt I got for buying stamps at the Post Office (I still use them.) Most unexpected to find this bit of encouragement in that location.

I have another such object in my office: a wrapper from a Delta Airlines snack. It says in large cobalt blue type: "enjoy!" I keep it tucked into my box of manuscripts to read for clients.

Both items are now part of my rotating collection of found wisdom. For me, running across one of these little reminders can produce a small burst of energy, approximately equivalent to the impact of an M&M. And that's significant.


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Conquering Financial Fears

Artists tend to think a lot about money. Like round the world backpackers--when they cross paths, they don't talk about the culture or the historic sights. They talk about cheap places to stay that have hot water 24 hours a day.

A lot of us get very nervous about the subject of money, insist we're no good at it, etc.

A story on Beliefnet today sets out ten tips for beating the fear of money. It's aimed at the spiritually-minded, but some of the ideas could be useful for anyone. Like "Make Peace With Your Financial Past." That one is very valuable to me: I still beat up on myself for years of undercharging, for various financial errors I've made.

This piece by Susan Corso offers some strategies for replacing the guilt and anxiety, thus making better financial decisions.


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Graceful Self-Promotion

This advice is from, of all places, a year-old Cosmogirl magazine. It's aimed at teenagers: "Here's the trick to talking yourself up without sounding conceited." (I don't think I've heard the word "conceited" since high school.)

But anyone with work to sell needs to know how to self-promote gracefully. Here's one very good tip from the article: "Get psyched." We're advised to think of our most spontaneous friend talking with excitement about what she/he has been up to. "You don't feel like she's bragging because you're having so much fun listening to her, right?"

Basically let your passion for doing the work show, and it doesn't sound like petty personal bragging. Instead, what we're doing is getting other people excited too.


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Marital Argument

Last night, an argument on the home front.... I started it by mentioning something that was going to fester to the point of eruption if I didn't.

Wasn't pleasant, as I expected. But I did it, and am pleased that I did.

We didn't resolve it. We've only resolved one difference in 24 years of marriage and I've forgotten which one that was. Neither one of us is famous for changing our own minds. But each having said our piece, we move on...better for having spoken than not.

I'm fairly new to "mentioning" things immediately. And it's embarrassing that that's true at the age of 59. But better late than never, of course.

So I'm congratulating myself for getting on with it instead of waiting. It would have been a lot easier short-term to hope that the issue went away.

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Putting Your Message Where It Can Be Seen

Greenpeace pulled a pretty splashy trick this week to get a message across.

They projected--as you would with a movie projector--an environmental warning up onto the Washington Monument. You have to see this.

One night after Bush's state of the Union address and one day before a major climate meeting, these activists used projectors of monster-rock-concert magnitude, and shone up onto the white obelisk the words: "U.S. Global Warming Plan: Hell and High Water" with an image of water climbing high up the monument.

The whole picture and warning stayed up there, outrageously large against the night sky, for ten minutes before security people closed it down.

That ten minutes is the kind of triumphant moment that makes a good movie ending. I'm impressed they pulled it off. Makes me want to cheer.




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A Model of Creativity

A famous British advertising genius died this month: John Webster. In addition to his very imaginative work, he presented a model of a "creative type" who didn't conform to the stereotypes. From Blogger Jia:

"John was the antithesis of the caricature advertising man. Though supremely confident of his own talent, he was never arrogant, did not push himself forward, dressed unexceptionally, threw no tantrums and accepted good ideas from others gracefully, including ideas from clients, something few advertising creative people will countenance."

I don't think I want to dress unexceptionally. But other than that, I think he set an admirable example.

It can take some gumption to be oneself, rather than what is expected of an artist. Which he was.


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A Quick Pick-me-up

If you need a bit of uplifting, go to this site:
http://www.greatquotesmovie.com. It's wisdom put to music.

Thanks to Renee Warren for letting me know about this.


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Talk Nice to Yourself

Being yelled at can hurt your creativity.

University of Florida researchers did some workplace observation and concluded that bosses who are verbally abusive are doing harm rather than good. Both problem-solving skills and imagination take a hit when voices are raised.

The underlying principle appears to be: when you're the target of a harangue, that's all you're thinking about. And that's true even when the rudeness is fairly mild.

This would seem a no-brainer, but a lot of yelling and threatening does occur. And it's generally because somebody wants something done or done better. I think most of us could say that it doesn't work. I have an idea that it's also meant to be punitive; but whatever satisfaction might be gained by the name-caller/accuser is surely no compensation for what's lost in productivity.

I think this may also be true when we're verbally abusing ourselves. So cut out the self-berating and free your imagination.

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Creative Courage and Car Repairs

My 17 year-old car--which you've seen on this blog before because I stencilled morning glories on it--is in the shop today for $700 worth of replacement of small wornout parts that were causing it to rumble and shimmy and throb and would soon make it stop altogether.

So I've been working at a grocery store cafe (Weaver Street Market)and a library computer (Carrboro Cybrary) all day while waiting for this to be fixed. Pleasant places to work, but the whole idea of sitting outside of the car ICU (Autologic) does not make me feel bold.

So I tell myself: it's not my body or one of my loved ones that's in the ICU, and I'm fortunate to have such a glorious and faithful car that is now getting a whole new lease on life, and it's not $2,000, and I haven't wasted the day.

But the fact is: I feel as if I somehow didn't play my cards right or I wouldn't have to buy $700 worth of car maintenance today.

This is irrational. We all have to get our cars and our teeth worked on. And nobody can slay dragons every day.

So, I've decided that for me today's dragon-in-need-of-being-slain (since I need one)is the idea that needing a car repair and wincing at the cost are not an indication of bad life decisions.

Devoting as much of my time and money as possible to art is not an indication of immaturity or failure.

On days like today, I do need to remind myself of that.



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A Theme for Your Year?

A suggestion offered at my Mystic Pizza gathering this week: instead of a goal or a resolution for a year, try a theme. (Mystic Pizza is a monthly lunch of friends who are interested in mystical experience and related topics.) I think the idea of choosing a theme came from leadership/diversity consultant and writer Thomas Griggs.

Kelley Harrell of Soul Intent Arts said her theme this year is "allowing," not standing in the way of the good stuff that's happening for her. She likes this approach better than having goals, which feels too coercive and burdensome.

I like the idea too. My daily to-do list is something I rarely finish; it just gives me an idea, a set of priorities for my day.

I can see having a theme of being more fit, or improving my writing, or getting more work published, as a guiding factor in making a lot of daily decisions.

My resolution for this year is follow the will of God, which really falls more into the theme category. Because how do you know when you've accomplished it?

We did decide that a decision to follow the will of God is a lot easier than the resolve to lose five pounds, which is far too troublingly measurable.

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Heath Ledger

A sympathetic note struck by director-editor-screenwriter Richard Brody on NewYorker.com blog on the death of actor Heath Ledger:

"As we remember Ledger, it’s worth recalling the agonies that actors, from amateurs to stars, have to pull from their guts."

Any day we feel like beating up on ourselves for lack of creative courage, it could be good to remember Brody's kind and soothing thought.

Ledger, who played one of the two cowboys in love in Brokeback Mountain, was one actor with a lot of courage. I'm one of the very many sorry to see him go.


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Inspiring New Links?

Yesterday I discovered that two of my favorite bloggers didn't know of each other's marvelous sites, and both of them are on the subject of writing.

So--I'd like to ask you a question. What are some of your other favorite blogs? Or websites. On any subject. Please don't keep these resources a secret.


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This Prize-Winning Blog

Fellow writer/blogger Irene Latham of Word Lovers Unite has chosen this very location to received the Excellent Blog Award. I'm delighted, and hope you are; a blog is its commenters as much as it is the blogger. Do go visit Irene at Word Lovers. A post that might be of particular interest is Goals and Whatnot.

It is now my delightful responsibility to pass this honor on. I must tell you that I am so torn between two blogs that I insist on giving it to both. One is the newish Mystic-Lit, a collection of thoughtful writers writing about writing. There's always an interesting discussion underway here. The other is Design Your Writing Life, where Lisa Gates is doing excellent coaching with commenters. Her thoughts are insightful, and her encouragement is highly effective. I've had several bursts of productivity after visits there.

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Working in the Spirit of MLK

How I'm celebrating MLK Day today: I'm going about what I'm called to do without hesitation and procrastination. Doing my work in the spirit of MLK, following as best I can the example of his courage.

Part of me considers that a cop-out, since it's not a variation from my normal activities.

Most of me will be well satisfied if I carry through with it.


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"Celebrate! Act!"

Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the 40th anniversary of his death. This year's theme (I don't know who decides such a thing) is "Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not a Day Off."

I'm not sure yet what that's going to mean for me; I do like that it encourages activism.

I know a guy who decided in elementary school that he wanted to be an activist when he grew up. He's now in high school and is a volunteer with Greenpeace, the ACLU, and a group promoting gay-straight harmony. I'm impressed.

I've never been much of an activist myself--always one revolution behind, so it has seemed.

I'd love to know anything you're initiating on this MLK Day to change the world to the way you think it ought to be.

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If You're Taking Your Work Too Seriously

Here's a marvelous gift I received yesterday, meant to be a tub toy, but I spend more time at my desk. It's difficult to get too mad at the computer, myself, or the world, when I'm keeping company with Jack Nicholson Duck.


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The Business of Art

Painter Jackie Battenfield is a serious artist and a commercial success. She teaches professional development at Columbia University and Creative Capital, among other venues.

I've attended sessions of hers at Creative Capital and really like her practical go-get'em perspective. She made her first round of visits to Washington, D.C. galleries with her three-month-old baby in tow.

She has a website and an upcoming book on how to do what she has done: The Artist's Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What you Love .

Jackie has supported herself through the sales of her paintings for more than twenty years. That's an astonishing accomplishment. What she has to say is valuable not just for visual artists, but others as well.

Visit her website (click on her name above) for daily tips until the book comes out.

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"A Two-Book Deal"

I had terrific news this morning from a writer I've worked with: Deborah Dunn. Here's what she wrote:

"Wanted to let you know I'm signing a two-book deal with Simon and Schuster (Howard) this week for the book you critiqued The SAM Syndrome: Help for Women Who are STUPID ABOUT MEN.

I got a major advance and the editor of the inspirational division wants to cross over into the mass market with it."

This news has been years in coming and it's so good to hear, makes me feel re-encouraged about the possibilities. This writer had a good idea and she didn't give up.

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Building Insights. Breaking Boundaries

Discovered: another good source on creativity research books. A publisher called Elsevier has as its motto: "Building Insights. Breaking Boundaries."

The list of titles is long and diverse. The International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent. How Designers Think. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation (That's one I wrestle with a lot: am I better at doing the work because I love it and it needs doing? or do I need to promise myself a Tootsie Roll Pop at the end of a new page? Right now I'm running on love, but there's a big glass candy jar not far from my desk.)

This collection of books also recognizes the creativity involved in a wide range of activities. Not only are there books on advertising but one called The Art and Soul of Midwifery.

In my view, writing fiction is midwifery. It's just helping the story to emerge.




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How to Cook Up New Stuff

From an article in Vogue on the design of a pocketbook:
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."

I agree about the pile of junk, whether it's tangible junk or odds and ends of ideas and memories. I think we all have a good imagination, and when we sit and play with junk, that natural inventiveness kicks in.


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Shut Up and Make the Movies?

Woody Allen thinks it's better not to think about one's creativity.

He summed up this philosophy in an interview on NPR: "Shut up and make the movies."

I can see his point. At the same time, I find the subject of how-to-enhance-creativity fascinating, and some of the things I've learned from my reading and discussions have helped me.

I also know it's possible to avoid "making the movies" by reading about the process instead, or reading one's own press. Out of fear of that, I've read fewer of the classic books about writing than I otherwise might have. As is so often true, it's a matter of each individual finding her/his balance.

What has your experience been with finding this balance?

I find that my perfect ratio shifts quite a bit from time to time. And that discussion with my weekly writing group and on this blog are currently the right amount of talk for me.

I don't plan to shut up.


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An Inspiring Movie

Please see Juno. The movie.

It's full of characters who speak their minds--and so interestingly. Especially the leading lass, 16 year old pregnant Juno.

Also her father, who at a key moment says: "Freedom is not a choice that the world encourages." (I think I have that right. I wasn't taking notes.) This movie encourages honesty, of the gutsy rather than the petty kind.

If you see it, I'd love to hear here what you think.


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Fake It Until You Make It

A few blocks from my office a venerable Krispy Kreme doughnut store shows off its bakery through a large interior window. You can watch the whole process of doughnut creation while you're throwing down a few with a cup of coffee.

Yesterday my office partner Carrie came in and suggested that we get a Krispy Kreme-type device installed in our office doors. Each morning as we pass through the doorways we would be showered and frosted with confidence, as if it were the sugaring stage of doughnut manufacture.

One could argue that this would create only an exterior coating.

My answer to that is the familiar saying:
Fake it until you make it.

Confident behavior is treated like confidence by the outside world. When that happens, real confidence grows. It's also true that what's applied to the outside starts, after a while, to sink in.

Anyone who has ever eaten a Krispy Kreme doughnut knows that they taste pretty sweet all the way through.



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The Cross-Over Book

Alexis de Tocqueville, who observed and judged American character and life in the first half of the nineteenth century, had some critical things to say about the literary styles that succeed among the people of a democracy.


"As the time they can devote to letters is very short, they seek to make the best use of the whole of it. They prefer books which may be easily procured, quickly read, and which require no learned researches to be understood.... Above all, they must have what is unexpected and new. They require strong and rapid emotions, startling passages, truths or errors brilliant enough to rouse them up and to plunge them at once, as if by violence, into the midst of the subject....

"Style will frequently be fantastic, incorrect, over-burdened, and loose, almost always vehement and bold. Authors will aim at rapidity of execution more than at perfection of detail. Small productions will be more common than bulky books; there will be more wit than erudition, more imagination than profundity; and literary performances will bear marks of an untutored and rude vigor of thought, frequently of great variety and singular fecundity. The object of authors will be to astonish rather than to please, and to stir the passions more than to charm the taste."


The kind of bold that he's describing is not what I want from myself or the writers I read.

Unfortunately, de Tocqueville has a pretty good grasp of the kind of choices that the largest number of readers and publishers are still making in this country.

And that makes it very tempting to try to write to that audience.

Truly bold, however, may be doing one's own work without regard to that pressure. For me, it is to revise in a way aimed at satisfying my own standards and at the same time attempting to be accessible to readers in a hurry who are looking for a good time.

Not so easy. That's why for me the process takes so long.

It's because I'm "trying to serve two masters." That's supposed to be impossible, but I don't believe it. There's almost always one book on the bestseller lists that is complex and beautiful, even as it retains its "rude" American vigor. This is what's known in the trade as "the crossover book."

That's the slot I'm aiming for, the one that Tocqueville didn't mention.



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A Daily Mini-Meditation on Creative Courage

I find that writing every day about creative courage is firing up my own imagination and gumption. The act of scanning the world for wisdom on this subject--and then focusing on it for the time I'm writing about it--is driving the lesson home for me. I have a lot less hesitation about plunging into projects, less procrastination, than once was the case.

So here's a suggestion: one that will likely be useful for you and others. Comment regularly here on the subject of creative courage, boldness, passion, imagination, or any variation that suits you. The act of doing it can act as a a mini-meditation that fires up your brain, inspiring both you and your readers here.


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No Time to Waste

This afternoon at 2:34 p.m. I will achieve the age of 59. This is a significant number because of its proximity to 60, the official beginning of very late middle age. (Old begins at 80, as we all know.)

One might think that the shortage of time would "put the pressure on," and that that would be an unpleasant feeling.

I'm finding--for today, at least--that it does put the pressure on and that that feels good.

I don't want to waste another second with any of the following
TIME-WASTERS:
*busy work
*kidding myself
*guilt
*rationalizing
*things I "might as well" do
*being too lazy to get up and get what I need

Part Two of My Birthday Wisdom> Some months ago, I chose an overall rule of thumb to guide my decisions, an idea suggested by life maximizing guru Judith Wright. After some thought, I decided on: I am living my life as my best self.

This morning I realized that I need a new one. My test drive of the old one turned up one problem. It didn't answer the question: Why? Why live my life as my best self?

My new guiding line: I unhesitatingly, joyfully, serenely go after the best results, the highest good.

That may seem to be a small matter of wording. But for me the change adds the motivation needed to do the exercise, work on the book, develop the idea, make the needed effort and enjoy the process.


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Passion

"You can argue with somebody who says, I know this and I know that. But you can't argue with passion." Film director Tim Burton in Esquire

"Nothing good has ever been done ironically." David Granger, editor-in-chief of Esquire.


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Refresh Your Creativity At Lunch

I tend to have "my regular" order at every lunch spot near my office: a veggie plate at the K&W cafeteria, a calzone at Vic's, a veggie-on-sunflower sandwich at Logan's, the tunafish at the snack bar at the Federal Building next door, etc.

While I do enjoy these little traditions, it's nice to startle the senses occasionally with something new. So last week at the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, I ate at the cafe which serves only traditional Native American food, with different serving areas for different regional styles. For example, the Northern Woodlands area was offering cornmeal crusted frog legs, which appeared to be very popular (dish on right). The tamales (tamals, they were labeled) of the South American Indians were cooked and served in corn husks. The smoked squash and raisin dish was excellent. The pine nut and rosemary tart was terrific. There must have been 50 exotic-to-me items available that day. The cocoa guinea hen I will have next time.

This was a super-refresher of the tastebuds. But I find that simply eating something different at the local beanery is enough to give me a slightly new view of the possibilities in life.


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Adding a Flourish

I like the idea of making activities and places interesting that don't "have to be." For example, our culture pretty much expects us to tack up something appealing on our walls. But we're off the hook when it comes to decorating ceilings. Here are some particularly noteworthy ceilings I saw in D.C. last week.

The first two of these are both at the Museum of the American Indian; the other two are Union (train) Station and the oddly shaped ceiling of my funky old hotel room near George Washington U. Of these two last you can probably tell which is which.

I once shared a house with a woman who decorated the walls and ceiling of her bedroom with floral sheets. On the walls the fabric was tacked down smooth like wall paper. For the ceiling, she attached only the corners of the additional sheets and left them loose enough that the centers billowed and swooped downward a couple of feet. She was an art professor at Meredith College. Her room was otherworldly.





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My (Upcoming) Year of Cutting Loose

My New Year's Decision of three days ago is bearing its first startling fruit.

That resolve, you may recall, is to follow the will of God.

Just now at my dentist's office I felt an intimation of what that will is for me today. I was breathing nitrous when I sensed this, so you may find the guidance suspect, but I don't.

First a bit of background that regular readers likely already know: I have what I ever refer to as "a touch of OCD," or obsessive compulsive disorder. It's not the hand-washing kind that is the most well-known. I'm mainly what's called a pure obsessive, and my specialty is (has been) scrupulosity: anxiety about the possibility of doing something wrong. I worry about accidentally poisoning or infecting people, burning their buildings down, or worst of all: saying the wrong thing.

I have also, for years, literally "kept tabs on myself" in a niggling guilt-ridden manner that would make Dicken's Uriah Heep look like a benevolent god. My personal ledger sheet, always in my pocketbook, tracks how much time I've spent on every project this week and how much exercise of what sort and how much I've read French and how much I'm behind on everything, etc. And there are rewards and penalties attached. Enough said.

This afternoon in the dental chair when I sucked in some anxiety-relieving gas and, for a change, relaxed, here's what God-within-me had to say:

Toss the Ledger Book.

Did you hear that satisfying ripping sound when I paused after typing the foregoing sentence? That was the end of the ledger; its shreds are in the recycling bin.

There was a second part to the wisdom I received, and it arrived in the words of Jamie Foxx when he accepted his Oscar for best actor in the movie Ray. I'm spelling his line the way I heard it, the way he made a point of pronouncing it, in the Southern accent of his youth and mine. Foxx quoted his grandmother whom he credited with teaching him to act. She told him:

"'Ack like you got some sense.'"

This is my new plan. Instead of tracking myself, I'll make reasonable choices in the moment and hope for the best.

This is pretty much what I reported my therapist advising me a couple of months ago. He said get rid of your superego, your values will guide you. Since then I'd been feeling a significant falling-away of the weird charge attached to my "requirements."

Now I've tossed them. Not just for the day, but at least for the year. Even if I get quite nervous about this a few days or weeks from now, I will stay unfettered and unledgered at least until the end of 2008. Then I'll see if I've become someone who misses deadlines, has weak core muscles, and a dwindling grasp of French. Or if,on the other hand, something interesting and peaceful emerges. I have great hopes for this. (At the same time, I do mean to continue taking my medication.)

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Bhutto at a Raleigh Drugstore

Here's the story of my chance meeting with Benazir Bhutto, and my farewell to her, which appeared in my local paper the Raleigh News & Observer the day after her death. She was one courageous human, and showed that it's possible to be bold and graceful at the same time.



My Personal Prime Minister

One midmorning some years ago, while waiting at the Eckerd prescription counter in Cameron Village, I had a pleasant chat with Benazir Bhutto.

I'd been in line a few minutes when I heard behind me a South Asian accent and turned to look.

"Afroz!" I said. I knew him: a Hindi-Urdu professor at N.C. State University, Afroz Taj. He greeted me, then turned to a woman whom I hadn't noticed. She seemed so petite and delicate, but then I had on heels. What I noted of her Pakistani dress was layer on layer of fabric, shades of blue and plum, wrapped around her shoulders and over her hair.

I heard him introducing us, but was only half-listening. I didn't expect to recognize the name, or get it right. It would surely be long, delivered high-speed and accented.

I did hear. Her name landed on my brain the same instant I recognized her face, famous and beautiful, though a bit blotchy without makeup, and tired.

I fell all over myself greeting her. I didn't know much about her, but enough: She was a woman who had gotten herself elected leader of a Muslim nation. And she'd led with such feminine grace and style. When I first watched her from afar in the late 1980s, I thought, "This is what great power can look like in a woman who accepts it as natural, who is strong without having to appear hardened."

She seemed touched and pleased by my effusions. I don't remember a word she said to me.

Thursday, as most of the world knows, she was assassinated during a campaign rally in her bid to regain leadership. She had barely escaped death in previous attempts on her life, and I had feared for her.

Star power, controlled

Living in Dubai in 2002, Bhutto had come to town to give a talk at N.C. State University. Immediately after the drugstore meeting, I rushed back to my office and began strewing e-mail in every direction. My friends replied with messages that, in essence, said: In Raleigh? At Eckerd? Are you kidding?

That afternoon, I drove to campus with a copy of my novel set in India. I inscribed it to Bhutto, leaving it with a journalism professor who promised to get it to her.

That evening, the auditorium was packed. Bhutto came to the lectern in a manner I've seen evangelist Billy Graham use -- with modest bearing, unmistakable star power understated, subordinated to a larger cause. Her speech assumed a fair amount of knowledge of Pakistani politics, infused with a level of detail that's the stuff of C-SPAN. Most strikingly, she responded to a question sympathetic to current Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf by telling the audience that Musharraf "is a dictator."

She spoke little of her personal experience, but as she talked, a mesmerizing mini-drama was taking place between her and her head scarf. Diaphanous and white, it wouldn't stay put. Again and again, she'd gracefully pull it forward, then syrup-slow it would slide back, exposing ever more of her black, black hair. It was as though she traveled back and forth as we watched, between Muslim head-covering and the world of bare-headed freewheeling women.

A note from Dubai

In the weeks after her visit, I searched out her autobiography, and, of course, Googled her. I read how she was held in a cell with her mother while her father, overthrown prime minister, was executed by the Pakistani military. The man who brought them his wedding ring said the prisoner died a peaceful death. Bhutto questioned how peaceful a hanging could be.

I read, too, that she had been widely accused of financial corruption on a massive scale, and some details gave one pause. She denied wrongdoing, saying the allegations were political weapons. I used to think I was a near-infallible judge of character, even on brief meeting. Then the cheerful computer guy who'd spent hours at my desk helping me was convicted of murder. Now I am slower to assume I know for sure. And, in the instance of Ms. Bhutto, I have a bias.

Months later, an e-mail arrived in my box with an "@emirates" address. Spam, I thought. Instead it was my own personal former head of state writing from the United Arab Emirates to say thank you for the book, she liked it very much. I was astonished to hear from her, had never had a moment's thought that I might.

As real as car keys

Years passed in which her political efforts remained quiet. Then she returned to the world stage.

When I learned she was considering co-leadership with Musharraf, I thought of e-mailing her: "You go, girl!" But given the cultural differences, that line could be entirely misunderstood. And I didn't feel informed enough to encourage any particular course of action.

What I do know is that I had a stake in this fight. I followed it, wanting not only peace in Pakistan -- and, by the way, freedom of scarf-decision, with all that that embodies -- I also hoped, futilely it turns out, my brave friend from the drugstore would be successful and safe.

Thus Benazir Bhutto brought the fight in Pakistan close, making it as real to me as my car keys. She was a woman who was about my age, someone with whom I had identified and talked in the most ordinary, everyday way.

I learned of her death while in Washington, D.C. I should not have been surprised, but I was and am. I send sympathies, most especially to her young daughter, and wish her spirit godspeed.


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A Top Ten List for Success

Publisher and Editorial Director of SUCCESS magazine, Darren Hardy, offers the following advice on how to make 2008 your best year ever:

1. Decide to be Successful – Success is not a dream, hope or fantasy; it is a decision. Make the decision to change, improve and act on your ambitions.

2. Design your Best Year Yet – As an architect would design a skyscraper, write out the goals, plans and actions it will take to achieve the life you want to live.

3. Identify Your Passion - What are your unique interests, talents and gifts? Passion attracts success. Find what you love to do - you will never “work” again.

4. Program Yourself for Success – You will see, perceive, expect and create what you think about. To program your mind for success – read watch and listen to materials that will support your success.

5. Surround Yourself with Success - You are the combined average of the five people you hang around the most. Surround yourself with healthy, success-minded achievers.

6. Model Success - The best way to learn to be successful at anything is to find someone who is where you want to be and model their success habits.

7. Master the Fundamentals – Don’t complicate it. About a half a dozen things make up 90%+ of what it takes to be successful at anything. Keep it simple.

8. Get Fit - The mind cannot achieve what the body cannot perform. Your family, friends and career and future depend on your good health. Make it priority No. 1.

9. Remember What’s Important – At the end of the journey what will have mattered most will be your relationships – the people you love and those that love you. Make sure they are on your goal list for 2008.

10. Make a Difference – What do you want your life’s legacy to be? You have the power to make a positive difference – to a single person, a neighborhood, a community, a nation, the world. Realize that power in 2008.

Success magazine is for entrepreurs, small businesses, and home-based business people. That's us, because whatever your day job might be, if you're an artist, you're also an entrepreneur.


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My New Year's Decision

My New Year's Decision this year, which I prefer to a NY Resolution, is simply this: follow the will of God.

I did this once before, in the year 2000, and that year I finished and got a nice contract for Sister India.

So this is a pragmatic thing. I don't know why I didn't think of doing it again before now.

You might ask how I know the will of God. Well, it's not hard. If I ask myself in the moment of any other decision what that will might be, it's usually a no-brainer.

The way I see God, though, doesn't quite fit any religion I know of. More like The Force, as in May the Force Be With You.

Whatever your decisions are for the New Year, I hope that The Force is also with you.

(I'll be back in my office tomorrow. I promise to catch up on my email then.)


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Hogmanay

Just read that there's a holiday, in Scotland, I think, called Hogmanay. And it's today, last day of the year. The purpose of Hogmanay is to clean up after the old year, literally to clean house. Well, I've done a few things: unpacked my bags, anyway.

I do like the idea, and am somewhat inspired to bring new order. But it will take me a lot more than a day.

I expect it takes more than a day for everybody. Perhaps the purpose of the special day is to get us all inspired to start once again.

Happy Fresh Start to you.



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Checking In

Still on the road, and at a borrowed computer which I have to give up in minutes. I'll be home again tomorrow. And will soon have much more to say--about Bhutto, fear, courage, our ongoing challenges.


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About Benazir Bhutto

A story I wrote about my encounter with Benazir Bhutto was published today in my local paper, the Raleigh News & Observer. It's an essay and a loss I feel strongly about. I hope you'll read it. In any event, I say again here: I wish her spirit godspeed.


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Cool D.C. Lodging

Well, I wasn't going to blog this week, but there's a computer online three steps outside my hotel door. I'm staying in a hotel in D.C. at the edge of Georgetown. I always find cheap digs, and this has led me to some novel experiences. This one is a delight.

The hotel is the Allen Lee, across the street from the GWU's fraternity and sorority houses. It looks like an old-fashioned dormitory itself. And I was fortunate enough to get the room that opens onto the lobby, (thus the computer outside my door.)

The room itself is the truly fun discovery. First, it is irregularly shaped, to put it mildly: it has 17 walls, the bathroom has ten. And the room extends away from the building like a pier, on a block that ends in a corner. So I have traffic passing on three sides. And sidewalk voices, etc. Not everyone would like it, to be sure. I find it to be like sleeping next to the ocean







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The Eve of Good Things

Merry Christmas to you, if you're a celebrator of Christmas. Whatever you celebrate, I wish you well at this year's end. And I'll be back in action here just before the first of the year.


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