Writers in the Summer Surge Challenge face the hardest reality of the creative journey: Endurance. We’ve arrived at the messy middle. Our initial excitement meets real life: illness grabs some of us, moving disrupts others, and summer obligations pull at everyone.This is precisely where the magic happens.
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Four: New keys made/ordered, life set forward again, lots of rain and thus slug attacks on the garden...✂️...and a couple thousand words written. 📝 Painful words. Slow. Like pushing through dense mud, but I arrived where I wanted to be with a clever moment only a writer would enjoy, which was a sweet POV shift at the end of the scene (ala Jess Walters, The Thief. If you haven't read this, do it. Such an amazing story, and example on how to write killer scenes: https://tinyurl.com/299xuk7r).
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Three: Okay, so yesterday was intense. Five chapters. 4000 words. Kind of the worst thing happened for a character I love (dear Maria in prison and about to be turned into the unwilling concubine of a military official), which is why I was writing so much and for so long (five hours). Then took a long walk on the beach and...lost my darn keys. 🔑 My whole life on that key ring.
SIGH. 😔
Now I'm the one imprisoned by my own independence and have to break out long enough to do what I don't like to do: Ask for help.
Met a lovely park ranger who drove me home, waited while I dug out all my spare keys, took me back to my car. 🥬 I gifted her a fresh head of lettuce from the garden and many thanks. Ate a good meal. Went to bed.
Great to see all the updates below: Tracy hitting the Websters. Jacqui loading up Scrivener (pasted a tutorial for her). Konrad cheering on Kristi who's pulling together all she's written into "a draft." Updates on Kat's move...and more...keep up the great work. I'm off to write.
This morning I woke up with a dry, soar throat, and congestion in my chest that was also dry, and harsh. I know how to take care of myself and have gotten really good at helping my body to detox quickly. Slowly and surely I moved my body, rose up out of bed with the first in a long serious of hacking up and blowing out, drinking water, still having my coffee with cream and honey, feeding my cat and spending a little time reading. I could feel the dry flem become looser, moister and more cooperative in it's rising up out of me and down the sink.
I took my second cup of coffee outside. By then it was 7:30. I sat on my little white, wooden chair, the size meant for a toddler. I like this chair because it keeps me low to the ground and feels good to my back as my knees are raised higher. I had kicked off my slippers and socks before I headed down the stairs of my back porch and out to the middle of my only big patch of grass, filled with clover and various other weeds. My son is good about keeping it mowed, but the clover has learned to grow fast and low to get some flowers out there before the cut. I am careful to watch my barefoot step so as not to get stung again.
The wind is blowing just right, a little chilly, and the sun is shining on me in perfect alignment to where I sit in my chosen spot, warming me. I enjoy the damp grass, from dew and a little rain. I've heard that to get the best kind of earthing connection it's good for the ground to be wet, gives more conductivity (or something like that). I close my eyes and open my ears, hearing the sounds around me......the birds, the wind, the hum of freeway traffic off in the distance, a car starting here and there. I breath in the air, blowing in fresh from the washing of the rain, and give thanks for this gift. I turn my face up to the sun, feeling it's healing rays of light and warmth, and give thanks for this gift. I come the short distance down off my chair, making my way onto my back, feeling the cool, still damp, earth and grass, and give thanks. I feel all of this - the wind, the sun, the earth, and the place where I am. I feel the gratitude and trust that I have for my wondrous body, and for this wondrous life I've been given. I thank Father/Mother God for the wisdom of their wise and wonder-full partnership that makes all of this possible. I feel into all of this as I offer my gratitude and as I release whatever is no longer serving me or others, and that hinders my ability to do all I am here to do in a good way. I'm feeling better, it's good day. Amen, Aho, Namaste, Be in Peace
Like a journal entry, this. Such a great part of the writing process. Those early stages of creation where we get to know the inner landscape. I think of Julia Cameron's daily pages.
And dairy was a disaster for me, with overheating and phlegm and inflammation. Once eliminated it, and then reintroduced. I've turned to frothing coconut milk with the coffee. No seed oils, (the Calif Blend is best so far).
I seem to do fine with a limited amount of dairy, and best if it's raw. I like raw cream in my coffee, a little cheese here and there. If I venture beyond that I start noticing a little more flem. I absolutely agree - no seed oils! Pure poison! I stick to ghee and tallow (that I make myself from the fat I skim off the bone broth I make), for cooking, and butter and olive oil for other non-cooking uses. When I'm doing too much and stray too far from my usual diet (which I was doing both for awhile there), then add in bringing boxes of stuff down from the attic to sort through, full of old dust, it's just too much for my body to peacefully deal with. She rebels!
My week didn’t go as planned but I have hopes to squeeze in some writing this weekend. Tracy gives me an idea to take it outside and write pen to paper to reset myself.
Question to ponder: Do you find the routines you have in place to get yourself through each day well and in good spirits are set aside (to your detriment) when writing?
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Six: Hi all. Huge day of writing (Pt 3 wrapped. 2000+ words) and the cloud of rain and mist rose which lead to a productive afternoon of gardening and tending the land.
But, I'm working so hard on my project my shoulder is starting to bind up. I need (no I really MUST get to yoga), but it's so hard to step away from this momentum. Which turns me to the question above and my answer: YES!
What's the solution? How do we curb this intensity? I'll add my own answer in later (after I get back from yoga. LOL!)
Good to hear you are going to yoga! This inspires me to look for a yoga class I can go do in person. I've done yoga off and on since I was 17, at times seriously into a daily routine for extended periods. Then I'd fall out of routine, barely hanging on to a thread of flexibility till I'd get going again, mostly with my own core practice at home. But I haven't been in a good consistent practice for years. Being with people in person, all doing yoga, sounds so good and what I need. Thanks for the inspiration!
I met my goal of getting a good amount of writing done, between yesterday and this morning........1450 words! That's very good for me : ) And, like you, I also had a productive day in my "jungle" yesterday! I may even be able to drop the jungle term soon, yay! I actually made a path to my raspberries, yum!, and cleaned up along the edge of my property where they spill over into my neighbors yard. She will be happy!
I also had some interesting synchronities yesterday related to my query of why I continue to repeat cycles, learning the same lessons over and over again, and how do I break free of it all. (which the cycles of my yoga practice can also be a part of) I see some possible overlap with your question above Jennifer. I still need to write it all down, which I hope to do later today, after getting into the garden on this glorious day! Wishing you all a good day in whatever you are doing and wherever you are in the world!
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Two: A great night of sleep. A full day to work without one appointment. I've learned over the course of my long writing life not to take too much advantage of free time to write. When it comes, I need to embrace it with both arms because it will be snatched away soon. A part of me really wants to screw off. Garden. Putter. Organize. Tick things off the to-do list. Have tea with my neighbor and sit in the sun...but again, I know this is precious time I've carved out. "Make the most of it," I am telling myself. "Get in there. Work."
But first, a check in with everyone, which I've done just now: From a desire to consolidate and conserve ones energy, to struggles with illness and loss, to moving and searching for help, to this question from Konrad (which I love and now need to ponder):
🤔 "But don’t we all write in a state of dissonance - about painful times when we sit in a safer time or about wonderful times when life gets a bit mundane?"
What do you all think of this? Do you write in a state of dissonance?
I decided to look up dissonance so I could be clearer in the meaning. I'm glad I did. I found this meaning interesting....... (in music) A combination of tones contextually considered to suggest unrelieved tension and require resolution. (from the American Heritage Dictionary) Hmmm, yep! So, writing in a state of dissonance, or, in a state of "unrelieved tension" that requires....resolution? or at least a voice? and a safe place and time for the voice to land? Yes, I think so. Waiting for a safer time, and safer place, for painful things to be unpacked can be very wise indeed. And, also yes......the mundane times can benefit greatly from wonderful things written about! Thank you Konrad for asking this question, and thank you Jennifer for posing the question to us again!
I wish I had more to share. It seems I've become lost somehow. I have lost my true North. Things that weren't important now seem to matter, and the work I've done seems trivial. And still, I am unable to put it down in front of me. I am taking strength and courage from your posts. I have reached out to others, I visited many cathedrals and churches in Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Budapest...Where I could, I lit candles, took a quiet moment to tell God that my son is in his hands now and ask that he take better care of him. Those visits helped, somehow. I need to write. I need to put things down. I thought this might be the day to start, but it isn't. So.
Thanks for this Andy. This is HUGE time in your life. The greatest challenge of all before you. Take it breath by breath. Right now, and right now, and right now, someone is losing a child. You are not alone in this❣️ And conversations with the Lord are extremely fruitful at this time. With great suffering comes greater grace. Keep an eye on Bishop Barron talking this out with T. Carlson. A stunning conversation. https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1929583963216961612
Dear Andrew, my heart breaks for you. My adult daughter, who is the mother of two little girls, is seriously ill. She's at the diagnostic stage, where she's going through tests and invasive procedures, and a lot is unknown. It could just be a condition she'll be able to manage pretty easily for the rest of her life, or it could be much more serious. The worst, losing her, flits through my mind. Reading what you wrote, I see that when the worst happens it is unbearable, yet we bear it somehow, with the grace of God and other people who are able to get through to us. The writing will come, Andrew. I'm sure it will, when you're ready.
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Seven: This is our last day of the challenge. Twenty-one days in.
Most of you are sick, or on vacation, or traveling, or sick AND traveling!
BUT...we're still here and holding on. Jill is getting into her flow and Tracy wrote 1400+ words.
Yesterday, I got about 2000 down but most of all threaded in and tightened down a major antagonistic thread. During yoga, the placement of this thread locked in and I had to do more surgery to make it work. But...it works! Yes. And now I'm set to start up on Pt. 4 and the ending. What a huge amount of work it is to write a book. Memoir is great. I've done a lot of those, but a novel is a whale of a task (a good one anyway, and I hope this one is). No wonder novelists are so...odd! This is super odd and focused work. Fingers crossed I'm nailing it.
See you here today and on our new posts tomorrow. Keep on keeping on!
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Five: Getting into the danger zone of 116,000 words. That means that I am now past what's acceptable for a first novel in the business of publishing. That's fine, and troublesome, and fine again.
-> Fine because as I teach, you have to go big before you can go small. 3/4 of what you write is not necessary but you have to write it to get the 1/4 that's fresh, smart, and clear. I believe it was Robert McKee, author of Story who called it a 10-1 art form.
-> Troublesome because I'm now stirring worry to the mix of creation, an unnecessary distraction I have to content with and there's the added worry about not getting it done and dusted by September as I suggested to an agent. But again, that's way ahead of the game. "Martha, Martha, you are distracted by many things." Breathe. Focus. Get to work.
-> Fine because I'm self-aware (that's something!!!) and recognize what I'm saying to myself. I cannot stop the voices in the head but I can call them out, and keep forging ahead.
I'm wrapping Pt. 3 and it's now the last and final part where it all comes together. Another week and I'll be done. I think? I hope!
Happy Sunday, Corpus Christi celebration of the bread of life. I'll be looking through all your comments below now. Have a great creation day. 🌸
Week Three, Day Five…….yesterday, day four, was the official start day for Color of Women, a nine month creative journey I will be on with about 150 women from around the world. It rained all day, which was good for me so I could focus inside without being torn by the desire, and need, to get outside to wrestle with the jungle (raspberries still calling me from afar). I spent the day in my little studio I’ve created, carved out of a section of my living room with a table at the big window facing west where my reading and writing happens, and a long skinny table against the wall to my left, with a sheet hung up to protect the wall, where my painting happens. I created this semi enclosed container for myself in preparation for this journey. I needed to bring it all out of my bedroom, where all this painting and writing had been happening for the past year since my roommate and her two kids moved in.
Today, day five, I feel better, most the phlegm (finally realized I needed to correct my spelling : ) stuff is gone, and I got a good night’s sleep. I find it interesting the cycles we go through, I go through. I just came out of a cycle of doing things that I know are not going to pan out well for me, along the way telling myself, stop! But I don’t stop. It all finally comes to a head, manifesting in my body, and I say to myself, yep! I knew this would happen. So, why? Why do I need to continually know these lessons and still immerse myself in them to learn it all over again? I have clues to the answers for myself, just posing the question here, to keep it alive in me, to keep the awareness activated, and to be open for new insights to arise to give meaning to my repeated cycles, ultimately in hopes of breaking free from them.
My goals today are - write, write, write……. I feel behind on two writing projects that are super important to me……. so, today I write, and tomorrow I pray I will have a significant word count to report back with. Thank you Jennifer for this reminder, “you have to go big before you can go small”. I am going to write that on a card and put it where I can see it from my desk. “Onward” : )
It's been a while! Sad that I haven't been able to make it to the meetings, but here's a little update:
My soup: WELL! I've been swamped with full-time childcare and travel ever since my husband took on his new job two weeks ago. We visited the Bay Area and I toured 8 preschools and scoped out neighborhoods to move to, and we concluded that maybe it would be best to move to Boulder, CO, instead. So... everything is up in the air once more and I've had very little time to even just sit down. Now that I'm back in Colorado, I was really really really hoping my mom could visit this week so that I can finally have time to write. So imagine my disappointment and concern when she tested positive for covid :(
So now, I'm in "street fight" mode, wrangling for a babysitter, renewing my search for preschools in Boulder, prepping our house, doing intentional playtime with my son, but still, I've managed to snatch minutes here and there to write... a little over an hour today.
Oh, I am so so so glad you are staying in CO. SF is, well...I'm not sure I can say without sounding like a nut but...let's just say that yes, staying in CO seems a sane choice. I'm not too worried about you, Kat. Perhaps consider you're getting a "universe imposed" break to let all that hard work settle. You've worked VERY VERY hard. Rest is a good thing. 💕
Haha, it's encouraging to know that you're not worried about me, Jennifer :D Yes, I think a break's a nice way to think about it. It's sometimes helpful to take some time away from the project and look at it with fresh eyes later!
I'm still not certain if we'll be able to stay in CO, but we're in serious discussion about how we could make that happen. I think it will mostly depend on Rudy's work. But now I'm starting to look for preschools in Boulder, and so far the search has been encouraging.
We've actually been spending our summers in Oregon! It's a beautiful place (my mother-in-law lives near Mount Angel, south of Portland), but I find myself struggling with the winters. Are you based in Portland?
I live between Eugene and the Coast in a small town called Veneta. However, they are building here like crazy. Fifty more houses are going in up the way. However, we still retain that small-town feel, which is nice. The last I heard, we had a population of just over 5,000. I am not very familiar with the Portland area. Jennifer and Sarah know that area much better. Just to say there are many beautiful places here. Salam, Corvallas, Bend is awesome if you like winter activities and beautiful surroundings. Cottage Grove, another small town near Eugene, has theater and art. Rivers and mountains, beautiful areas. Eugene is a college town with a lot of things to do. There are many green and wooded areas that you can be near a city like Eugene or Portland, but not in it. Eugene's population is around 200,000. As for the weather, like everywhere else, it is getting warmer. Where I am, we might get a few days of snow. It does not rain the way it used too. I would think Colorado winters are much more severe. Okay, I hope this is helpful.❤️
I just wanted to jump in with another area in Oregon I love - Ashland, where there are hot springs to enjoy. It's a little drier, getting close to the California border and a little over an hour to Mt Shasta, another favorite place of mine. Just outside of the town of Shasta is a park and a spring where the headwaters for the Upper Sacramento River begins. I always stop there to fill jugs on my way by. https://www.msrec.org/headwaters-spring
Wow! That's quite intense! Kind of like stone soup, with all sorts of ingredients thrown into a pot of water then hot stones out of a fire added to get it cooking. Not sure if that rings true as a good metaphor but that's what your share made me think of. Hot stone soup.......rough, messy, a lot of work, but in the end, good soup to eat and share : ) I pray your whirlwind calms down soon.
I must say that meeting with the group and hearing about your challenges and successes inspires me to keep going. I'm finding that sharing my challenges is also strengthening me! It takes it out of my head and puts it into a safe space where other writers understand and can share what they know. It was also great talking with Laura today. Hearing her challenges and sharing mine. We all have them. Jennifer, as always, thank you for your wisdom and support!
Connecting with you during our breakout session this morning was uplifting and empowering, Kristi. I look forward to sharing more insights during our ups and downs as you continue with your memoir and I get cracking on my next novel.
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day One: Welcome into our third week. We're meeting at 9 a.m. and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! Here's the sign up link: https://lu.ma/s6xxws8z
And post meeting, a list of our successes and challenges:
Konrad: Quiet time late at night worked and a goal of finishing a chapter worked.
Kristi: Getting up early and working. What’s throwing her off is the emotions of the work itself!
Tracy: What worked for me was some of your comments and suggestions, Jennifer….it helped inspire me to get writing. What threw me off is life whirling around me.
Laura: The posts from Jennifer and the comments that got me thinking and facing things I tend to avoid. What spent me into a spiral is all kinds of health issues not just for me but also for family members...
Now what about the rest of you guys? What did I miss? Fill us in.
How can all of this interesting and complex history be poured into your story? Imagine the setting of a woman living in a house that she wants nothing more than to move out of… And yet… Sounds like the beginning of a terrific novel.
Today I feel better than I have the past few days while I was sick. I always get a boost when I feel myself coming out of a fog like that. It’s raining, which helps me with watering my garden and giving me an excuse to do inside stuff, but doesn’t help me with catching up on taming the jungle out there. I’d hire someone but other things take financial priority right now. My cat went to the vet today, didn’t get the answers I wanted, cost almost $800 with more decisions to be made…..yuck!
I am swimming in a soup of not wanting the jungle work anymore, feeling done with this big house, and done with animals. I’m down to one cat after years of cats and various critters. One time I had five cats, two big dogs, two birds, two bunnies, along with my three kids. Animals are messy, take time, take money, and break my heart. This house is too much for just me……but it’s not just me. I have a roommate with two kids, 9 and 11, and my middle boy lives in the garage (he’s doing good, has a job, is getting on his feet). Yes, they help out……but…….. if it was really just me? I’d sell, after 26 years living here, and get something small with a small garden space……. Then, I would have less stuff pawing at me for attention and, my belief is, I would spend more time writing, painting, making my small garden beautiful, with less stress and more time to spend with my family and friends.
That’s a dream. For now, I am grateful I have a place for these loved ones of mine to land for awhile. I am grateful for the arugula and peas I just picked and the abundance of strawberries this year. I’m grateful for the raspberries I can see in the distance even though I can’t bring myself to wade through the jungle to get to them. I am grateful for the Intentional Creativity community that helps bring me to the canvas, and for this writing community with the Summer Surge challenge that keeps pulling me to the page. The sun is peaking through the clouds, shining on me as I finish this up, perfect! Thank you sun!
The seduction of simplicity! I too dream of it and am even selling a property to try to achieve it. I never liked the idea of a condo until I owned multiple old houses as a single woman. Just give me a modern place, on a single level, in a flat neighborhood, with an HOA, and a hammock chair hanging from a single tree. Sigh. I don't know if simplicity is really the answer, but I'd love to give it a quick try to see.
Yes, the seduction of simplicity…… I like the way you’ve phrased this and have thought along these lines before every time I go through periods of overwhelm and think radically downsizing is the answer…. it is very seductive and YouTube is full of tiny home seduction that looks so simple…… how true would any of this actually be for me is a big question.
The weather often creates the perfect atmosphere for writing. After almost a month with no real rain on the north coast of Oregon it’s gonna pour on Friday and Saturday. I hope to hide out in my writing shed/bike & tool shed and let the words flow - but I’m at a point where my protagonist has to flee Seville and travel across arid southern Spain to Granada. But don’t we all write in a state of dissonance - about painful times when we sit in a safer time or about wonderful times when life gets a bit mundane?
Morning! Sliding in here before the bell. This week, here's my soup-- I am avoiding my mother after hanging up on her last week when she overstepped and over-accused and basically overdid-everything-not-healthy in my life to this point. I haven't heard from my son (who is in prison) for 3 days and that is always concerning. We are preparing to leave on Sunday for 966 miles road trip with our 7-year-old and I have some funky stomach issue after eating in a restaurant that was not my choice on Father's Day. But I am here. I am writing. I am trying to get ahead on some posts so that I can enjoy the vacay! See you soon.
Today, I am 26,939 words in and only on Chapter Eight of stringing my draft together. I realize I have a lot of words to eliminate. However, I must stay focused on the chapters, although I do a little revision because I can't help myself when going through them. I must say I am a better writer than I was back then. Ok, one small step leads to a finish line! Laura, how are you doing? I would love to know the name of the book you mentioned, which is set in San Francisco in the 1970s.
Gotta feel good getting your work transformed into eight chapters instead of all those folders. Don’t worry about the word count now. It’s like emptying a moving truck - everything in there seemed priceless when you packed it all up - but Once you get the furniture in each room you can rearrange, discard or decorate any way you want.
Thanks Conrad. I love the truck analogy because it feels just like that! How are you doing? We missed you on Zoom this week. I hope your writing is coming along well? You have such an interesting story.
My progress challenge is focus and taking on too many projects or tasks at a time. Although there are a few times when I have the gift of alone time that I will wiz way past my two hours of writing. Those days feel so productive, but then I have to work on stiff hips and tight shoulders.
Head on over to Week Four: https://jenniferlauck.substack.com/p/week-four-we-are-made-to-sufferand/comments
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Four: New keys made/ordered, life set forward again, lots of rain and thus slug attacks on the garden...✂️...and a couple thousand words written. 📝 Painful words. Slow. Like pushing through dense mud, but I arrived where I wanted to be with a clever moment only a writer would enjoy, which was a sweet POV shift at the end of the scene (ala Jess Walters, The Thief. If you haven't read this, do it. Such an amazing story, and example on how to write killer scenes: https://tinyurl.com/299xuk7r).
Hitting it again!
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Three: Okay, so yesterday was intense. Five chapters. 4000 words. Kind of the worst thing happened for a character I love (dear Maria in prison and about to be turned into the unwilling concubine of a military official), which is why I was writing so much and for so long (five hours). Then took a long walk on the beach and...lost my darn keys. 🔑 My whole life on that key ring.
SIGH. 😔
Now I'm the one imprisoned by my own independence and have to break out long enough to do what I don't like to do: Ask for help.
Met a lovely park ranger who drove me home, waited while I dug out all my spare keys, took me back to my car. 🥬 I gifted her a fresh head of lettuce from the garden and many thanks. Ate a good meal. Went to bed.
Great to see all the updates below: Tracy hitting the Websters. Jacqui loading up Scrivener (pasted a tutorial for her). Konrad cheering on Kristi who's pulling together all she's written into "a draft." Updates on Kat's move...and more...keep up the great work. I'm off to write.
This morning I woke up with a dry, soar throat, and congestion in my chest that was also dry, and harsh. I know how to take care of myself and have gotten really good at helping my body to detox quickly. Slowly and surely I moved my body, rose up out of bed with the first in a long serious of hacking up and blowing out, drinking water, still having my coffee with cream and honey, feeding my cat and spending a little time reading. I could feel the dry flem become looser, moister and more cooperative in it's rising up out of me and down the sink.
I took my second cup of coffee outside. By then it was 7:30. I sat on my little white, wooden chair, the size meant for a toddler. I like this chair because it keeps me low to the ground and feels good to my back as my knees are raised higher. I had kicked off my slippers and socks before I headed down the stairs of my back porch and out to the middle of my only big patch of grass, filled with clover and various other weeds. My son is good about keeping it mowed, but the clover has learned to grow fast and low to get some flowers out there before the cut. I am careful to watch my barefoot step so as not to get stung again.
The wind is blowing just right, a little chilly, and the sun is shining on me in perfect alignment to where I sit in my chosen spot, warming me. I enjoy the damp grass, from dew and a little rain. I've heard that to get the best kind of earthing connection it's good for the ground to be wet, gives more conductivity (or something like that). I close my eyes and open my ears, hearing the sounds around me......the birds, the wind, the hum of freeway traffic off in the distance, a car starting here and there. I breath in the air, blowing in fresh from the washing of the rain, and give thanks for this gift. I turn my face up to the sun, feeling it's healing rays of light and warmth, and give thanks for this gift. I come the short distance down off my chair, making my way onto my back, feeling the cool, still damp, earth and grass, and give thanks. I feel all of this - the wind, the sun, the earth, and the place where I am. I feel the gratitude and trust that I have for my wondrous body, and for this wondrous life I've been given. I thank Father/Mother God for the wisdom of their wise and wonder-full partnership that makes all of this possible. I feel into all of this as I offer my gratitude and as I release whatever is no longer serving me or others, and that hinders my ability to do all I am here to do in a good way. I'm feeling better, it's good day. Amen, Aho, Namaste, Be in Peace
Like a journal entry, this. Such a great part of the writing process. Those early stages of creation where we get to know the inner landscape. I think of Julia Cameron's daily pages.
And dairy was a disaster for me, with overheating and phlegm and inflammation. Once eliminated it, and then reintroduced. I've turned to frothing coconut milk with the coffee. No seed oils, (the Calif Blend is best so far).
Hoping you restore yourself.
I seem to do fine with a limited amount of dairy, and best if it's raw. I like raw cream in my coffee, a little cheese here and there. If I venture beyond that I start noticing a little more flem. I absolutely agree - no seed oils! Pure poison! I stick to ghee and tallow (that I make myself from the fat I skim off the bone broth I make), for cooking, and butter and olive oil for other non-cooking uses. When I'm doing too much and stray too far from my usual diet (which I was doing both for awhile there), then add in bringing boxes of stuff down from the attic to sort through, full of old dust, it's just too much for my body to peacefully deal with. She rebels!
You've got this, then. Good writing!
Yes, thank you : )
My week didn’t go as planned but I have hopes to squeeze in some writing this weekend. Tracy gives me an idea to take it outside and write pen to paper to reset myself.
That's a great idea! Now I want to try that too.
Sounds like a lovely idea Jill! : )
Question to ponder: Do you find the routines you have in place to get yourself through each day well and in good spirits are set aside (to your detriment) when writing?
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Six: Hi all. Huge day of writing (Pt 3 wrapped. 2000+ words) and the cloud of rain and mist rose which lead to a productive afternoon of gardening and tending the land.
But, I'm working so hard on my project my shoulder is starting to bind up. I need (no I really MUST get to yoga), but it's so hard to step away from this momentum. Which turns me to the question above and my answer: YES!
What's the solution? How do we curb this intensity? I'll add my own answer in later (after I get back from yoga. LOL!)
Week Three, Day Six
Good to hear you are going to yoga! This inspires me to look for a yoga class I can go do in person. I've done yoga off and on since I was 17, at times seriously into a daily routine for extended periods. Then I'd fall out of routine, barely hanging on to a thread of flexibility till I'd get going again, mostly with my own core practice at home. But I haven't been in a good consistent practice for years. Being with people in person, all doing yoga, sounds so good and what I need. Thanks for the inspiration!
I met my goal of getting a good amount of writing done, between yesterday and this morning........1450 words! That's very good for me : ) And, like you, I also had a productive day in my "jungle" yesterday! I may even be able to drop the jungle term soon, yay! I actually made a path to my raspberries, yum!, and cleaned up along the edge of my property where they spill over into my neighbors yard. She will be happy!
I also had some interesting synchronities yesterday related to my query of why I continue to repeat cycles, learning the same lessons over and over again, and how do I break free of it all. (which the cycles of my yoga practice can also be a part of) I see some possible overlap with your question above Jennifer. I still need to write it all down, which I hope to do later today, after getting into the garden on this glorious day! Wishing you all a good day in whatever you are doing and wherever you are in the world!
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Two: A great night of sleep. A full day to work without one appointment. I've learned over the course of my long writing life not to take too much advantage of free time to write. When it comes, I need to embrace it with both arms because it will be snatched away soon. A part of me really wants to screw off. Garden. Putter. Organize. Tick things off the to-do list. Have tea with my neighbor and sit in the sun...but again, I know this is precious time I've carved out. "Make the most of it," I am telling myself. "Get in there. Work."
But first, a check in with everyone, which I've done just now: From a desire to consolidate and conserve ones energy, to struggles with illness and loss, to moving and searching for help, to this question from Konrad (which I love and now need to ponder):
🤔 "But don’t we all write in a state of dissonance - about painful times when we sit in a safer time or about wonderful times when life gets a bit mundane?"
What do you all think of this? Do you write in a state of dissonance?
I decided to look up dissonance so I could be clearer in the meaning. I'm glad I did. I found this meaning interesting....... (in music) A combination of tones contextually considered to suggest unrelieved tension and require resolution. (from the American Heritage Dictionary) Hmmm, yep! So, writing in a state of dissonance, or, in a state of "unrelieved tension" that requires....resolution? or at least a voice? and a safe place and time for the voice to land? Yes, I think so. Waiting for a safer time, and safer place, for painful things to be unpacked can be very wise indeed. And, also yes......the mundane times can benefit greatly from wonderful things written about! Thank you Konrad for asking this question, and thank you Jennifer for posing the question to us again!
Thanks for this! Very interesting.
I wish I had more to share. It seems I've become lost somehow. I have lost my true North. Things that weren't important now seem to matter, and the work I've done seems trivial. And still, I am unable to put it down in front of me. I am taking strength and courage from your posts. I have reached out to others, I visited many cathedrals and churches in Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Budapest...Where I could, I lit candles, took a quiet moment to tell God that my son is in his hands now and ask that he take better care of him. Those visits helped, somehow. I need to write. I need to put things down. I thought this might be the day to start, but it isn't. So.
Thanks for this Andy. This is HUGE time in your life. The greatest challenge of all before you. Take it breath by breath. Right now, and right now, and right now, someone is losing a child. You are not alone in this❣️ And conversations with the Lord are extremely fruitful at this time. With great suffering comes greater grace. Keep an eye on Bishop Barron talking this out with T. Carlson. A stunning conversation. https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1929583963216961612
Fulton Sheen (the Bishop Baron of the 60's) is also amazing to read.
Dear Andrew, my heart breaks for you. My adult daughter, who is the mother of two little girls, is seriously ill. She's at the diagnostic stage, where she's going through tests and invasive procedures, and a lot is unknown. It could just be a condition she'll be able to manage pretty easily for the rest of her life, or it could be much more serious. The worst, losing her, flits through my mind. Reading what you wrote, I see that when the worst happens it is unbearable, yet we bear it somehow, with the grace of God and other people who are able to get through to us. The writing will come, Andrew. I'm sure it will, when you're ready.
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Seven: This is our last day of the challenge. Twenty-one days in.
Most of you are sick, or on vacation, or traveling, or sick AND traveling!
BUT...we're still here and holding on. Jill is getting into her flow and Tracy wrote 1400+ words.
Yesterday, I got about 2000 down but most of all threaded in and tightened down a major antagonistic thread. During yoga, the placement of this thread locked in and I had to do more surgery to make it work. But...it works! Yes. And now I'm set to start up on Pt. 4 and the ending. What a huge amount of work it is to write a book. Memoir is great. I've done a lot of those, but a novel is a whale of a task (a good one anyway, and I hope this one is). No wonder novelists are so...odd! This is super odd and focused work. Fingers crossed I'm nailing it.
See you here today and on our new posts tomorrow. Keep on keeping on!
I love it when yoga brings clarity.
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day Five: Getting into the danger zone of 116,000 words. That means that I am now past what's acceptable for a first novel in the business of publishing. That's fine, and troublesome, and fine again.
-> Fine because as I teach, you have to go big before you can go small. 3/4 of what you write is not necessary but you have to write it to get the 1/4 that's fresh, smart, and clear. I believe it was Robert McKee, author of Story who called it a 10-1 art form.
-> Troublesome because I'm now stirring worry to the mix of creation, an unnecessary distraction I have to content with and there's the added worry about not getting it done and dusted by September as I suggested to an agent. But again, that's way ahead of the game. "Martha, Martha, you are distracted by many things." Breathe. Focus. Get to work.
-> Fine because I'm self-aware (that's something!!!) and recognize what I'm saying to myself. I cannot stop the voices in the head but I can call them out, and keep forging ahead.
I'm wrapping Pt. 3 and it's now the last and final part where it all comes together. Another week and I'll be done. I think? I hope!
Happy Sunday, Corpus Christi celebration of the bread of life. I'll be looking through all your comments below now. Have a great creation day. 🌸
Week Three, Day Five…….yesterday, day four, was the official start day for Color of Women, a nine month creative journey I will be on with about 150 women from around the world. It rained all day, which was good for me so I could focus inside without being torn by the desire, and need, to get outside to wrestle with the jungle (raspberries still calling me from afar). I spent the day in my little studio I’ve created, carved out of a section of my living room with a table at the big window facing west where my reading and writing happens, and a long skinny table against the wall to my left, with a sheet hung up to protect the wall, where my painting happens. I created this semi enclosed container for myself in preparation for this journey. I needed to bring it all out of my bedroom, where all this painting and writing had been happening for the past year since my roommate and her two kids moved in.
Today, day five, I feel better, most the phlegm (finally realized I needed to correct my spelling : ) stuff is gone, and I got a good night’s sleep. I find it interesting the cycles we go through, I go through. I just came out of a cycle of doing things that I know are not going to pan out well for me, along the way telling myself, stop! But I don’t stop. It all finally comes to a head, manifesting in my body, and I say to myself, yep! I knew this would happen. So, why? Why do I need to continually know these lessons and still immerse myself in them to learn it all over again? I have clues to the answers for myself, just posing the question here, to keep it alive in me, to keep the awareness activated, and to be open for new insights to arise to give meaning to my repeated cycles, ultimately in hopes of breaking free from them.
My goals today are - write, write, write……. I feel behind on two writing projects that are super important to me……. so, today I write, and tomorrow I pray I will have a significant word count to report back with. Thank you Jennifer for this reminder, “you have to go big before you can go small”. I am going to write that on a card and put it where I can see it from my desk. “Onward” : )
It's been a while! Sad that I haven't been able to make it to the meetings, but here's a little update:
My soup: WELL! I've been swamped with full-time childcare and travel ever since my husband took on his new job two weeks ago. We visited the Bay Area and I toured 8 preschools and scoped out neighborhoods to move to, and we concluded that maybe it would be best to move to Boulder, CO, instead. So... everything is up in the air once more and I've had very little time to even just sit down. Now that I'm back in Colorado, I was really really really hoping my mom could visit this week so that I can finally have time to write. So imagine my disappointment and concern when she tested positive for covid :(
So now, I'm in "street fight" mode, wrangling for a babysitter, renewing my search for preschools in Boulder, prepping our house, doing intentional playtime with my son, but still, I've managed to snatch minutes here and there to write... a little over an hour today.
Oh, I am so so so glad you are staying in CO. SF is, well...I'm not sure I can say without sounding like a nut but...let's just say that yes, staying in CO seems a sane choice. I'm not too worried about you, Kat. Perhaps consider you're getting a "universe imposed" break to let all that hard work settle. You've worked VERY VERY hard. Rest is a good thing. 💕
Haha, it's encouraging to know that you're not worried about me, Jennifer :D Yes, I think a break's a nice way to think about it. It's sometimes helpful to take some time away from the project and look at it with fresh eyes later!
I'm still not certain if we'll be able to stay in CO, but we're in serious discussion about how we could make that happen. I think it will mostly depend on Rudy's work. But now I'm starting to look for preschools in Boulder, and so far the search has been encouraging.
Kat, have you ever thought of moving to Oregon?
We've actually been spending our summers in Oregon! It's a beautiful place (my mother-in-law lives near Mount Angel, south of Portland), but I find myself struggling with the winters. Are you based in Portland?
I live between Eugene and the Coast in a small town called Veneta. However, they are building here like crazy. Fifty more houses are going in up the way. However, we still retain that small-town feel, which is nice. The last I heard, we had a population of just over 5,000. I am not very familiar with the Portland area. Jennifer and Sarah know that area much better. Just to say there are many beautiful places here. Salam, Corvallas, Bend is awesome if you like winter activities and beautiful surroundings. Cottage Grove, another small town near Eugene, has theater and art. Rivers and mountains, beautiful areas. Eugene is a college town with a lot of things to do. There are many green and wooded areas that you can be near a city like Eugene or Portland, but not in it. Eugene's population is around 200,000. As for the weather, like everywhere else, it is getting warmer. Where I am, we might get a few days of snow. It does not rain the way it used too. I would think Colorado winters are much more severe. Okay, I hope this is helpful.❤️
I just wanted to jump in with another area in Oregon I love - Ashland, where there are hot springs to enjoy. It's a little drier, getting close to the California border and a little over an hour to Mt Shasta, another favorite place of mine. Just outside of the town of Shasta is a park and a spring where the headwaters for the Upper Sacramento River begins. I always stop there to fill jugs on my way by. https://www.msrec.org/headwaters-spring
Wow! That's quite intense! Kind of like stone soup, with all sorts of ingredients thrown into a pot of water then hot stones out of a fire added to get it cooking. Not sure if that rings true as a good metaphor but that's what your share made me think of. Hot stone soup.......rough, messy, a lot of work, but in the end, good soup to eat and share : ) I pray your whirlwind calms down soon.
Hey, that's a great metaphor! It's what things feel like... all in flux! Thank you Tracy, I hope things calm down soon too :)
I must say that meeting with the group and hearing about your challenges and successes inspires me to keep going. I'm finding that sharing my challenges is also strengthening me! It takes it out of my head and puts it into a safe space where other writers understand and can share what they know. It was also great talking with Laura today. Hearing her challenges and sharing mine. We all have them. Jennifer, as always, thank you for your wisdom and support!
💕Right here, running next to you guys. 🏃🏻♀️
Laura, I would love the name of your book about San Francisco in the 1970s!
Connecting with you during our breakout session this morning was uplifting and empowering, Kristi. I look forward to sharing more insights during our ups and downs as you continue with your memoir and I get cracking on my next novel.
🐦⬛ Week Three, Day One: Welcome into our third week. We're meeting at 9 a.m. and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! Here's the sign up link: https://lu.ma/s6xxws8z
And post meeting, a list of our successes and challenges:
Konrad: Quiet time late at night worked and a goal of finishing a chapter worked.
Kristi: Getting up early and working. What’s throwing her off is the emotions of the work itself!
Tracy: What worked for me was some of your comments and suggestions, Jennifer….it helped inspire me to get writing. What threw me off is life whirling around me.
Laura: The posts from Jennifer and the comments that got me thinking and facing things I tend to avoid. What spent me into a spiral is all kinds of health issues not just for me but also for family members...
Now what about the rest of you guys? What did I miss? Fill us in.
How can all of this interesting and complex history be poured into your story? Imagine the setting of a woman living in a house that she wants nothing more than to move out of… And yet… Sounds like the beginning of a terrific novel.
Yes, I can see that : )
Today I feel better than I have the past few days while I was sick. I always get a boost when I feel myself coming out of a fog like that. It’s raining, which helps me with watering my garden and giving me an excuse to do inside stuff, but doesn’t help me with catching up on taming the jungle out there. I’d hire someone but other things take financial priority right now. My cat went to the vet today, didn’t get the answers I wanted, cost almost $800 with more decisions to be made…..yuck!
I am swimming in a soup of not wanting the jungle work anymore, feeling done with this big house, and done with animals. I’m down to one cat after years of cats and various critters. One time I had five cats, two big dogs, two birds, two bunnies, along with my three kids. Animals are messy, take time, take money, and break my heart. This house is too much for just me……but it’s not just me. I have a roommate with two kids, 9 and 11, and my middle boy lives in the garage (he’s doing good, has a job, is getting on his feet). Yes, they help out……but…….. if it was really just me? I’d sell, after 26 years living here, and get something small with a small garden space……. Then, I would have less stuff pawing at me for attention and, my belief is, I would spend more time writing, painting, making my small garden beautiful, with less stress and more time to spend with my family and friends.
That’s a dream. For now, I am grateful I have a place for these loved ones of mine to land for awhile. I am grateful for the arugula and peas I just picked and the abundance of strawberries this year. I’m grateful for the raspberries I can see in the distance even though I can’t bring myself to wade through the jungle to get to them. I am grateful for the Intentional Creativity community that helps bring me to the canvas, and for this writing community with the Summer Surge challenge that keeps pulling me to the page. The sun is peaking through the clouds, shining on me as I finish this up, perfect! Thank you sun!
The seduction of simplicity! I too dream of it and am even selling a property to try to achieve it. I never liked the idea of a condo until I owned multiple old houses as a single woman. Just give me a modern place, on a single level, in a flat neighborhood, with an HOA, and a hammock chair hanging from a single tree. Sigh. I don't know if simplicity is really the answer, but I'd love to give it a quick try to see.
Yes, the seduction of simplicity…… I like the way you’ve phrased this and have thought along these lines before every time I go through periods of overwhelm and think radically downsizing is the answer…. it is very seductive and YouTube is full of tiny home seduction that looks so simple…… how true would any of this actually be for me is a big question.
The weather often creates the perfect atmosphere for writing. After almost a month with no real rain on the north coast of Oregon it’s gonna pour on Friday and Saturday. I hope to hide out in my writing shed/bike & tool shed and let the words flow - but I’m at a point where my protagonist has to flee Seville and travel across arid southern Spain to Granada. But don’t we all write in a state of dissonance - about painful times when we sit in a safer time or about wonderful times when life gets a bit mundane?
Great questions. I need to ponder and get back to you.
I'm honored we saw you in the meeting. Hope to hear your voice in the next meet up. And TY for your faith in the teachings.
Still pondering dissonance but Tracy's look-up nudged me ahead.
Morning! Sliding in here before the bell. This week, here's my soup-- I am avoiding my mother after hanging up on her last week when she overstepped and over-accused and basically overdid-everything-not-healthy in my life to this point. I haven't heard from my son (who is in prison) for 3 days and that is always concerning. We are preparing to leave on Sunday for 966 miles road trip with our 7-year-old and I have some funky stomach issue after eating in a restaurant that was not my choice on Father's Day. But I am here. I am writing. I am trying to get ahead on some posts so that I can enjoy the vacay! See you soon.
Your cup runneth over (though in ways you do not want!) Thank you for the share and the vulnerability.
Today, I am 26,939 words in and only on Chapter Eight of stringing my draft together. I realize I have a lot of words to eliminate. However, I must stay focused on the chapters, although I do a little revision because I can't help myself when going through them. I must say I am a better writer than I was back then. Ok, one small step leads to a finish line! Laura, how are you doing? I would love to know the name of the book you mentioned, which is set in San Francisco in the 1970s.
Way to go Kristi !
Gotta feel good getting your work transformed into eight chapters instead of all those folders. Don’t worry about the word count now. It’s like emptying a moving truck - everything in there seemed priceless when you packed it all up - but Once you get the furniture in each room you can rearrange, discard or decorate any way you want.
Thanks Conrad. I love the truck analogy because it feels just like that! How are you doing? We missed you on Zoom this week. I hope your writing is coming along well? You have such an interesting story.
Wahooo!
Ben and I are both severely under the weather just now, with a bad cold/cough. I plan to join but will stay off camera, if you don't mind.
Get better soon! Was nice to meet you in the breakout session.
Hope you both feel better soon.
Get better, Judith. I detest summer bugs. They seem so unfair. 🤧 (I've got one too).
My progress challenge is focus and taking on too many projects or tasks at a time. Although there are a few times when I have the gift of alone time that I will wiz way past my two hours of writing. Those days feel so productive, but then I have to work on stiff hips and tight shoulders.
I'm with you. I love when the writing takes hold and we've hit that sweet spot. 🧘🏻♀️