“My creative rhythm goes by seasons."
the opportunity to contribute my words to this world humbles me
I’m realizing
how much my writing life relies on maintaining some sort of rhythm, on there being regular repetition within my days. For 30 of my 39 years, my life has followed the academic calendar–from kindergarten through two masters programs, and 12 times as a teacher. Now that I won’t have any more first days of school, I have the opportunity to create my own rhythm, to listen to what my mind, body, and spirit actually want and need.
It’s because of Dani Shapiro, whose book Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life I recommended in this newsletter’s first issue, that I’ve been thinking of my writing life in terms of rhythm, not discipline. “Discipline calls to my mind a taskmaster, perhaps wielding a whip. Discipline has a whiff of punishment to it, or at least the need to cross something off a list [ . . . ] Rhythm, however, is a gentle aligning, a comforting pattern in our day that we know sets us up ideally for our work,” Shapiro writes. Reading and internalizing this, I realize how much I prefer the notion of regular routine to regiment, how much more easily it allows my creative process to breathe.
I’m still sorting out the logistics of my routine–what my days, weeks, months will look like–and I realize that I may never find a forever formula. As I experiment, I’ve been especially inspired by the rhythms in nature. The daily rising and falling of the tide. The 28-day cycle of the moon. The three-ish months of each season. And, as I practice shaping my writing life around these glorious, self-sustaining rhythms, the opportunity to contribute my words to this world humbles me.
I’m writing
two vignettes that I haven’t been able to get right–yet. Many of the vignettes published in The Baltimore Banner are pieces that I sat with, off and on, for years. Every vignette is created following its own rhythm; I’ve learned by now that I can neither speed up (or slow down, for that matter) the time each one takes. But! I’m still impatient to see them in their final form, hopefully soon.
I’m reading
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt’s first novel. I started last night, and even the first few pages have me as engaged as previous readers promised I’d be. This month marks two years since I lost my brother Tyler; I’m already grateful to this book for keeping me company in my grief.
I’m recommending
This conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert on the Beautiful Writers Podcast. Ever since I heard her say, years ago, “My creative rhythm goes by seasons,” the sentiment has stuck with, and intrigued, me.
The Nap Ministry, whose framework of “rest is resistance” regularly reminds me to disengage my behavior–my productivity, specifically–from white supremacy and capitalism. Tricia Hersey, the founder of The Nap Ministry, is living proof: when we slow down, we thrive.
The How: Notes on the Great Work of Meeting Yourself. Yrsa Daley-Ward writes,
Those who do not feel low, unmotivated, or stuck these days are most likely this way because they have tried-and-tested systems in place. They plan, or they believe, or they simply know what works. They gaze at the gentle morning sun, and fill up their bodies lovingly, and choose their own stories, and hold close ones close. For them, The How has become a solid practice or religion. They know that there is now little choice but to keep what works and throw away what doesn’t. They know that giving thanks for even the smallest things that you treasure will attract even more of these things. They know that when they are feeling below par, it is likely because they have veered from the checklist of things that keep them balanced. And what of that checklist? How did they begin to understand, to create what worked for them? How did they draw up a system to follow? How did they identify their own nonnegotiable?
They invested in themselves by giving new practices a try. Even if they initially disbelieved, even if they were starting from little to no knowledge at all, they humored themselves and began.
This is just one page of a book full of insight and guidance. I read it in the last few days, and already anticipate returning to it again and again.