Checking in

For the last five weeks, I've been working The Artist's Way. This is my third time to do the exercises in the book, but I have a confession. I've never made it all the way through. I feel like this book could have been written for me. Spirituality and creativity! Together! Work my mind and my spirit and improve my writing all at the same time! I should be able to tap dance through these exercises, but there is a catch. Many of the exercises mandate tough honesty, actual work and shaking up my life a bit. Each week addresses a different issue in the healing of a creative spirit, and the previous two times I've stopped doing the exercises were on the same week.

It's not the week I'm in now. It's next week, and the issue is abundance and prosperity. It definitely says something about me when it's that particular issue that stops me in my tracks each time. At this time, that's a particularly touchy issue with me, so I'm determined to make it through all of the exercises and continue on with the rest of the book. Man, I to look at myself through the particular lens of money, prosperity, success and what I can expect and receive from the universe. Put this in conjunction with job hunting and budgeting, and I'm bothered enough to know that it's important that I make it through those exercises.

I've realized that this blog has pretty much taken the place of "morning pages" for me, but there's a significant difference between writing on a computer and writing long hand. I don't know why, but writing long hand really does make a difference in the thinking process. Is it seeing ink stains on my fingers? Feeling the callous in my index finger where a pen sits developing again? That groove never went away. One would think by now that writing on a keyboard would have developed some sense of the muscle memory that's involved in the creative process. It's a pallid substitute though.

Long hand just feels right, and I've been writing a lot The last two nights, I've sat up practically all night long just writing. I'm falling over sleepy now, but it's felt so good to have the words flow. It's been work, not the kind of magic transcription that can happen sometimes when you write, but it's been good. I've resurrected and reworked an old story that may just turn out novella length. Right now, the writing is still crap, but the story is good. I can refine the writing later. For now, I don't want to stall myself by being too hard on technique. It's better to write crap and edit it later than not write at all. Heck, that's where this story came from -- a story that was just too bad to keep writing, so I set it aside. It's better now.

I've got pages in my notebook filled with random lines and phrases that are just too good to not write down and forget. They're all images that have grabbed me, and I want to hold onto them until I can use them. Seeds of a few poems, maybe.

So, the writing is going well. I've got a good mental challenge to work on. I've been interviewing and one company is looking like they'll make an offer soon. I am so ready to be in a job again. The womanchild has been in and out of doctor's offices with an infection that looks tougher than the usual antibiotics. That's a little scary, but we knew this might happen. I don't even want to think about what our pharmacy bill could be with all the prescription changes she's had this last month. So, that's my little corner of the world.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.