Righting Wrongs: Writing Wrongs (and, What's wrong with being 'wrong' anyway?) Heartening to come across some juicy quotes in Sark's Succulent Wild Woman: 'The journal is a witness, an unconditional friend, a soul teacher. Sometimes we just complain. Writing out the dark thoughts lessens their power. Having conversations with ourselves in journals gives us chances to work things out in private. We collect and form our own history (and her story) with journals...Whatever coaxes us out of hiding, to write, record, and express, is a revolutionary act. It says that we believe our lives count. Our lives do count...It doesn't matter what you write in a journal. It matters that it is yours.' But, of course, reading the published diaries of others can be an inspiration also. Make an art of it - spread your wings and include: pictures, sketches, quotes, cuttings from magazines....
3-Page Trick:
Morning Pages - as suggested by Dorothea Brande & Julia Cameron. What are they? '3 pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do it...they're not even 'writing'. They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind - and they're for your eyes only. MP provide clarity, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize your day at hand.' They may also be uncomfortable, raise awkward questions, trigger pain or bring great insight. They are your commitment to you. They clear your system to keep you healthy.
Mistakes or Miss-takes
It really helps to loosen up the creative process to play - with ideas, colour, form, different viewpoints, different media - making the most of having the freedom to experiment. Crafting, editing, refining, polishing, and rearranging can all come later - time is, after all, one of the best editing tools, offering a sense of perspective. Morning pages, sketchbooks, creative free-fall, and journals can all play their part in the process. And, as in Art - so in Life:
The Reveal - The Trick in the Tale:
To quote Sark again: "Women are often preoccupied with perfection and miss out on the mistake-making process. We start with a vision in our imagination - then try to translate it into paint, clay, crayon, pastel, dance or song....We need to make more mistakes! As women, and people, and especially creatively...In order to have our creative voice heard, we must speak - even if we are unsure about what to say. Dare to make more mistakes! Laugh at perfection! Your mistakes are treasures and so are you!"
Funny how we sometimes need to see or hear it from someone else first, almost as though we need 'permission' to 'go and do thou likewise'. Even when we know this stuff it's easy to forget; so it's good to have these reminders. I'm grateful for these intrepid pioneers whose steps I can follow, before forging my own path in my own way. Can we ever really 'go wrong'? After any miss-turn - word on the street is: Recalculating...and really, the only way 'there' is from where we are Now.
Enjoy the Journey - enjoy the Journal - they are one and the same after all.
