Life in General

Before The Red Tent, before Good Harbor, before and during six books on contemporary Jewish life, I was a colunist," writes Anita Diamant, in her introduction to Pitching My Tent.  "I wrote essays about friendship and fashion, about marriage and electoral politics, about abortion, lingerie, situation comedies, birth, death, God, country, and my dog.  I covered the waterfront and the supermarket, my synagogue, the waiting room outside the intensive care unit, and my own kitchen table.  My job was to report on the events of the day and the changes under my own roof.  The challenge was to pay closer-than-average attention and then shape my experiences and reactions into entertaining prose that rose above the level of my own navel.  It was more than a great job - it was a meaningful job.

Life in General - that's the subtitle of my other blog, Becca's Byline.  But it's also the underlying theme of most things I write about.  Certainly my life isn't exciting or unique by modern standards.  Mostly it's consumed with family and friendships, work and hobbies, worries and fears about the world around me.  These are the subjects all humans confront every day, the experiences of life in general.

The uniqueness is in what we make of those experiences, how we process the ordinary (and extraordinary!) events of our lives, the individual filter through which we view everything from our most cherished relationships to the process of picking fresh fruit at the market.  That vision becomes the basis of our artistic expression, whether it's with words and music or paint, clay and fabric.

I love reading personal essays, because they provide me with another viewpoint on Life In General, this thing we're all immersed in every day.  Anna Quindlen and Carolyn Knapp are two of my favorite contemporary essayists.  Joyce Carol Oates writes a pretty mean essay, and Anne Fadiman produces some wonderful personal writing about literature and life.   Yes, these are women whose lives might seem richer and more fulfilled than yours and mine.  But it's their witty and insightful reflections on those normal everyday events - walking the dog, making coffee, reading books- which truly help me put my own world into perspective.  See, I tell myself, they have the same problems and needs as I. 

It's this intimate way of expressing our relationship with Life In General that makes blogging such an exciting format.  We have access to sharing life experiences with hundreds of people, and the opportunity to fine tune our self expression in the process.

When it comes to our writing, individual experiences are extremely valuable.  It's not narcissism to value our lives and what we've done with them - it's a way of paying witness to ourselves and to the things which matter.  Becoming attuned to the special value of each passing moment allows us to transmit the details into words and images which in turn become valued by our readers.

"Writing is an act of self-cherishing," writes Julia Cameron.  "We often write most deeply and happily on those areas closest to our heart." 

So tell me, what are the areas closest to your heart?  What aspects of your life in general do you find yourself sharing in writing?  Do you enjoy reading/writing personal essays? Who are some of your favorite essayists?  

Extra Credit (from The Right to Write): In your journal, list 50 things you're proud of about yourself...what does this list tell you about the things you value most?   

It's Me, Becca

Dear God, It's me, Becca. 

I know we don't usually communicate in this fashion, but I've begun to feel as if you aren't listening too closely so I thought I'd try a different tack.

You see, there's a bunch of stuff going on in the world right now that's making me - well, mad.  Really mad.  Mad enough that sometimes I just want to grab you by the shoulders and shake some sense into you.  What's going on with you, anyway?   What's the deal with all these companies going bankrupt, and people losing their jobs right and left, and our retirement savings going down the toilet?  While we're at it, what about all these people with Alzheimer's and cancer?  And the folks who can't afford health care or medicine?  What about all these rich people who just get richer, while the rest of us get poorer? 

Okay, I know I'm luckier than a whole bunch of other folks out there.  But I gotta tell you, it really feels like things just aren't going according to plan these days. 

What's that?  Whose plan?  you ask.

Well, my plan. 

Once upon a time, God, I made some plans for my life. Now, don't laugh...supposedly you gave us all free will, so I thought I was perfectly within my rights to make plans.  I was going to have a nice home in Michigan and a nice home in Florida and travel back and forth between the two.  I was going to have some nice little grandchildren to spoil, and every year take a nice trip or two to some exotic location.  I was going to write some nice books, and maybe belong to a nice musical group or two.

Nice life, huh?

But now it seems like the whole world's going to hell in a handbasket (excuse my language), and my plans are going with it.  I'm kind of wondering what you're doing about it.

I know, I know, "all things work together for good..." - you don't have to remind me - that used to be one of my favorite verses.  I'm here to tell you, God, I'm getting a little bit worried about when the good part is going to get here.

So anyway, if you happen to be surfing the 'net today and run across this post, I wish you'd take some things into consideration.  You know, I've always worked hard to be the kind of person I'm supposed to be, doing unto others and all that.  I don't claim to be perfect at that, but I give it a really good shot.  There's a lot of us down here who try to live by your principles and ideas.  We'd sure like to see that work together for some good in our lives. 

 Now, I'm not trying to tell you how to handle this business of being in charge of the world.  I'm just saying.

I suppose that's it for today.  Sorry for venting, God.  Guess I just need to let off a little steam.  Maybe you feel the same way sometimes.

Thanks for listening.

~Becca

Warm Ups

Music and writing are woven throughout my life like the strands of a double helix, and I often learn things from one discipline which can be applied to the other.  Warm ups, for example.  Singers simply must warm up their vocal chords before a performance, and there is a wide variety of exercises designed to target specific aspects of vocal production.  The high school girls love to do "sirens," a high pitched "woo-oo" sound which gets them singing in their head voice and also relieves a lot of tension, effectively serving as a  (safe!) vocal scream. As a pianist, I need those warm up exercises too, and the older I get the more important they are.  My fingers are literally stiff until I've played for a bit, and my mind needs some time to focus itself on the music, to set aside my worries from the day and hone in on the nuances of those notes in front of me.  If I'm playing a different instrument, the warm up becomes even more important.  What's the key action like?  Is the pedal sticky or loose?  Is the upper register overly bright?  All those things are important to know to avoid being surprised during the actual performance.

In this month's Poets and Writers Magazine, novelist Bret Anthony Johnson writes about the effectiveness of writer's warmups, which, not surprisingly, serve similar purposes for the writer as they do for the musician. Ellis calls them Narrative Calisthenics, and says they transition the writer from the world of daily living into the world of the imagination.

"Writing exercise purges my mind of everything but a concentrated attention to language.  I've forgotten about the leaky faucet or the overdue library book, and most importantly, I've released my fear about starting the morning's writing."

Ah yes, the fear of the blank page.  Sometimes that seems almost insurmountable, doesn't it?  Here are a couple of Johnson's suggestions to get the writing muscles warmed up:

1. Spend five minutes listing every word you can think of that starts with the letter "a"; tomorrow, use "b"; and so on...
2. Spend five minutes listing everything you can think of that's the color blue; tomorrow, green, and so on...
3. Open your dictionary and blindly point to an entry.  Do this until you land on a noun, then spend 10 minutes writing a scene in which that noun figures significantly.

About two years ago, I began doing Morning Pages, as recommended by Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way).  I've found those three pages of stream of consciousness writing each morning to be a useful warm up exercise, a way of "priming the pump" of my imagination.  However, they often become an emotional clearing house for worries and concerns which have little or nothing to do with my writing projects.  I see the value of Johnson's objective writing exercises as a way to sharpen the focus before embarking on whatever writing you're engaged in.

"Writing is one of the most difficult and frightening things anyone chooses to do," Johnson concludes.  "Exercises make the work a little easier and a little less terrifying."

How about you?  Do you do writing exercises or warm ups?  Do you think they could be valuable?  Have you found warm up exercises helpful in some other area of your life, e.g. art, music, athletics?  

Extra Credit: Try one of Johnson's exercises above, and post about your experiences.  Or create an exercise of your own and share it.

What I Know For Sure

There are days of late when I feel as if surety about anything is impossible.  Yet reading the responses to this phrase in last month's issue of O Magazine got me thinking a bit more seriously.  I realize there are some things which, for better or worse, I can assert with a degree of certainty, at least in my own experience. 

So here goes:

I know that every human being needs a passion, and pursuing that passion will enrich your life in ways you never expected. 

I know that it's good to step outside of your box, to expand your horizons, and stretch your boudaries.  You like yourself better when you do.

I know that moderation is the key to all things - to food, drink, work, play, and even love.

I know there's a good reason that dog is god spelled backwards.

I know that family is the rock and foundation of every bit of happiness we have.

But I also know that friends can fill the gaps which occur in even the best of families.

I know that, in the amusement park of life, sometimes we're on the roller coaster, but more often its the swan boats.

I know that all good things come to and end, and that this too shall pass.

I know that all things work together for good.

I know that tomorrow I'll be sure of more than I am today.

Now tell me, what do you know for sure?

Write On Wednesday -Staying the Course

Yeah, I know it's Sunday (soon to be Monday, actually). But it's been that kind of week.  Starting out with an extra hour last Sunday was blissful, but I could have used at least 25 hours every day this week, and then maybe, just maybe, I might be on track. This week's Write On Wednesday topic focused on this thought:

The outcome of the election is a good reminder of the way dreams come true.  But geting there involves not only the courage to embark on the project, but the strength to stay the course when the going gets rough. How are you doing with staying the course toward the fulfillment of your writing dreams?

In my work life, I've become quite good at completing big projects.  My office job requires multi-tasking on numerous levels, and I've learned to keep a daily list of the things that need to get done, and calendar deadlines for future project due dates.

At work, I know I must stay the course - other people and our business depend on me.

In my musical life, I developed a method to see me through the long weeks leading up to concert time.  Early on in my "performing" career, I learned that I needed to feel extremely well prepared to forestall those performance anxiety attacks that lead to jittery failures on stage.  So I made sure I practiced a lot, practiced so much that my body could do the work required even if my mind went into nervous overdrive.  I worked hard so that I felt confident, and so that my "muscle memory" could take over onstage if my nerve should momentarily fail me.

In my writing life, things are a bit different.  I find it easier to "slip off course" because (1) there are no deadlines looming; and (2) no one is depending on me to deliver a finished project.  So my writing dreams get put on the back burner in deference to other responsibilities which take priority.

The conclusions here are quite obvious, aren't they?  In order to "stay the course" and complete tasks to my satisfaction, I need the impetus of deadlines and personal accountability to others.  So how do I find those in my writing life?

Blogging provides a certain amount of accountability - many times I've been tempted to throw in the towel on this writing habit, but my blogs and the people I've come to consider my friends in this arena hold me accountable.  This week's Write On Wednesday was a good example. In the crush of election excitement, work deadlines, and preparing for a trip out of town, Wednesday was gone before I knew it.  So skip it, I told myself...who cares?

Well, Bobbi, and Oh, and Corri...people who emailed me or posted about missing this weekly place to talk about writing and explore the way creativity works in their lives.

So perhaps staying the course is grounded in the perceived value of the task-not just to the individual involved, but to the community at large.

So thanks for keeping me on task and helping me continue along the road to achieving those writing dreams.