I’m on vacation this week, but it hasn’t been a very productive vacation. I know, I know…vacations aren’t supposed to be productive. (That’s why they call it a vacation, right?)
But I decided to clean off a bookshelf today, and wowza! I hit the jackpot!
I came across two old writing notebooks that had random thoughts and scribbles in them. Each notebook was more than five years old, and I was delighted to discover that each had some dated journal entries, some writing project ideas, some really neat title ideas, and even some old rough drafts of pieces that have long since been published.
What an amazing and serendipitous treasure these notebooks are to me! I’ve been trying to write something decent all week, with little to no success. Maybe I just needed a rest from my routine, I don’t know. But every time I sat down to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, I came up empty. Flipping through these “old” pages, though, really seemed to bring back some of the inspiration. Looking at one page in particular, which I know was written in 2003, I had a vivid memory of writing it - not a nostalgic memory per se - but a sensual one. For a brief moment, I was back in 2003, sitting at my desk, penning those words. This wasn’t your average flashback. I was able to pick up my pen, and continue working on this piece as if my work hadn’t been interrupted by the course of seven years’ events. Cool!
Not to jump off topic, here, but I’m currently reading a really great resource for writers by Julia Cameron, author of the highly-acclaimed The Artist’s Way. This title, The Vein of Gold, is a treasure trove of ideas and methods to keep your inner creativity flowing to the surface. In this book, Cameron talks about the connection we forge with our work when we write by hand, rather than typing on a computer:
“There is an energy to the hand, an energy of the blood, of truth, and knowledge that is deeper than skin. Blood is the body’s ink. We write our lives in it. The blood remembers what the mind forgets, and when the blood remembers, it tells the hand. Writing by hand is not merely writing. It is ‘righting.’ ”
I think that Cameron has spoken a golden truth in these words. There’s something about feeling your own warmth pulsing on the page as your ink and psyche breathe life into words. That’s why these notebooks were such an amazing discovery for me today. I feel very connected to the muses and scribbles within them.
I think I’m going to make a concerted effort to write more on paper and less on the computer in the early stages of my writing pieces. And I’m going to search those packing boxes in the basement for more treasures. I seem to remember a black leather-like notebook with pages of ideas clipped from obituaries and wedding announcements and classifieds ads. Maybe I’ll hit the jackpot for the second time today!
What treasures help you to stay connected with your writerly voice?