occupational hazard

I attended an incredible conference last month focused on the Science Fiction and Fantasy book publishing industry.

Everywhere I turned, I ran into an editor, writer, publisher from all of the major publishing companies in North America. I didn't (unfortunately) come across my favorite author of all time (who inspired me to be a writer in the first place - Robin McKinley), but there was enough there to keep me occupied.

Of course, there are lots of "sub-genres" in this genre: paranormal, mystery, paranormal-mystery, horror, gothic thriller, etc. It was a great opportunity for me to really s-t-r-e-t-c-h my imagination.

As a result, though, I have been imagining strange sorts of happenings all the time now, freaking myself out.

The other day, one of the little pipes in my condo had a little leak, leading to the sound of lightly rushing water in the middle of the night. As I heard the sounds of swirls and I reached for the my bedside lamp, I couldn't help but think, "gee this would make a great opening for a horror short story".

I quickly banished the thought out of my mind, knowing that just like every horror story out there, I would actually have to go "see" what all the noise was about.

Last week, I picked up the phone to have one of those phone canvassers ask me, "can I have a moment of your time?" It got me thinking, what if I said, "yes" and he said, "thank you" and then hung up ... would I find that creepy? Absolutely! And, off I go again on another tangent of strange happenings that make me really not want to answer the phone at all these days.

I like that my imagination is running amok. It's exciting! I'm just not so sure how healthy it is for my anxiety levels.

Consistency - the Sequel

consistency vs. passion

it scares me
to reek of complacency
Hear ye , Hear ye -
announcing
adherence to a pattern
shackles
rendering emotions useless

And yet, ardent passion
love of life
listening with one’s soul
has no obligation to commit

where does consistency live?
In the heart and not the mind?
In your soul but not in thoughts?

is human nature, by default,
inconsistent

is that so bad?

integrity might be a better goal ...
to have integrity sometimes means
being inconsistent
but you can still be
a
constant

**

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today. 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood' -Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

Ralph Waldo Emerson


(thanks to Quiche for stimulating this little round-about of a muse)

debt

consult the daytimer

plan the thinking
schedule the planning
planning the schedule

until you forget
that time
isn’t borrowed

Musings on Consistency - Part I

When I quit my job, I scheduled a week away in a cabin, on a lake, away from the city.

I had dreams of achieving Thoreau-like inspiration for my writing, but as anticipated, I spent the first few days sleeping a lot. However, I did get an hour or two of writing in each day. I was extra alert … aware that I might miss work or feel frustrated as I tried to re-integrate writing into my life .. but strangely … as I slowly fell into the new rhythms of my life, what surprised me most was the weather.

In the morning, it would be gorgeous – a shocking blue sky – followed by a violent thunderstorm, then brooding clouds in the afternoon and maybe mild weather, alternating sun and shade in the evening. It wasn’t always in this order mind you – but it was some strange combination of the three contrasting conditions.

At first, I attributed the strange weather to the lake. Perhaps, I was in the middle of some geo-thermal anomaly that made the lake a hotbed of weather dynamics.

But, as I moved into August, set up my business at home, and found more time to write at my own kitchen table, I realized that every day was simply inconsistent. At least, the weather was.

I’ve worked for many years in an office setting. Sometimes with a window and sometimes with just a picture of the outside world. Nevertheless, I had assumed if it was a sunny day – it was sunny and nothing else. I had forgotten that weather evolves, moves, creates.

Now that I have time, space and energy to really see outside my window – to see that weather is everything but a constant, I’m seeing that life is like that too.