I begin this in my living room on Saturday morning listening to a groovy
collection of John Zorn music. New to me and highly compatible with my
current state of mind. There are tulips blooming everywhere, the leaves
are
emerging and the mountainside is changing shape and color with every
moment. The garden is coming together here and at the Urban Farm. The
Japanese maple outside the bedroom window that reminds me where I am in
time is greeting me with delicate chartreuse leaves extended on flaming
red branches. On the nights when the moon was full and the night was
clear the tree was black and white as if covered in snow. Waking and
seeing it at first, I could not believe my eyes. It took a moment for my
brain to understand that it was moonlight and not snow after all. I
heard some good poems read and I saw a few concerts and reconnected with
the dreaminess of listening to art performed. By chance we got a
hand-me-down piano, something I have wanted for a long time but was not
sure I could afford. My neck is healing. It has taken awhile and it is
still not quite 100%. I am feeling reclusive, selective about who I see
and what I take on beyond what I am working on. I think it is a healing
response and at the same time I think it is a transition period for me.
Taxes—the most recent obstacle to my creative pursuits— are done. And
today I am washing my office floor—preparing the space for work. Space
to work gets lost in the chaos of life; hidden under paper, place mats
and unopened bills. The truth is the cleaning is all part of the
practice and that is why when the thought came to me to wash the floor, I
said yes. This is an important part of my daily practice, saying yes to
doing things, whatever they are. I stop myself all the time and
consequently things have backed up on me, I take too long to do things. I
am too sporadic. So the idea of the practice is to add consistency to
the behavior I am working on developing. Why is it so challenging to give myself an hour a day where I take time to move my creative—non-work—work
along? This is the hurdle, making time and doing it. Taking the time
and sinking-in to do the deep work, without losing touch with everyday
life, that is what I wrestle with. It feels like losing control but I
know the only way to explore creatively is to let go, really push off
from the dock and float alone into the darkness of the catacombs where
it all originates from.
