Finding your window time
I wake up early. I can’t help myself. I have always been this way.
In college I took 8am classes on purpose. I’d enjoy the walk across campus from my dorm and arrive bright eyed and interested as others were dragging themselves in the door.
Late in the evenings, however, as the rest of the world was ready to party and explore the night, I was done. Maybe a little reading. Then lights out.
I have always been this way.
I have several friends who find their awake-and-creative-time to be the middle of the night. Discovering that they don’t sleep through the night well, this has become their habit of creativity.
I don’t think it matters what part of the day stirs you. But I hope, for you, that you have found some part of the day when you feel most alive and use it creatively.
This past week in my morning poetry-reading I’ve been re-reading some Wendell Berry. He is thoughtful and so deeply connected to the earth and its meanings. I have been especially moved by his Window Poems. They are, simply, a series of poems written as he gazes out this window.
He writes about what he sees. He writes about what he remembers. He sees the world divided into panes. He wonders at its changes. Its meanings. He sees himself there, at the window, as part of the scene.
From such a simple premise come words and ideas that are not at all simple.
I am reminded that the most compelling and creative efforts do not have to come from big events.
Simple events, with time given to them, considered with reflection, are a deep well.
Find your time to drink from that well.
. . . .
About the images: The photo I used for the header of this week’s post is one I shot at an abandoned house in rural South Carolina. Its memory is very powerful to me, and I thought of it this week as I was reading Window Poems. The quilt shown is “This is the Way to Get In,” one of several I have created using a photo transfer of this image. More information about this work is on my website HERE
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading.
I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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