Imagination is Not Enough

                                                      Imagination IS NOT enough to foster your creativity....it is only one part of it. Building an idea in your mind... painting on canvas...or  choreographing  a  memorable dance number is both creative and imaginative.  But is it enough to make you the great American novelist or next Grandma Moses, or George Balanchine? I think not.  If you are trying to copy anyone then you are not being true to yourself. While it is a complement of the highest regard to follow in the footsteps of these greats...that is probably not who YOU are. Pieces of  everyone and everything fall in our path everyday and it is our great privelege to decide which memories we will collect.  Those are the ones that make writing poignant, painting inspiring, and  dance breathtaking. If they move you in some way.....touch your heart...just simply get you to feel something... good or bad....they have done their job!

How you view his photograph, just might give you incite into those memories YOU choose to collect!

Do you see spring or winter?

Trailblazers Among Us

The following two paragraphs are quotes from Syd Field's book The Foundations of Screenwriting: They really made me think!

Renoir, the great Impressionistic painter once said, if you paint the leaf on a tree without using a model, your imagination will only supply you with a few leaves: but nature offers you millions, all on the same tree. The artist who paints that which is only in his mind will soon repeat himself.

Mr. Fields says that he has learned not to believe in luck or accidents; everything happens for a reason. There is something to be learned from every moment and every experience encountered during the brief time we spend on this planet.

There is a lesson between these two paragraphs that weaves them together. There is wonder in every moment, even if it is a horrible moment that you want to forget.  There is still wonder in the fabric of our lives and if you view it from only perspective, you miss all the different colored threads that make up the fabric.

Research...What are you Curious About?

I wonder if that pesky deer tick was on the track?

This is an exciting writing week.  In addition to writing about ballroom dancing which I love, I am researching Lyme Disease.  I will be meeting with a rhumatologist, a pediatrician who treats children with Lyme and a psychiatrist who addresses the psychiatric symtoms that can accompany Lyme Disease. Most of us know very little about this little critter and what can happen if he burrows his way into your skin.  I had limited knowlege except that my daughter had had it at age seven. I went right back to her doctor and I am  healing very quickly.

Also, more editing in my mountaintop monastery! 

Who are you?

Do you remember when you finished college and you began inteviewing for jobs? There probably was something that you loved to do in college but could not bear to think about as a permanent career.  Hopefully you are ever evolving and changing.  If you are, then your career choice will follow. My career path has changed many times over the years. The important thing is that it brought me to writing where I bring my passion and love every moment I work. It makes me happy!

I am writing about ballroom dancing today for a short article and then back to Europe where I will comtemplate the tenacity of a a young American woman who will face a life threatening situation today. It is post-war and there are bullets flying around her.  She is caught in the middle of something bigger than herself....bigger than her cause.

That's what change should be to all of us....part of a bigger picture...the plan and journey of our life.  It's actually fun to embrace it rather than run away from the "what ifs?"

Open Your Heart......

.....and close your eyes....jump and find your parachute on the way down....I have talked about this before.  Don't miss a moment even if you are scared....as Bella is in this picture.  I am not talking about crazy dangerous things....but things that cause fear in us. Feel the fear, and do it anyway. Push through and accomplish your dreams.  What are you waiting for?  An invitation? Life doesn't offer invitations....just opportunities.

Bella is peeking out behind Juliet...Juliet has the puppy intimidation factor!

Winter?



A room with a view!

This is a view from my position in the kitchen.  It is my favorite writing spot where the elements feel as if they are coming into my home with warm sunlight or the bright white flecks of tiny snowflakes.  I took this picture today as I am doing some editing about a scene in a monastery. Just last week I made plans to visit this monastery and actually spend the night there.  People go there to heal from sickness and renew their faith. 

In my case it is imperative to walk the same footsteps as my characters...to breath the same air, and to imagine how they felt as they slept in the cold expanse between stone walls. I love to imagine this monastery in winter because it is carved into the stone of a mountain.  Getting to it is easier in spring/summer and I am sure it is equally as beautiful....but the quiet of the snow capped pine trees will be missing.  That's where my overactive imagination begins and the movie starts to play in my head.  That is why I think of a storyline....as a scene, because it plays out like that when I begin to form a story!

How it all ends out is a mystery...to everyone but me!

The Stranger with the Accent

Pictures from my daughter's European trip

On a trip to buy coffee, I walked into the market seeking a hot cup of "energy" for the morning.  I wasn't paying attention as an elderly man held the door open for me with a big smile on his face and a bewildering accent.  Priding myself in picking up accents, I was really stumped.  It sounded a little bit Irish, and little bit Russian and a little bit lilting and sing song-y! He engaged me in conversation and I missed most of it because I was trying to grasp his accent and figure out what he was saying.

It wasn't until after I left the coffee shop that I realized something.  He made my day....that smiling stranger with the unrecognizable accent. I was a bit angry with myself for not really engaging with him. The truth is it always surprises me how excited I am when someone acts like a human being when we should just expect it....do it....and approach both people and LIFE with respect.