“We are stars, all of us. Radiant. Brilliant. Shimmering. Each one a sun. Huge. Yet, small. Yet, huge. Tucked into a little pocket of the universe, with a beating heart. Stellar from the inside out.”
~ Lea Redmond, (from Teacup Constellation, a video)
I love that my sister-in-law always sends occasional & holiday cards thru the mail. Something wonderful about personal mail in an envelope. Love that my birthday card arrived 2 days after The Day, what I call perfect time. Because we should celebrate our birthdays until we forget we had one. Celebrating is important. As are breaks. Something I haven’t done with ease in ages.
One afternoon this week I took off for hours, tho. I’d given the iron to my husband Art since he irons and I haven’t ironed a thing in yeeeears. It was in NC and I wanted a very cute jacket for a photo shoot that had suitcase-pressed wrinkles stream from the shower wouldn’t loosen. I called my textile artist friend. Her iron was space-age. Looked like a high-end running shoe. Her studio was sunny. The window with the lush geranium and cobalt glass in the mobile that matched the paint on the sills and fence outside captivated me. I took pictures. Then we walked around her yard in the sunshine. It was beyond zero zero-scaped, but had wonderful treasures.
Like a raven at a stone circle around a tree,
and buddha in a spiral labyrinth,
and a statue I made that I gave her when I left Santa Fe in 1998.
I’m urged to take breaks by someone who’s helping me take my work to the world in a bigger way. A day I felt rotten with allergies, she said step away from the computer, take care of your health. I welcomed permission. It worked in restoring my silver-lining self. The next morning I appreciated being dressed immediately upon rising. Having jumped into the shower because the steam helps the sinuses. I appreciated not being at the computer in jammies with bedhead & sleep in my eyes ’til late morning. I appreciated tasting my tea, which I don’t fully do when I’m at the computer. I called the shift a triumph. Something I write about in my book: celebrate the triumphs.
But the day I had a photo shoot, was told to go for lunch afterward, celebrate, I didn’t do it. I walked in the sunshine. Got a favorite sandwich I called a treat to eat at home. Bought juice from the juice bar, another treat. I enjoyed myself, didn’t return to the computer for several hours. But it wasn’t celebrating. It was a pause, something else I write about in the book: the value of pauses. I felt good about the shoot and it was a triumph. It needed more than a pause.
Every day I discover another (new to me) brilliantly creative person. Doing work that brings people together. That changes lives ’cause it empowers, inspires hope, adds something lovely to life in the real world. Exactly what I want my book to do. Exactly what I hope for my own work with others. This past week my discovery was Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
I’ve missed these people & their work because I didn’t take enough initiative to expand my community far enough beyond what I know. It’s thru others that we find others, become aware of darned good work getting done. Others can mirror ourselves, too. The good and not so good.
I read last night Amy Krouse Rosenthal passed from this earth. Something I learned was imminent at the same time I learned she existed. Artist Lea Redmond created a video called Teacup Constellation as a gift for her. Amy shared it with the world on facebook, and I believe she would love it passed on because it carries the heart of her message within her work.
Watch Teacup Constellation here. It’s magical.
We must celebrate triumphs and take pauses. Because we need to. We must care for ourselves as we connect with others. As we put our good work into the world. And always, always welcome the reminders.
On the third day of my soft launch for The Writer’s Block Myth, I woke to this in my inbox:
“In addition to hitting #1 in the charts for Authorship and Writing Skills, the book has hit #1 for Publishing & Books, as well as #2 for Writing, Research and Publishing Guides. At the moment, The Writer’s Block Myth is sitting at #584 on the Amazon platform of all free eBooks, which is really amazing.” That deserved a celebration. And today, the day my book launches does, too.
I’m relearning what I once knew well, grateful for the triumph.
Another small journey. Getting to Wise.
A Writer’s Life.
Tell me. . .how do you celebrate triumphs? How do you take pauses?
I’ll tell you a secret. . .I’m a fast learner.