Friday, August 29, 2008

looking for inspiration

I'm doing okay in the inspiration department - now. I wasn't a couple of days ago, but think I've bounced back. I was so far out of the inspiration track that all I wanted to do was come home from my assignments and crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and sleep.
Anyone who knows me knows that is not at all my style.

I didn't see the point to life. I felt I had no goals. Everything felt overwhelming. I've just agreed to do some part-time employee type of interpreting work that I was feeling ambivalent about (there are pros and cons to doing this work; I'm pretty sure it will be fine once I get the training out of the way and actually start doing it). My work schedule is in a time of transition and unknown at the moment as I hang in the limbo between waiting for orientation and training for the new p-t job and college classes are ending and early September tends to be my slowest time of the year and and and....

Then, after an insightful comment from my partner, I realized that what was truly happening was that I had no creative activity in my life. Nothing going out; nothing coming in .... work and future planning and more work.


Last night as I recounted part of my PICA T:BA:08 schedule to my partner, which includes a few workshops and some "chats", I became animated and excited.



Today during down time at my lengthy job I read more of the "No Plot? No Problem!" book, which was written by the founder of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty. See, I signed up to do NaNoWriMo in November. So I bought the book. It has been helpful and confidence boosting and entertaining. And I have renewed my excitement about undertaking this journey and in my ability to actually write 50,000 words in 30 days. Thereby having the completed rough draft of a novel in same said 30 days. No, I don't have an outline or a plot or a mile-long queue of characters waiting to begin. But I am building up writing stamina and I have my excitement back. The rest will come.




PHOTOGRAPHS/ARTWORK:

- Childhood Depression (c) Richard Wilkinson from Yamashita Riki's blog
- Deborah Hay's Room performed by Linda Austin and Tahni Holt: PICA TBA06
- cover of "No Plot? No Problem?" (see link in post)