Being Athletic

Posted on March 1, 2010

I am not athletic.

Maybe that’s not quite true–maybe it’s just that I haven’t found a sport or activ­ity I like. Or, per­haps, it’s because I’m too shy and self-conscious to enjoy things when peo­ple might be watch­ing. Maybe, hav­ing cho­sen drama as my extracur­ric­u­lar activ­ity at a young age, I haven’t had enough oppor­tu­ni­ties to become ath­letic. Could it be that some peo­ple just aren’t?

All I know is that some peo­ple are extremely ath­letic, includ­ing my younger sib­lings, and I’m not. Are you ath­letic? What does “being ath­letic” mean to you? Why do you think you are or aren’t ath­letic? Was there some­one who got you started or a time when you remem­ber becom­ing more, or less, ath­letic? How does it make you feel?

I’m try­ing to get some exer­cise this month, break­ing out of my usual rou­tines. I might like it… I encour­age you to try some­thing new this month too: If you usu­ally write, try paint­ing or sculpt­ing to express your thoughts about being ath­letic. If you are a pho­tog­ra­pher, try start­ing with words. If you’re a musi­cian, try cre­at­ing a short skit. Who knows? You might find new dimen­sions to your art by break­ing out of your usual rou­tines. And I might actu­ally be a lit­tle athletic.

Lace

Posted on February 4, 2010

February’s nudge is: Lace, a fab­ric that was once care­fully crafted by women, a tal­ent handed down by grand­moth­ers, but is now pro­duced in fac­to­ries with com­put­er­ized machines.

The idea came to me while think­ing about Valentine’s Day. Cards and lin­gerie dec­o­rated with lace. Two love­birds “lac­ing” their fin­gers together. Frilly and fine and fancy.

Of course, the sec­ond exam­ple I used refers to some­thing entirely different–you know, those things that help keep your shoes on your feet when you go out for a run. Or maybe, if you pre­fer a more roman­tic notion(depending on how you look at it), the laces could be on a corset.

Or another unro­man­tic idea: a yel­lowed piece of lace on the musty sofa of the dead woman. Hey, wait… that could be a pretty roman­tic story depend­ing on how you write it…

What can this lit­tle word inspire?

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2010

Another new year is upon us. Are you ready? My desk has been cleaned and my res­o­lu­tions have been made. I resolve to… actu­ally, I’m not going to say just in case I fail mis­er­ably. Again.

As we tran­si­tion into 2010 many peo­ple have been reflect­ing on where they were and what they were doing ten years ago, their mem­o­ries pulling them back and push­ing them for­ward into a new decade.

This month: reflect. Find a mem­ory, good or bad, shared or yours alone and make some­thing of it.

Ready… set… CREATE!

Classic Books

Posted on November 5, 2009

“Clas­sic Books” is November’s nudge.

When the weather starts to get cooler I just want to curl up with a great book and read the win­ter away. I’m tempted to buy a Snug­gie just for that purpose(you get a free book light!) Of course, if you want to make the best use of those long hours you’ll grab a cup of cocoa and a “clas­sic book.”

Are you embar­rassed that you’ve read too few? Is there a book that is con­sid­ered to be a clas­sic that you pos­i­tively despise? Are “clas­sics” great works that every­one should be famil­iar with or should they be replaced by more diverse and mod­ern works? Did a book change your life? What was the last “clas­sic” you read?

Rain

Posted on September 1, 2009

In the movies, pathetic fal­lacy rains.(Malapropism intended.)

Nearly all funeral scenes in movies(and books) are drib­bling and drip­ping because black umbrel­las are dra­matic, but we all know that rain can be so much more than the cue for con­tem­pla­tive solem­nity. In the midst of a hot August day a light rain can be refresh­ing and wel­com­ingly cool. Roil­ing black clouds ripped open by thun­der and light­en­ing can be fright­en­ing and awe-inspiring. Yet another dreary day of spring rains inspires anger and annoy­ance after already hav­ing been kept inside because of weather all winter.

For me, some­times those dark clouds and wind before it rains fill my heart with a desire to go, to change, to run. On those days I inhale the breath of the gods and the rain gives me life.

This month’s nudge, while we enjoy the last days of rain this sea­son, is to cre­ate with rain in mind. The rain doesn’t have to be the star­ring char­ac­ter, of course, or even obvi­ously present in your work. Just keep it in mind and let it nour­ish your growth and breathe the gods into you.