Archive | February 2012

Motherly goats (for David)

Feb10

There are things that happen when writers start talking… random things that reflect a certain state of mind (or lack thereof)… tied into procrastination and FB and other places that tell of a trail of thoughts winding with the evening breeze through a busy restaurant and past a cup of coffee or two.  And you arrive at “motherly goats” which make you giggle every time.

So much for monthly goals… that Trello board (www.trello.com) will never be the same now that David has re-christened it.  (I hope Mary won’t be too offended since we share that particular board…)

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On cats

Feb10

This week two blog posts from others caught my eye: “Thinking Outside the Cat Box” on February 6th from Susan Wingate (http://susanwingate.wordpress.com/muscle-up-the-gut-of-your-novel-writing-instruction/) and “Ball of Yarn” on February 7th from D Anthony Brown (http://danthonybrown.me/2012/02/07/ball-of-yarn-on-smashwords/).

So what inspired these two writers to use cat-themed posts in the same week?  Perhaps it is the bleakness of winter and the fact that we all spend more time indoors.  We watch our cats do their thing and with the restlessness of cabin fever we pay more attention to their idiosyncrasies.  Their feline quirks then feed our creative process inspiring analogies to the existence of these little Zen masters living in the moment.  A sunbeam calls them to lie down and absorb warmth and light.  A sudden movement grabs their attention and prods them to discover its source.  A can opener, shaken treat jar or other familiar sound tweaks their ears to turn and follow the noise.

And just so, my attention was drawn to posts on cats…

Write your own story

Feb9

Recently a friend reminded me that we each write our own story every day through the messages we give ourselves. “Thoughts are things” and have a way of becoming the truth of our lives if we let them get out of hand.

Another friend of mine does me the service of showing me how this works – every time she gives herself a negative message I cringe, because it almost invariably comes true. She is better at self-sabotage than most people, so while I love her dearly, I sometimes worry about her, and thank her for the reminder to write the story the way it should be or at least the way I want it to be.