Are You What You Chew?

This is my nephew, Lucas.

As a youngster, Lucas liked to put everything in his mouth...and I don't use 'everything' loosely. He was a chewer...the handles of the grocery cart, toys, arm rests on chairs, chicken bones, Barbie's Dream House. You think of it, he chewed it.

My sister wore herself out trying to keep him from chewing on things and out of watery places to play: like the toilet, mud puddles, and swamp areas. But he persisted and she, being an accepting mother, loved him all the same and trusted he would survive.

It turns out...he has the best immune system in his family.

I write this post in response to my sister Jennifer's recent letter telling me that everyone in their family is sick, except Lucas. She's wondering if all the above activities gave him a robust immune system. Scientific speculation says it might be.

What I do know is that his freedom to explore, to touch, taste, hear, smell, and see the world are what make him great. He's full of ideas and questions...always wanting to explore the senses...and coming up with new ideas and new ways of trying things.

When I attended to the University of Kansas, my photography professor, Pok Chi Lau, used to say, "Gargage in, garbage out." He wanted us to be mindful of the food and images we put into our body and mind. He believed what we took in would have a direct result on our work.

I'm looking forward to seeing what all Lucas' intake will produce. I'm sure it will be incredible.

What are you chewing on? What are you taking into your mind and body? Will it help you stay healthy and strong? Will it help you produce more wonderful things? Is there any real answer? Or only more questions?

Have GREAT Days!

The definition of what makes for a great day is different for all of us. There should be no judgement on this.

My partner, Bill, likes to do something big, outside of what he considers "a normal day."

For me, I like days where I'm completely free to stroll around my house and my neighborhood. Where I can hang out in my pajamas as long as I want, writing or drawing, reading, making pancakes or cookies.

Or strolling in my Upper West Side neighborhood, going in and out of the shops I treasure...Catholic Thrift Store, Salvation Army, Bank Street Books, Restoration Valley Thrift Store, and of course, Mondels Chocolates (where they have made all their own candy for over 50 years)...and then rounding my day to eat at Sura (a GREAT little Thai Restaurant) where I can eat delicious food and write and draw.

The point of all this?

I make sure I have my favorite kind of days at least once or twice a week. They aren't an accident. I protect them. And even if I'm busy and can't have an entire day to myself, I squeeze in time to stroll around.

My goal was the life I have ... that included these kind of days ... I dreamed it ... I worked toward it ... and it came true.

What life do you dream of? What kind of days do you want? Write out your dream life ... after that your whole life will subconsciously move toward that goal. It doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time.

Have GREAT days!

Does Your Imagination ever BUG you?

I'm working on a project with bugs. You might have guessed from my last two entry illustrations.

I just started the research. Already I've seen and learned more about bugs that I'm sure I never wanted to know.

Luckily, a logic takes over in my mind and reminds me that the pictures and information scare me because it's new to me and bugs are mostly unseen.

Because they are unseen my imagination takes over...and oh what the imagination can conjure up.

At this point I ask myself: What kind of life do bugs have? What kind of jobs? What are their hopes and dreams? What do bugs fear the most? Questions are now swirling around in my head.

This is where I want to be at the beginning of each project, open to all possibilities, writing them out. This gives me a wealth of choices and background for developing my story. Later when I see the clear path of the project, I will cut most of the information so it's just the very best of the best. A clear fun story.

I'm still gathering information on bugs, real and imagined.

Do you have anything you'd like to share?

What's Bugging You?

What bugs you? Makes you squirm?

They say that the faults we find in others are probably faults we have in ourselves.

That makes me squirm. ; )

It's kind of easy to tell what your overriding worries are, whether you are aware of them or not, they show up in your writing, artwork, the plays you choose to be in...etc.

We are continually trying to make peace with the things that bother us.

Allow your creative work to be a place where you feel free to express yourself fully and to bring in your quirks, fears, loathings, etc., this will make your work richer, fuller and deeper.

The true benefit, the more you release these things into work, the less they bother you in everyday life.

Let the bugs fly free!

The Flying Karamazov Brothers

I just saw the "Flying Karamazov Brothers."

Okay, they don't fly and they aren't really brothers, but oh baby, did they inspire me to try some fun things of my own.

This past month, I started doing little shows with two friends. They are interactive events, with songs, jokes, audience participation, and yes, juggling.

Seeing these guys, made me even more excited about all the things we could include in our shows for seniors (citizens).

I love to intertwine different activities and stories, whether in shows or books or the day. The Karamazov show was a great example of that.

Watching the show, I was reminded to take chances, play well with others, weave in humor, dance with joy, thrill with live music, and yes, throw caution to the wind and juggle!

Look out overhead!

The Magic in a Manual Typewriter

It's entirely possible that many of you have never used or possibly even seen up close a manual typewriter.

To me, a manual typewriter is the main character in the fantasy of being a writer.

Oh sure, I type this blog post on a computer, but my first love was a manual typewriter...because that's what the real writers in old movies used...and old movies were my reality as a child.

Lately, I have found myself very resistant to writing on the computer...which is usually fine, I hand write most of my new projects first anyway, but I didn't want to do that either.

I needed some magic...and the Universe sent me the answer through a great book, "The Help." The book is beautifully written, engaging, compelling, everything you want in a good thought-provoking read...and even more, it gave me the answer...one of the main characters was an aspiring writer who lugged around a manual typewriter.

And so inspired, I got my little manual typewriter out of her box and set her up to work.

I am a writer again.

The typewriter satisfies my senses. I feel the keys working with me, hear the words going onto paper, smell the old typewriter and ink, see the stack of pages pile up (I repurpose the blank sides of old script pages).

The history of being a writer exists with me in these moments...the old newspaper people working toward deadlines, the writers who typed up the classic novels that we love...myself when I wrote my first complete book - a dog training manual - in 3rd grade...and then, in my 20's when I wrote my first play on a manual.

My current typewriter was saved from the streets of New York. She sat on a pile of trash bags by the curb. I couldn't leave her there. Now, she returns the favor by bringing back the magic of being a writer to my life.

What brings out your magic?

When You Think You're Done, You're Just Beginning

"When you think you're done, you're just beginning," holds as true for writing as it does for artwork.

In the process of illustration it's visually obvious. I start with rough sketches and then do a sketch that I predict will be 'the one.'

For a few minutes, maybe even a day or two...I believe it is 'the one'...that I've gone as far as I can...

But then I see...I could do better and more ideas start to come...and then I push myself.

New sketches evolve and a new 'the one' appears...it is almost always obviously better than the previous versions.
This process continues until it's just time to get it out into the world.

I use illustration as the example here because it's obvious at a glance the improvement that comes from pushing oneself further...of enlisting the critical eye in yourself and other people that you trust.

This same principle applies to writing, but you have to sit still and read to see it...but just the same, you do rough sketches and write that initial first draft.

It's important to remember first drafts are rough and not precious...they are the achievement of the first step...then the process begins of pushing oneself further into the story...again enlisting readers that you trust to give you honest feedback...honest...okay, you can have someone read it who will love it and stroke your ego...but know that that's all that person is for...you really want the people who will give you the pros and cons of what you've written...people who will "push you to be your best possible self."

The more I write, draw, paint...the more I see it's all about doing doing doing...working on the craft, delving deeper into the issue at hand, working on clarity, being honest about who you are and what you want to accomplish through the piece...and then continuing this process over and over.

We are lead to believe that any art form just flows out perfect...it looks that way in movies...books...etc...but that's not true...every artist of any kind puts in the hours...it's not one draft...it's 20+...it's not one sketch...it's many, etc.

Once I understood this, my process got easier...I stopped judging myself on first drafts that were far from ready. Now, I understand that stinky first drafts are just step one...and I appreciate them for that.