Aly I love how you played with tension in this poem. It’s beautiful! I’m so proud of you for wrestling through the challenges of “both are good” and “I can and I don’t have to.”
What a great idea to use Jillian’s poem as a prompt! I loved reading your take.
Enjoying my craft looks like: treating it like a date with myself—cozy lighting, a mix of nervousness and giddiness, disappointment when the time is up; texting or Marco Polo-ing friends to tell them what I’m working on; thinking about my project in the shower, in the car, at work, etc. It’s funny how Julia Cameron talks about treating your art like a love affair-it rings true for me!
This would be great to share on Substack and/or in the Slack group! Ooh boy, I want that kind of relationship with creativity! My first response was resistance. I struggled to enjoy dating because "I just want to know where this is going!!" Now you've got me thinking about ways I can woo my creativity: secret projects, stealing time away to create, letting myself get carried away. I'm going to be chewing on this for a long time. Thank you!
The two past essays you linked expand on the poem so wonderfully, and WOW so much resonates. You are absolutely not the only person who avoids adulting (or sometimes labels it as avoidance but really life is just busy and/or overwhelming)--I still have on my to-do list to send out wedding thank-you cards, and I got married over two years ago. My husband and I also recently finally got back to our wedding videographer (thankfully a family friend), and that unread email had definitely been a source of shame and "should've" for the past two years. So I'm absolutely in that boat with you! If you wanted to revive that style of essay (and have the space to do so!), I would be interested in those. (My willingness to try the challenge may vary, but I'm very glad to have the concepts verbalized and to have the challenge waiting when I'm ready/willing!) Thank you for sharing your journey with us, past & present!
Ugh, Elizabeth, I totally relate to the shame of those shoulds--especially with normal adulting tasks that I can't seem to bring myself to do. So much grace to you! Thanks for your feedback on the Grace-Filled Growth idea. I think I am going to revive monthly essays like those!
Yes!!
Thanks, Kim!
Aly I love how you played with tension in this poem. It’s beautiful! I’m so proud of you for wrestling through the challenges of “both are good” and “I can and I don’t have to.”
Thank you, Lisa! The choice is to play with the tension or be consumed by it. Sometimes I choose to play with it 🤗
What a great idea to use Jillian’s poem as a prompt! I loved reading your take.
Enjoying my craft looks like: treating it like a date with myself—cozy lighting, a mix of nervousness and giddiness, disappointment when the time is up; texting or Marco Polo-ing friends to tell them what I’m working on; thinking about my project in the shower, in the car, at work, etc. It’s funny how Julia Cameron talks about treating your art like a love affair-it rings true for me!
This would be great to share on Substack and/or in the Slack group! Ooh boy, I want that kind of relationship with creativity! My first response was resistance. I struggled to enjoy dating because "I just want to know where this is going!!" Now you've got me thinking about ways I can woo my creativity: secret projects, stealing time away to create, letting myself get carried away. I'm going to be chewing on this for a long time. Thank you!
The two past essays you linked expand on the poem so wonderfully, and WOW so much resonates. You are absolutely not the only person who avoids adulting (or sometimes labels it as avoidance but really life is just busy and/or overwhelming)--I still have on my to-do list to send out wedding thank-you cards, and I got married over two years ago. My husband and I also recently finally got back to our wedding videographer (thankfully a family friend), and that unread email had definitely been a source of shame and "should've" for the past two years. So I'm absolutely in that boat with you! If you wanted to revive that style of essay (and have the space to do so!), I would be interested in those. (My willingness to try the challenge may vary, but I'm very glad to have the concepts verbalized and to have the challenge waiting when I'm ready/willing!) Thank you for sharing your journey with us, past & present!
Ugh, Elizabeth, I totally relate to the shame of those shoulds--especially with normal adulting tasks that I can't seem to bring myself to do. So much grace to you! Thanks for your feedback on the Grace-Filled Growth idea. I think I am going to revive monthly essays like those!
So encouraging!
Thank you!