Resilience
How my poor, cracked virgin molar reminded me to bounce back.
Greetings, dear reader,
I woke up last week with a whomper of a headache. A yowl when I took a gulp of cold water made me realize it might be a tooth issue. First I felt disappointed that I might have a cavity. A trip to my dentist left me feeling disappointed that I likely needed a root canal. And today’s visit to an endodontist left me sad because the poor tooth needs to be removed. I’m grateful to have dental insurance, which makes figuring this out affordable. I’m mourning the molar that needs to go, feeling silly and privileged. But I’m also thinking about how quickly my expectations, unmet by each dentist visit, were soothed by my figuring out how this could all be so much worse.
Resilience has been on my mind all afternoon. How does a person bounce back from difficulties? What prepares them to adapt to challenges? In my case, being parented by a resilient couple went a long way, and I also believe my creative practices have helped. When I’m making a papercut or writing a poem, I rarely get onto the paper what’s in my head. In my younger days, I’d feel like giving up. In fact, many times I would give up, albeit temporarily (by which I mean months or years). Now I look at what went wrong. I look at what went right. I dig in and try again. Has your creative practice helped you to be more resilient? How?
Upcoming Creative Patina Workshops
While my teaching partner Joyce Hayden and I focus on writing when we craft our course descriptions, the truth is that our goal is to help our participants to develop a creative practice. Write poetry or prose–we’d love to see both. Draw. Collage. We provide context and inspiring prompts; you bring your creativity in whatever form it wants to take. Here’s a link to our Spring Workshops. Our first workshop on March 25, 7-8:30 EST is one of our favorites to teach: Hermit Crabs. Enrollment is supposed to close today, but we’re going to leave it open through Friday–we’ve got a nice group of participants signed up, and maybe you want to join. Here’s the description:
“Found Forms: Constructing Hermit Crab Poems” Hermit crabs are not suited to one shell for life. They constantly seek their optimal environment, one that allows them to grow as they need to. Such is the way with a Hermit Crab Poem, an inventive structured writing that Brenda Miller’s book, Tell it Slant, introduced to many people. Sometimes, in order to tell a difficult or vulnerable story, a unique “form” or structure must be found to contain the specific content.
In this participatory workshop, we’ll work together to create a list of possible found forms for poems such as field guide entries, a course syllabus, or a college application. Hermit crab writing examples will be shared. A focus on consciously combining specific form and content will allow for a deeper connection to the themes you choose to explore. Participants will be provided with sample hermit crab poems for guidance, time to write, and an opportunity to share their new poem and discuss their writing experience.
A Month Celebrating Women Meeting at Westfield State University & on Zoom–Join me!
As part of the Month Celebrating Women events on my campus, I’ve been invited to read my Rumpus essay “Enough! Words as the Way: Rediscovering My Sister and Myself Forty Years After Her Assault”. I’ll give you a content warning now–it’s about kidnapping, sexual assault, and the aftermath on the survivor’s family. It’s probably the most important thing I’ve ever written. I’ll be reading alongside Leah Nielsen, who will be sharing her recently published essay about the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and loss during Covid.
If you are local to Western Mass, join us at the Arno Maris Art Gallery on Thursday, March 21, 5:00 p.m. Our EGST and JEDI programs are supporting us by providing a lovely array of food and beverages. We’ll also be streaming the reading on Zoom. Here’s the link: https://westfield-ma.zoom.us/j/2860244052
I’d love to see you there!
Script for Demanding a Ceasefire in Gaza
I believe I will do more good by making phone calls and writing emails/letters to elected officials than by posting my protests on my social media feed. I admire the folx who use their social media effectively for protest, but I’ve made the choice to take different actions. Actions focused on my own responsibility as a citizen. If that’s more your style, you might find this script for calling elected officials to demand a ceasefire in Gaza helpful.
Link List:
Books I’m reading:
Subtract by Leidy Klotz. A friend mentioned it to me, and since I often swamp myself by taking on more than I need to, I thought I’d read it. I just finished reading it today, thanks to waiting room time. As I so often feel about non-fiction, this book could easily be a long article. I’ll muse on the concept of subtraction a while longer.
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. This is my before-bed book. Still dipping into it each night.
What I’m Watching:
Oppenheimer I watched this over two sittings. Cillian Murphy, already an actor I admire, played Oppie with so much humanity. I was enthralled by the film and applaud the examination of how Oppie was treated.
Dune, Part 1. I loved the 1984 David Lynch Dune. I read the books in my 20s. I named a pet bird Maud’Dib. I didn’t expect to be taken by the new Dune, but, oh, reader, I am. I am.
How I’m moving:
I started week 3 of the Couch to 5k app (ios). I don’t think of myself as a competitive person (except when playing Monopoly. Then watch out.), but I do like pushing to get my running pace a titch faster every time. My 5k is on May 4, and I’m on target to be ready. I think it helps that I was running regularly until winter got really underway.
Creative Prompt: What is a creative pursuit you’ve tried but don’t feel you’re “good” at? This issue’s creative prompt is to spend 15 minutes doing that activity. Try to let go of “good” “bad” and other judgment words, and see what happens. At the very least, you might have a laugh.
Thanks, as always, for reading this.
xx,
Beverly