still there?
Sorry for skipping a week, but I’m still here and ready to write, and I hope you are, too!
Last Sunday time got away from me because of trying to balance a socially distant, virtual celebration of Father’s Day plus a vet visit (complete with stitches and anesthesia) for our cat who’d somehow managed to slice open his paw. All is well with Jack the cat and the dads I celebrated, though, and I hope you’ve been doing well, too.
I wanted to share a few things with you this week. First up is The Radical Database, created and updated by artist, writer, and activist Angelina Ruiz. Check it out for petitions, fundraisers, bail funds and legal help, mutual aid, Black-owned businesses, and much more. It’s an amazing database, that has had to have taken an immense amount of work to create. Please check it out.
The other thing I wanted to share was this idea that I heard the television writer Liz Tigelaar mention during her interview in episode 29 of the podcast On Writing. She said that although this time may not be the most productive in terms of output, it has and can be an extremely productive time for input. That idea resonated with me so much.
I’ve written about the pressure (sometimes external, often internal) to be productive, so you know that I think about these questions a lot. Tigelaar’s statement was a beautiful way to highlight the fact that inputting is important. Taking time to do the internal work is not just okay, but integral. So keep it up, friend.
prompt #11:
Today’s prompt is a simple practice of following the stream of consciousness. Use it to unlock your creativity, following wherever your thoughts want to take you. Write down every thought, as it comes to you, even if the thought is “I have no idea what to write right now.” I think you’ll find that that the hardest part, though, is writing fast enough to follow your thoughts. Take 5 minutes and see where it gets you.
ashley’s piece:
In the grand scheme of things, I haven’t been doing so much.
And it makes me wonder if I will eventually become
a real live adult
one of those ones who
wakes up in the morning
and says,
in the grand scheme of things, well, I’ve been doing a lot.
Yeah in the grand scheme of things, I have been doing so much.
If I say it enough
then it becomes true, so I thought?
Just flip on the switch and
wait for a minute.
Now it’s a brand new me.