I've been dealing with some health stuff this week so it has been an unproductive week which makes the Friday Five a bit more difficult. But I'm going to give it a shot.
1. I am hit and miss with my 2 poems a day. More hit than miss so that's good.
2. I hit Zero In-Box with my emails. This was huge because while all the house stuff was going on and my hard drive was dying I wasn't using my Outlook mail. I just left everything in Gmail which really got to be a pain because I'm addicted to sorting my mail into folders. When I was finally able to download all my old mails and then added them to what had been in Outlook before, well I had 12,000 of them to process. I still have about 100 in my "follow-up" folder but hitting zero felt great!
3. I have confirmed in my head that my office needs to be painted green. It might be a year before I get to it and I have no idea which green because the green I used in the rest of the house reads brown in my office, but just picking the color family felt pretty darn good.
4. Our family lost a childhood friend this week, a young man, only a few years older than my son. He lived across the street from us, the oldest of three sisters and he played big brother to my son through-out his childhood. I remember him best with a skateboard under his arm. My son wrote a moving post about it here.
5.I added a new habit to nightly routine – reading a poem a night and recording what I read. I chose index cards to record the name of the poem, the book it was from, what I liked it about, any favorite parts and how it makes me feel. I haven't read enough poetry and I want to read and try to understand more of it. I keep thinking of some kind of blogging poetry community, something apart from Poetry Friday, where we could discuss poems we read because there is just so much I don't understand. I began with Billy Collins and the second poem of his I read was called Monday and spoke to the vision of the poet who is always looking out the window because there is always something there to see. I loved it until the last two stanzas but then it lost me and I wish I could talk about the poem with someone and understand what I have missed.
If you're looking for the Poetry Friday round-up, please visit A Teaching Life.
I think you’ve got your priorities in the right place. Take time for yourself. Take time for your writing, because we love to read your work. And know that we are all cheering you on. Always.
Hmm. That’s funny because I was convinced you were writing about Minneapolis. You in Minneapolis. I think our physical setting naturally informs our inner landscape, at least our description of them. Your lovely poem is a great example.
Thanks, Laura.
You went from Florida to Minnesota? I can’t even imagine that climate change. However, my son, born and raised in Georgia, is now a Minnesotan and loves it. And I have a couple of precious grand babies up there! Brrrr.
Dori, sorry I missed this the other day. I’m so glad that you are carrying forward the lesson to believe in the value of your own creative process. Yay you! I am really working toward that same end myself. It seems to be an ongoing battle for me.
And realize that your process may change over time and with each different project. My poetry process is evolving.
Love these lines:
Because I am not battle-brave,
Inside the ice I am silent.
And this one is my favorite:
Inside the ice I am silent.
I love the idea that you are playing with poetry through your character.
As I already told you, I am so honored, flattered, and touched that you made these for me. I have always loved the art you create, and am so happy I have my own Susans look at, admire, and be inspired by! Thank youuuuuu! xoxoxoxoxoxox I love them!!!!!
You should give it a try, Amy. There are some good and easy to follow videos on Youtube.
THESE are GREAT!
Thanks, Slatts! So much fun to do.
Reading your happy post makes me happy. Have a lovely weekend.
☺ ☺ ☺ ♥ ♥ ♥!
What a terrific list this is. I love lists. I especially love happy lists by happy friends.
great post! : )