Frost Shadow

1. Do Morning Pages every morning
2. Take myself on Artist Dates
3. Go on walks

These are three (3)* activities to increase creativity per Julia Cameron's book The Sound of Paper. Julia Cameron is a brilliant writer, for those of you who don't know. Clearly, if you are reading this blog, you do not know for if you did know you would be reading her material rather than this blog. Anyhoo, the woman knows a thing or two about creative writing and I intend to learn from her.

*Why do people always follow a spelled-out number with the digits? It's silly.

1) So, following Julia's advice I have begun Morning Pages. "Morning Pages" means that first thing in the morning (well, after I go peepee) I write three pages by hand. Vent, plan, praise, demand, reprimand, schedule, personify, edify, whatever. I just write. Ms. Stanton would be so proud of me.

2) An Artist Date is "a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly "artistic"-- think mischief more than mastery." This means exploring museums, underground tunnels, new hobbies, or musical events. I would call this type of thing an adventure but Artist Dates are different because it is a SOLO activity.

I have yet to go on an Artist Date this week.

3) Instead of biking to school this week I have taken my feet to the pavement. Yesterday the world was dripping and the ground could no longer take it in. It reminded me of when my dad dared me to put my lips to the hose and drink so fast no water would come out. I did well for a while but soon I could no longer take the water and it dribbled out of the corners of my mouth. Thus was the ground. Puddles emerged in the crevasse between sidewalk slabs and along the foundations of houses. The brush on the hill near the duck pond seemed to be perking up its ears to the changing seasons.

Today was a different day. White clouds, not the gray dark ones. No rain. Sun. Still chilly. No puddles. Just the lingering wet cement. Shadows alertly guarding the life of frost, leaving snowy white patches as the silhouettes of houses and trees and as the sun rose higher and the shadow waned the frost disappeared without a trace. This is spring: part green, part white; part summer, part winter; part recovering slumber, part waking excitement.