Will You Look At This Place? Jaysus.

The cobwebs.  The dust.  The spam comments. 

(Dude, really?  Do a lot of people click to see your "cure" for baldness while reading this blog?  If so, I gotta get a better clientele.)

So, I've decided to do this again, until I don't. 

It wasn't popular demand that brought me back.  I sometimes feel I write in spite of popular demand. 

This is for me.

I'm picking this up because earlier this week I had a conversation with my friend, Catherine Ann.  She and I have worked together on countless creative projects - she's a gifted visual artist, writer, and photographer.  And on more than one occasion she has listened to me whine about my declining level of interest in writing anything at all.

"Do you want it straight?" she asked.  "Because I can tell you what the problem is.  But you're not gonna like it."

Well, I screwed up my courage and said, "Sure."

"You've gotten lazy," she said.  "You've been writing for reasons that don't have anything to do with your love of writing:  money, affirmation, a sense of responsibility.   So it's like a job, and anytime we have a job, we do things the easiest, laziest, most efficient way, and often that means repeating ourselves.  Stamping it out.  There's no joy in that."

"But writing is art," she went on.  "Your best writing comes when you're doing it for the sheer joy of it.  That's when you feel inspired.  That's when you can't wait to get at it.  That's when the magic happens.  So you need to write without purpose."

Writing without purpose.  Interesting concept.  

By "writing without purpose", I'm sure she didn't mean "pointless writing" (although I will own up to my share of that).  In her mind (being a visual artist) it meant just picking up the brush and approaching the empty canvas with no expectations; an open spirit; and the excitement that comes from letting go and having something greater (God, The Universe, whatever) take the lead in the process.  

I think she may be on to something.  So let's give it a shot, shall we?

If you're new here, and can ignore the detritus that built up over almost three years of neglect, feel free to have a look around.  

On the right, you'll see a link to a love story - my parents' story.  That's a pretty good place to start.  Of all the writing I've done, that's some of my favourite, and I did it with no intention to sell it.  I just thought it was a fairly cool story that needed to be told.  And I loved telling it.  I can't ever remember being so excited to sit down in front of a keyboard.

How about that?  It was written without purpose.

If you're an old friend, welcome back.  You can't know how much I've missed our times.  

Let's have some more.

 

Comments

[Schadenfreude Warehouse]

Oh. My. God. You're back! I can't wait to read more. It's been awhile, so there are some things about me and my blog(s) that I'll need to tell you. I'll be sending you a FB message. Until then...

[MrsDoF]

You mean to say this is 6 weeks old, and I just found it this morning in mid-August!?! after school starts!?!

Well, it's good to know you are blogging again. Now I will put Truths and Half Truths in my Google Reader to let it keep track of posts.
Actually had to do the same with my own blog, which has become sporadic as well.