The
other day my husband and Annabelle knocked on a friend's
door. When our friend answered, my
nearly-two-year-old pushed past our friend and headed straight for
an 18"-square Mylar balloon floating
in the corner. She gripped the purple and pink curling
ribbons in
her small hand and proudly took her new Happy Birthday "'boon!" home
with her.
Annabelle
clutched the ribbons in her tiny hand all day. She held
it as we rocked and cuddled to sleep. The plastic weight (a
pink plastic star) dragged behind her as she moved
busily from
room to room to room. The square balloon floated above her
body
as she napped--ribbons in one hand while she slept on her belly--on the
living-room couch. Late in the day, as we drove to the store,
she
held the balloon so it blocked my view of her face completely.
"Annabelle?"
I asked, turning my head around to check on her because she'd been so
silent in her car seat. She peeked her head around the side
of the balloon--eyes
sparkling--and
then quickly went back to hiding.
"Don't
worry. Your balloon...it's right here," I whispered.
The little soul woke herself up ("Mama? 'Boon?")
off and on throughout the next hour, sitting up sleepily to make sure
she could still see the balloon's square outline as it danced in the
dark, dark room.
*
* * * *
On Passion
Like
ourselves when we were small, Annabelle's senses guide her to what she
loves. Shiny?
Square? Floaty? She kindled passion
for the balloon the very moment she saw it.
Want to rekindle passion
for your writing? Get started by answering these questions:
What kinds of input do my senses most respond to? Music? Scent? Touch?
What genres do I most love to read? Love to create?
Am I pursuing my project passionately right now? What shifts do I need to make?
Spend
some time reflecting on an idea, object or literary form that you
absolutely love, love, love. Doing so "fills the well"
(Julia
Cameron's term) and feeds your creativity and passion.
On Tenacity
Despite the considerable problem-solving required by Annabelle's new passion (how to get a spoon to her mouth, how to fill up her purse, how to get a shirt changed while holding a balloon?), she persisted.
To find time and creative space to develop our book proposals, novels or other "after-hours" projects, we need to cultivate:
- fervent desire
- strong belief that we can succeed
- imaginative problem-solving, and
- the ability and willingness to persist: to try for our goals again and again and again and again.
Consider
these questions:
- How can I be more proactive in creating time to write?
- When challenged by self-doubt or circumstance, do I persist?
- What can I do to meet obstacles with more flexibility?
On Focus
Like Annabelle straining to see her balloon's outline in the dark, life can seem so busy that our view of what we want is obscured. It sometimes takes great effort and intention to truly "see" our passions.
Successful
athletes use their minds to cultivate and visualize their goals.
This technique works for writers, too.
Try this simple
exercise.
Write down 2-3 goals on a 3x5 index card. Phrase them as if each goal is completed. For example:
- "My manuscript is well-realized and finished."
- "My agent is shopping my proposal."
- "I've written an emotionally resonant, supremely crafted short-story."
As
life presents you with a few spare moments (waiting for an appointment,
before you go to bed), review your goals. Take a few moments
to clearly visualize yourself
working at and achieving each one. If you review
your goals daily, you'll begin to build belief in your work and become
aware of opportunities you'd never noticed before. You'll
also
begin building a new mental muscle: the one that helps you to continually "see"
your
goals, even in the dark.
