Sunday scribblings - February 20th 2011

I am participating in Sunday Scribblings. 


I missed last Sunday but realised that the prompt "One Thousand Years" actually influenced my thinking last week even though I didn't get around to writing anything for Sunday scribblings. Maybe it is still to come? 


This week's prompt is "Food". Here's my short and sweet offering.

A burst of warm tang 

Little sweetie tomato 

Fresh from my garden 

A relaxing, art filled Sunday

Yesterday Brianna and I had a very relaxing day with friends. We took some art supplies and enjoyed crafting for much of the day. 


Here's what I made 

From the garden today

It seems that red is the colour of the moment. I just picked these tomatoes, radishes and chillies from the garden. 

Opportunity shop

Opportunity shop 


I watch as she wraps 
layer after layer of newsprint paper 
around my purchase 
I almost tell her not to do her job 
That the breakage she aims to prevent 
is no concern


I am not buying a plate 


My purchase chosen 
from shelves 
a haphazard mosaic of mismatched pieces 


I am not buying a plate 


I hand money over 
for colour 
shape 
texture


for possibilities 


of what could be 

A mistake left uncorrected and lots of rain

Earlier today I accidently posted my small stone for today on this blog. Oops! It was supposed to go on my blog pausing for small stones where I post a short piece of writing each day. I was going to delete it then post it in the correct place but then decided to leave it here as an example of one of my small stones. I also posted it in the correct place. When I thought of today's small stone, I was about to get into my car when I heard lots of parrots in a nearby tree. Writing small stones is helping me to notice a lot more. Little dots of joy throughout the day. Today I was mulling over lots of possibilities for writing because of the rain changing how everything felt, looked, smelt and sounded today. 

It has rained a lot today. The most rain in Adelaide on a February day apparently for a long time. It wasn't particularly heavy but it was constant. Great for the garden! 

The opening parade for the Adelaide Fringe was scheduled for tonight but was cancelled due to the weather. Very disappointing. We have been looking forward to going for a long time. Last year's parade was fantastic. Alysha had a netball game this afternoon so I am not sure that we would have made it to the parade anyway. It is very disappointing that it had to be cancelled though. So many people would have been looking forward to it and the performers have been planning for a long time I'm sure. 

The Fringe is on for the next couple of weeks. I hope to get into town with the girls to enjoy some of the entertainment available. 

February small stone 18

Birds making such a racket 
Are they singing 
"thank you for the rain"?

Poetic treasure in my letter box

On Wednesday I received an exciting package in my letter box. It was from Maya Stein, a poet from San Francisco. The contents were declared safe for entry into Australia. 

Last year Maya undertook a fascinating project called Tour de Word, a travelling poetry project. She travelled around the United States and held writing workshops in various places. The project was funded by her supporters. This was the reason for my receiving the package. I was captivated when I first read about the project. It struck me immediately as something amazing and I decided I wanted to be a part of it. I couldn't do a lot living in Australia and unable to physically attend the workshops. I was, however, able to give some financial support and to follow the project through internet updates on the Tour de Word blog. 


The bonus for offering some financial support was the supporter bonuses which I received on Wednesday. I received Maya's book called "enoughwater" as well as 3 versions of "verse purse" which are just gorgeous. Each "verse purse" has 15 of Maya's poems. I haven't had a chance to read them all yet but flicking through I definitely have a few favourites already.
The book is gorgeous too. Maya sends a 10 line poem out by email every Tuesday. This book is a collection of all the poems she sent out the first year she did so with each one accompanied by a gorgeous photograph. I look forward to a good read later. I also am looking forward to the anthology that Maya is putting together as a result of the project. It will contain writing from participants from the workshops she ran. 

Thanks Maya! Thanks for the project and thanks for the package. And a thankyou to myself as well for deciding to support this project. The project was actually launched on my birthday last year so I considered my support in part a birthday present to myself. Happy Birthday to me!

Sunday scribblings - February 6th, 2011

My second offering for Sunday scribblings. This weeks prompt: 


Tell us your story.
Tell us a story.
What story matters to you?
What story do you need to hear?


This provoked much continuing thought! I decided to rewrite a poem to post here. So here is one take on story. 


Shining the pebbles 


Tell your own story 
share and reframe 
turn it around 
over 
inside out 
tell the same story 
and tell it again
let the telling change 
and the listening too 
sift through your life 
and discover yourself 
shining the pebbles 

The delights of doing just a little...

I was planning to title this post 'The benefits of doing just a little...' but I typed delights and I think I like that better so it will stay. 


This is my 100th post for this blog. Wow. 100 posts on from that day I sat in front of the computer thinking that I may as well just start and one small action of looking for information about how to set up a blog resulted in many more small actions and this blog was the result. Wow again. 100 posts! Plus another blog has resulted along the way. Which is what I planned to write about in this post. 


January is over and I am still writing small stones! I set up my blog pausing to pick up small stones as a place to store the small stones I wrote during January. Fiona Robyn was the inspiration behind this worldwide project. She states that a small stone is "a very short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment". Lots of people all over the world wrote a small stone each day in January and posted them to their blogs. Many are still continuing to write a small stone each day or nearly every day. I am one of them. I enjoyed the project a lot and continue to write and post a small stone each day. 


I have found this project has contributed to me paying more attention to my world. I am noticing and paying more attention to things that may have otherwise escaped my attention.  Part of the beauty of this project, I think, is its smallness. It is something I found quite easy to do and not too much of a commitment. Starting small has lead to a lot more. I am fairly certain that doing a little bit of writing each day will benefit my writing overall. It feels like practice or stretching. Sometimes I go on to write more than I think I would have that day without participating in this challenge of writing a small stone each day. Each day I get to focus for a short while on getting the small stone written for that day so I am being mindful for at least a short time every day. It seemed like quite a big task to write 31 small stones but it seems not nearly as difficult when broken down to writing one a day. Now I am aiming for 365 stones. That seems like a lot but one a day seems quite achievable. 


Thinking about how writing a small stone each day has lead to more writing has gotten me thinking about how starting something small often leads to more. Sometimes a task seems overwhelming but breaking it down into smaller pieces and just concentrating on one small thing can be useful. As Anne Lamott (1994), writes in her book 'Bird by Bird' 

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. (It) was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

I love that book! I love that passage! I often think of it when a task seems overwhelming. Just concentrate on what needs to be done immediately and let the rest follow. I took this approach when I began attending an art group a couple of years ago. More about that soon. 

Just take it 'bird by bird' or maybe 'stone by stone'. 

Sharing ideas

"Carrying an idea, even one that seems full blown, in one's thoughts

is far different from writing it down or

trying to speak it to share with others.

 

Taking the abstract to concrete carries its own challenges

and offers the rewards of connecting with others who are looking,

who have already discovered and want validation, or

who have arrived but like to remember the trip.

 

Sharing in writing or speech is a fundamental building block

for community."

 

Tammy Vitale

I really like this piece of Wylde Women's wisdom that arrived in my inbox yesterday. It particularly speaks to me I think because of the number of years I spent with big ideas that I seldom shared with others. 

I receive a short piece like this each day and mostly find I really like them and relate to them. To read more about Tammy Vitale's work or to sign up for your own piece of wisdom daily go to www.tammyvitale.com. There is amazing artwork there too!