writing

Inspiration visual.

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Check out my new logo, designed by fabulous art director and good friend, Maryl Lavelle.

It’s inspired by the shape of trees (!) – one special tree in particular: a live oak that lives on the right side of San Vicente Road heading into the San Diego Country Estates in Ramona, CA (my sanctuary). I mean, this tree holds out its arms in welcome! One of my favorites.

With letters as leaves, the words “Sageland Creative” seat comfortably at its formidable roots  – and creates a place for my name, too. Burnt orange and golden maize bring to mind the fall season, and it’s no wonder – nature inspires us, too.

Interesting to look at. Unexpected. Many, many thanks, Maryl!

Kind words.

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Feel-good feedback on my From the Editor letter in the July 2010 issue of HUDSON’S Childrenswear Review, as well as my weekly HCRSourceBook blog posts, fresh on Wednesdays.

Here’s the original page, if you’re interested: FromTheEditor_HUDSONS072010

How to do more of everything.

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I start my day with this:

I need to get more of everything done today.

Not a good sign.

Re-group. Move forward. Let it go. Let it grow. Kinder. Gentler. Flow.

Better.

Now, I can get more of everything done today.

 

Season of the witch.

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When she was young, my girl-cat Sofie liked to steal this soft, creamy knit throw from the bed, grabbing it with her teeth and running away to her cat-cave place – all angora and white billowing behind her. It looks like a little ghost is following her – this is how she gets the nickname Boo Cat.

For me, dressing up for Halloween can mean revealing where my nickname comes from: Janet from Another Planet. This one day of the year, I tell the back story … explain the electric blue aura, the Q-tip earphones, why I’m here in the first place.

Not many know the tale of Janet from Another Planet – those that do know who they are. It’s kinda personal and requires a trick or a treat.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Fear is the mind-killer.

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Prayer for today:

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing…

Only I will remain.

-Litany against Fear, Frank Herbert‘s DUNE

Pay attention.

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The Wave, Paul Gauguin

 

My art teacher at university urged his students, “draw what you see, not what you know.” It is the one concept that encompasses the entire class, always the central theme of all his classes.

Draw what you see, not what you know.

You know sand covers the beach, even under the surf – the ocean floor – yet you see water wash over sand at the beach – the deepening color, the disappearing.

“I shut my eyes in order to see,” says painter Paul Gauguin.

Draw the beach by seeing its nature.

Looking for the center.

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The Friend comes into my body looking for the center, unable to find it, draws a blade, strikes anywhere.

-Rumi

Reminds me of the current state of American politics, somehow.

Ebb and flow.

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Wake up call from a wrong number. Dream interrupted – about a boy I know from high school, distinctive eye glasses. Thoughts brimming over with triumphant pictures of men embracing, giving thanks with words I do not understand. Feel the meaning, though. Grateful for the 34th Man. Savoring a cup of joe. Ashamed of recent mortgage foreclosure news. Delighted with an unexpected sunny day. Angered by reports of bad behavior at a company where I worked 17 years.  Embarrassed by past actions. Lamenting short memory of cats, Americans. Raising the bar. Considering what to have for breakfast. Actually, lunch.

Ebb and flow.

Connection.

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Video transcription can be a tedious task, and an important one nonetheless. The more detailed and complete video transcription is, the better an accomplished writer/producer can craft the material into a compelling story.

With this work, I make the connection. Find the reason. Write the story.

“When you smile at people … they smile back,” says Janice Brown, a patient at The Art of Dentistry in San Diego, CA, “and you establish a connection with other people in a way that I never knew was available for me.”

More than 25 years ago, a horrible bike accident knocks out all of Janice’s teeth, and she endures emergency dental and facial surgery. The doctors do the best they can at the time, but it leaves her with a smile she is not comfortable with.

It changes her life. “I had planned to be a broadcast journalist. But because I lost my smile, I thought I should become a lawyer,” she says. “I thought I should use my brain.”

Her experience at The Art of Dentistry changes her life once more. “A number of friends have said to me, what have you done lately? Have you lost weight? Did you color your hair different – they don’t know what’s happened…

…And all I do is smile at them.”

This is it! The reason to believe. And I write the story.

A walk in the clouds.

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Walking is my preferred exercise. There’s nothing like opening my front door to a bright clear day, stepping out to feel the sunshine and traveling around the neighborhood on foot. I enjoy these kinds of walks just about every day — uh, no. Wait.

I forget where I am. I live in the Northwest now. Sunny days don’t always apply.

For months, I struggle with the dark break of day. The sun don’t shine, I don’t walk. It’s a little embarrassing, really. Like I can’t handle change. Won’t adapt, get my groove back. I stress over these kinds of excuses just about every day …

Until I make one small shift in thought. One click-through to a new visual. It all comes together then, opens my front door.

Now, I take

a walk in the clouds.

Photo: Cloudy day in the Northwest, by Marty Muniz