Today: Creativity and time seem uneasy bedfellows. Perhaps white space is the peacemaker!
It’s hard to believe that it’s almost two years since that fateful day when I followed a “free kittens” sign into a trashed apartment and saw Escher giving me the stink-eye from behind the fridge. Within hours, three mistreated abandoned kittens had a new home. It’s been a slow and patient process of building trust, of learning to love and be loved. And I want to tell you something vulnerable (since we seem to be on that theme today) and true. Sometimes it’s hard. Even now, sometimes it’s hard.
I’ll stumble across adorable videos of someone playing with their docile, loving kittens and think, it was never like that for us. When I see loving, peaceful, gentle cats being picked up and cuddled, when I see head butts and paw taps and cats curled up in laps, all those beautiful moments of cat love, a deep longing stirs inside me. We have some of these moments but they are often few and far between.
This is not to say that I don’t love these three. If you’ve been around for the journey you know how fiercely I do. I love discovering each of their personalities – Scout’s sweetness, Shibumi’s irrepressibleness and Escher’s deep presence. I’ve cherished helping each one feel secure enough to eat, to sleep, to relax and to be at home. It is an extraordinary thing to help a cat learn what it is to be pet, to help them receive love.They are my muses and they live in a deep place in my heart.
It’s also not to say they haven’t come leaps and bounds from where we started. They have and I believe they will continue to do so. Scout regularly offers up his belly for pets. Shibumi purrs as soon as I talk to her. And Escher… well… even Escher now brings me his toy and comes to me for pets. There are a million precious moments I treasure.
But I don’t want to romanticize what it means to rescue abandoned kittens. I want to tell the whole story, a story of the kind of love that meets and stays with the truth. The truth is these three are still a little wild and maybe they always will be. The truth is I’ll probably always love that about them, even as I wish they would be tame.
Today: Re-energized by a creative weekend, I am thinking about all we learn about life when we engage with our art.
Today: When synchronicities arrive, I know an important message has too! I’m seeing lots of lessons about loving and letting go in our creative lives.
Today: What a joy to be back! Recovering after a couple of weeks being sick has me feeling a deep sense of gratitude – even when doing chores!
One of the things I always say is that rest is part of the work – and this week I have to heed my own words. What started as a cold/flu has turned into bronchitis with some complications and I’ve been in bed most of the week. Luckily I have kittens to give me healing cuddles and lots of people sending me love and healing vibes. I’m sure I’ll be better in no time – as long as I rest.
I thought I’d share a few of the things I am truly enjoying, just in case they would nourish you too.
If you have Netflix, they have a new documentary series called Abstract: The Art of Design. I’ve only watched the first episode but it was fascinating. It focused on one designer, his thoughts and processes and was visually interesting too.
For the photography lovers out there, Netflix has another documentary series, Tales by Light. Again, I’ve only watched the first episode, which followed a marine photographer and the moments he captures with humpback whales are truly extraordinary!
When I have enough energy to read, I’m still enjoying Thunder and Lightning by Natalie Goldberg. In this book she covers moving from writing practice to creating writing projects. There’s also a whole section dedicated to the importance of reading to a writer. I think this is worth thinking about for all of our pursuits. If we are musicians, are we listening to music too? If we are teachers, are we taking classes too?
I’m also truly having a wonderful time reading Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner with David Fisher. What a fascinating and affectionate story of two actors (and characters) that have been a part of my imagination for as long as I can remember. Plus a treat to discover Leonard Nimoy’s serious commitment to the art and craft of acting.
‘m also taking the opportunity to gently catch up on any classes that I’ve signed up for that have been sitting waiting for my attention. Even though I may not get up and draw or paint for a while, I can still immerse myself in the learning and the company of great teachers.
I’d love for you to add to my inspiration well too.
