(This is a mirror site of my webpage karenjcarlisle.com)

Friday, March 15, 2013

Fear of blank pages.

As I sit, with my first cup of tea for the day, I ponder what to write. Knowing and stating that I plan to practice writing everyday is a lot easier said than done. It is not the writing itself; sometimes it just gushes out of my brain, in an endless flow, sometimes it trickles out intermittently; the hardest part is what to actually write about - the subject matter.

Some people recommend to write 'what you know', others recommend indulging the imagination. Last night, I started searching my imagination for something different to write about, so the blog does not get too repetitive  Today, I have been sitting and waiting for an inspiration to pop into my head. Blank, blank, blank, blank, blank! So I grabbed my cup of tea and just started to write (can't you tell?) 

Yesterday, was the first time in about three weeks, that I have been able to do something constructive in the garden. I managed to dig over three garden beds (well, two were actually old bathtubs) with compost. I planted zucchini (late season), spinach, broccoli, lettuce, spinach and all year round carrots. I removed an old dead bean plant. (I was finally able to do this, after talking about culling things I love, yesterday) Now patience, and a little water, is required until I see some results. 

I am having to learn patience in a lot of things recently. One of them is my drawing. I want to rush it and get it  all finished as soon as possible. Past experience has taught me that this is not always prudent. I started a sketch yesterday; I ended up altering parts of it several times, partly as I was trying to rush it to the end product. I could hear that little voice in my head, telling me to slow down and enjoy the process. Another cup of tea later, I was curving the pencil over the paper more satisfactorily. 

However, the picture had metamorphed into another idea for an octopus tshirt - far away from what I had originally planned on drawing. I have said before that when writing, characters have a life of their own; so do drawings. Sometimes, a certain curve that is created will take me off on a tangent making me forget all about my original idea.. a bit like this blog post. 

Enjoy the unpredictability of life; sometimes it will take you somewhere better than you had hoped. 

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