C.V. Blaisdell's Blog, page 2

The Writing Life, Pandemic Style

[image error]April comes to an end this week. Its hard to believe the amount of time many of us have had on our hands in the last two months. My normal daily routine is at home, but I know that for a lot of people this is new. And its been a challenge.

Whats changed for me are the activities connected to my writing groups, my a cappella chorus, and my church music ministry. The evening meetings and associated work at home have slowed or stopped completely. With no little children at home needing to be...

Advice In A Time of Self-Quarantining and Social Distancing

[image error]If youre anything like me, youre finding yourself with more than the usual amount of free time on your hands. Extra-curricular activities have been curbed, employees have been dispatched to work from home, schools are shutting their doors, and even churches are telling people to stay home. What are we to do with all this unexpected downtime? Many of us have so many projects on the back-burner, that the thought of actually having time to accomplish them can be overwhelming, and paralyzing....

Writing Islands

I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions about writing in 2020 because I’m trying to avoid setting myself up for failure. However, I’ve got a few writing projects that I’d like to get back to, and actually finish, this year.

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They feel a lot like islands. Little mountains off in the distance, surrounded by water, glinting in the sunshine. They look quite perfect and compact from here. But, up close I’m sure I’d find overgrown paths and tangled brush in need of clearing before I could set up...

Natural Inspiration

This time of year, the beauty and the changes in nature from one day to the next bring an abundance of inspiration!

Inspirational Setting

 

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This summer, we vacationed on Cape Cod, as we’ve done for many years. From our rental, I could look across the bay and just make out the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. I could imagine Mary Oliver, one of my favorite poets (who recently passed away), walking the shores of P-town, inspired by its natural beauty. I, too, was looking for inspiration at the ocean’s edge. But none came. Not really. Unless you count one mediocre poem half-written in the ten days we spent there.

This morning, o...

When All Is Said

[image error]Some of the greatest words of wisdom were uttered thousands of years ago. Much has been written since. Yet, it’s said there’s really nothing left to say that hasn’t been said before. So, why do we try?

Everyday, authors, poets, songwriters, et al spill new combinations of ancient thoughts for their audiences to muck around in and absorb. So many words! Recently, I’ve read several contemporary works of LGBTQ poets and poets of color and I’m floored by their beauty and their struggles, their co...

Spring — and New Beginnings

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It’s spring! Or at least it will be later this afternoon. I guess tomorrow is actually the first full day of spring. Well, you know what they say:

Close only counts in horseshoes and in declaring that spring is here!!!

What a perfect time for me to begin reading Julia Cameron’s It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. Have you heard of it? I own another one of her books, The Right to Write, but never got far with it. But, I begin again.

Sh...

Literary Speed-Dating. . .

OK. . . I admit it, I’m not very organized when it comes to choosing reading material. Friends recommend books and sometimes I write them down, somewhere. Then, I hop on the treadmill one morning, forgetting that I finished a book the day before. I scramble to find one available for download from the local library consortium. Sometimes, I get lucky and a title jumps out at me as vaguely familiar. Other times, I just grab a basic mystery or romance fluff.

Well, last week, I attended my first-e...

The Death Of A Poet

[image error]One of my favorite poets passed away today.

My first thought: the body of all her writings is now finite. There will be no more. She’s written her last poem—expressed her last thought. Her work, complete.

And then I thought…

 

Death of a Poet
– farewell Mary Oliver 2019

Until death
itself steals breath
from lips that whisper
curious oceans,
eyes that search
the mystery of sand,
hands that fly
with owls & humming-
birds, and a heart
that embraces
peony & snake,
turtles & rain,

the poem
won’t e...

The Measure of a Good Book

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Read any good books lately?

Have you prepared your list of must-reads for 2019?

What’s your yardstick for judging the value of a book?

For lots of people, summer is their most prolific reading season. Days spent on the beach or by the pool can be filled with hours of devouring the written word: mystery novels, magazines, paperback romances, fantasy series. For others, their daily commute by bus or train provides the perfect opportunity year-round to escape into a book. Me? I’m not one to sit...