Maureen Bush's Blog, page 5

Inspiration

I’ve been terrible at writing blogs posts over the last few months. I’ve had a series of colds through the winter, and I tend to focus any creative energy into stories, not blogs. We moved my husband’s parents into assisted living early this year, and my mom is moving, too. We’re drowning in details, and cutting non-essentials.

But some days I feel inspired. Today, it was ice on tree branches that got me going. We’ve had a couple days of fog (not common in dry Calgary), with a little rain, cold enough to freeze overnight. My snowdrops were encased in ice. This morning, the fog was gone, and as the sun rose it lit up branches coated in ice.  They looked decked out for a party.

I love spring. I love the energy, as if the world is coming back to life. I love watching the first tips of green emerge in the garden. I loved how disheveled the garden is, with drifted leaves and needles from the Christmas tree we stuffed into a snow bank and broken branches brought down by the wind.

I love frost on the branches and the sound of rain and the smell, afterwards. I love the anticipation, waiting for the first bloom (early snowdrops, this year). And what will be the second to bloom? Crocuses or hepatica?

The garden is scruffy and brown, but all I see are possibilities and beauty.

Maureen

It’s Spring

It’s officially spring in my garden. Snowdrops are blooming in a bright cluster near the back door.

This is a quirk of climate change, giving Calgary an exceptionally early spring. I thank Vancouver, for sharing their warmth, and offer my condolences to everyone east of here, still deep in snow. At least this is proof that spring will come.

Maureen

 

The Book Whisperer

I just finished reading The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller (2009). Donalyn, a teacher, writes about her success hooking kids on reading. She does it by having a great in-class book collection, scheduling reading time every day, and expecting that everyone will read, every day. The kids chose what they want to read and recommend books to each other, and she recommends books, based on what she knows about each child.

It was a delight to read about her enthusiasm for kids and reading and books, and to hear about her successes nurturing readers. And it gives me hope that a focus on reading for pleasure, and letting kids chose their own books, might reach other kids who are uncomfortable with reading.

Maureen

The Joy of Time and Solitude

I was given the greatest gift for a writer, time and solitude. I spent two nights in Canmore in a condo, courtesy of a brother- and sister-in-law. It was a mini-spring in winter, so warm I sat on the balcony in bare feet and a T-shirt, the sleeves pushed up over my shoulders, tanning while I wrote. I spent three days alone, with no one needing anything, no laundry waiting, no walks to shovel. I worked when I wanted to and rested when I needed.

I couldn’t push this hard every day, but to use this time to simply write and write and write – well, to edit and edit and edit – on five, yes, seriously, five different projects – was brilliant. This is an indication of how scattered my last six months have been, and the effort I’m putting in to learning and growing as a writer, but it has to stop at some point. I keep thinking I’m almost at that point, and then I see something new to dig into.

And it was wonderful, truly wonderful.

Maureen

What’s a Reducetarian?

Hi. My name is Maureen, and I’m a Reducetarian

My older daughter was home for three weeks over the holiday. She’s a vegan, and so we adapted our menus to accommodate.

It was an interesting experience ­– difficult because I have food allergies and sensitivities that make it difficult for me to eat only vegan. But I love vegetables, and I prefer meals that focus on wonderful vegetables,  so we found a way to manage, more or less.

I’ve been looking for vegetarian recipes I can eat, and now can add vegan recipes. And I’m much more inspired ­– the food is so good, and so healthy, and I’m quite happy to eat less and less meat.

Now I discover there’s a name for that – Reducetarian – for people who don’t want to or can’t go all-out vegetarian or vegan, but want to reduce their meat consumption, for environmental, ethical or health reasons. And because it tastes so good.

When my children were small I learned about burping babies, and french-braiding wildly curly hair, and putting really straight hair into buns, and sewing costumes (a half-tutu was my piece de resistance).

Now we’ve moved on to being challenged to eat vegan, to understand LGBTQ issues (Quiltbag), to have a much broader view of feminism (for my kid’s generation, it’s about equality for all). And it’s fascinating. Bring it on!

Maureen

The Art of Stillness

One of my Christmas gifts is The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere, by Pico Iyer. From the back cover:

“At some point, all the horizontal trips in the world stop compensating for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unexpected; movement makes most sense when grounded in stillness.

In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”

This is why I meditate. The Art of Stillness clarifies for me the importance of meditation, of silence, of depth. And it has me thinking about Christmas.

The depth of Christmas is not in the food, or in the presents. It’s in generosity, in beauty, in singing together, in donations, in quiet moments enjoying the Christmas tree, in time together, with friends and family. And deeper still, it’s in silence. That’s where depth lives – in silence.

We get lost, I think, in busyness, and lose the silence. But that’s where joy lives. This can be a time to take time, to take a moment to breathe, instead of running faster and faster, shopping and wrapping and cooking all day so we can overeat and then shop again for days and spend January decluttering and losing weight.

Imagine if we didn’t, if this darkest time of winter was a time to rest, to breathe, a time for silence and depth. I’m going to give it a try.

Maureen

 

When Writing Sings

Sometimes writing just doesn’t happen. Or it limps along. Or it flows, briefly, and then stops. For me, this happens when I’m sick and my brain is slow ­– often just from a cold, or an allergy – but it’s enough to slow writing to the point of painfulness. Sometimes I stop, walk away, have a nap, or go on an errand, knowing that whatever writing I push to accomplish will have to be redone the next day.

Because the good days – the great days ­­­– those brilliant writing days – on those days, the words sing, and a day of pushing is so far from that it’s hard to bother. In between are the regular writing days, when there are moments that shine, and moments that struggle, and progress, although it always feels too slow.

This is where the work of writing kicks in. To simply do the work, even if the words aren’t dancing -  to do the work, hoping the words will sing.

Maureen

Writing on Retreat

I’m on a meditation retreat, but managed a little writing today (a sick day, felled by allergies).

It was lovely to start from silence, and then settle into a story I’m coming back to. It felt homey and comfortable, like I was wrapped in a warm blanket, visiting with a friend.

Maureen

Literature Map

I’ve discovered a new-to-me wondrous website for readers, Literature-Map.

It’s a “if you like this author you should try this one” map. You type in an author’s name, and a page pops up with that author’s name in the centre, surrounded by other authors read by people who read the first. The closer they are, the more people read both.

I typed in Philip Pullman, and there’s Garth Nix and Tamora Pierce and Diana Wynne Jones, and Madeleine L’Engle and Cornelia Funk and …

If I click on Tamora Pierce I get a new map, with Pierce in the centre, surrounded by a whole new bunch of authors, some of whom I don’t know. And I want to, because I love Tamora Pierce and this is a way to find more books like hers.

When I click on Lloyd Alexander, a childhood favorite, I find Susan Cooper, Tamora Pierce, Mary Stewart and Diana Wynne Jones cuddled up close, and other writers I love nearby. And those new ones? I’ll have to check them out.

I have spotted some typos – Le Guin and Ursula K. Leguin are both on the Lloyd Alexander map, in different locations. But that’s a small quibble. I find this an enormously useful website, with a brilliantly simple design.

http://www.literature-map.com/

Maureen

A Brilliant Writing Day

I had a great writing day earlier this week. I’ve been editing a novel manuscript and on Tuesday, I saw exactly what needed to be done to make it work. I knew what to add and what to tweak, with a clarity that is incredibly rare, at least for me.

It was like working on a plastic puzzle where you move around little squares, to make a pattern, and you play and play and play and just can’t see the way and then – there – you see it – and there’s lots of moves left to make but you know where you’re going now.

That was my day. I know where I’m going now. For this story. Of course, every story is its own puzzle that needs to be cracked. I need to remember this day when I’m stuck in the next puzzle.

Maureen