I just finished Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Lacuna. Her symbol intrigues throughout the story. The word 'lacuna' encompasses a variety of meanings in the book: a cave, a missing text, a gap, a cenote, even the growth of a writer. The reader's Individual curiosities add to the mix.
Discovering the lacuna imagery within the pages, I became fascinated with these lines:
"Frieda, you always said the most important thing about any person is what you don't know. Likewise, then, the most important part of any story is the missing piece."
As I turned the last page of Barbara Kingsolver's novel, notions of what we don't know and openings stayed with me. I wondered about what I'd missed and what had gone missing.
Moving through the next week, I considered all the openings we need as writers. We write ourselves out of and into holes and spaces.
We learn to break open to our process and discover it's vital to, "Open all your pores and bathe in all the tides of nature," as Henry David Thoreau observed.
How do we also remain open to the changes and transitions in life and avoid the traps? We need to observe nature's ways and watch the unfurling of a rose. The times of twilight intrigue when the sky opens to light and darkens at dusk. The trill of birdsong out of silence awakens us at dawn. What occurs within the fissures where water sneaks and bubbles form?
Our awareness pushes our eyes, ears, noses and taste buds to the next curiosity. Do we dare fall into an opening, like Alice? Will we permit our pens and fingers on keyboards to explore with courage and risk?
When we look for openings, we risk the chance to make mistakes. If closed, we miss opportunities and all the wild and wide open places.
Creative Write: What does it mean to become open and receptive?
Choose a metaphor for how you might express openness. Explore possibilities in freewrites. Consider what represents an opening of awareness: Write about a missing piece.
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