Autumn's Questions

 

I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

    - Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903 in Letters to a Young Poet

Autumn brings a time of vibrance and change. Glimmers of orange, crimson, magenta, and flashes of gold permeate the days. As shades of blue search for a turn, gray flannel consumes the clouds. 

Landscapes arouse with lightning, thunder and showers. Scents of cinnamon and cider fill the air along with aromas of wood smoke from chimneys. The breeze tastes of promise. Nature's multiple personality during autumn reminds us to consider possible changes and pursue, rather than judge, our writing.

The time arrives to explore and pile questions upon questions instead of a search for answers. A pondering of  ". . . and then what” provides possibilities. 

We mine for more understanding if we permit the questions to climb upon one another. They will wrestle for opportunities we have not considered.

These ten questions will spark others as you write to them. Respond only with more questions. See what happens.

l.  How would you answer Rilke’s question:

Ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write?" 

2.  How are you with your writing? 

3.   What biases affect your writing. Recognize their existence, list and write to them.

4.  What amuses you about your writing?

5.  How do you write about what feels wrong?

6.  Do you celebrate your strengths in writing?  In what ways?

7.  How do you provide constructive feedback for your writing? If not, who does?

8.  If you considered your heart’s desire about your writing, what would it involve?

9.  What do you write away from? How can you bring it closer to you?

10. What’s the greatest question your writing nudges in you?

Take time to involve yourself with the questioning process as autumn displays its wonders. 

Explore Personalities

Play and explore your multiple personalities.  

Describe yourself in three different ways. You might begin by describing: Me, Myself and I. 

Name these personalities with first and last names. Try for two syllables for the first name and three for the last name. 

     

Add a middle name for rhythm.  

         Which nicknames will you choose?  

                 Make one personality a creature of some type.

 

Have fun and do a freewrite from each persona. Create dialogue among them. 

If additional characters move in during your freewriting, keep expanding their traits. 

Let playfulness and humor fly.

Find a Randomizer

 

Anne Carson, poet, essayist and translator, calls Robert Currie, her husband, a "randomizer." She means he makes quirky recommendations that help her become less predictable. She feels a freedom  to move in directions she would not have set out for herself.

Once he told her to "put dancers in your writing." She adapted her sonnets into a theatrical performance that featured dancers.

How would you use this technique to add variety and creativity to your life?  

Find a randomizer to energize ideas. Discover diversions when stuck on a project or decision. 

Toddle with a turtle.

    Search for the unimaginable.

       Let Fun take you for a ride.

Laughter Conquers All

 

Have you LAUGHED today?

L - Let anger and frustration go.
 A - Feel the Awe of Positivity.
  U - Utilize your funny bones.
   G - Give Ha Ha Hugs away.
     H - Heal with Humor.
       T - Terrorize with Tickles.
        E - End your day in Play.
          R - Rattle everyone with spontaneous laughter!

Write your way into humor and spread the shine.

    Let laughter conquer all.

The Direction of Choices

 

Every story, love or war, is a story about looking left when we should have looked right  

- Sarah Blake from The Postmistress

Remember a time you made a choice that sent you in a different direction than planned?

      Think about a decision that eliminated a serious change in your life.

      Recall a situation where you, by chance, turned right instead of left. 

      Write about a misstep.  How did you catch yourself before you fell?

Follow these memories in writing.  

      Where will your choices lead today?

Creativity and Novelty

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, first inaugural address”

In her book, YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN,  Dr. Shelley Carson shares the psychology and neuroscience of creativity. A Harvard psychologist, Dr. Carson defines creativity as something novel or original and useful or adaptive to some portion of the population. She focuses on the distinction between originality and creativity. Carson indicates that many things are original but aren’t particularly creative.

Psychologists used to believe the left brain analyzed with an involvement of sequential thinking and the right brain handled creativity. 

The movement developed toward the front-back brain division. The front brain became the gatekeeper and controlled the input from the back brain. 





More complicated than either model, it depends upon which stage of the creative process you’re in.

Dr. Carson feels contentment is the enemy of creativity because the creative mind constantly hungers for stimulation.

Creativity involves novelty-seeking. Studies of cognitive behavior have shown you can change brain activation states, alter neurotransmitter levels and the receptors for those neurotransmitters and receptors. Dr. Carson believes, “if we have the ability to change our brains with cognitive behavior therapy, why not use that power to become more novelty-seeking and more creative?’

Carson adds, to increase creativity, “keep learning new things. Take courses, read widely, and learn how to play a new instrument or how to cook Tuscan food. Learn, learn, learn! Second, try not to judge the things you’re learning. Keep an open mind. Everything you learn is a possible element that may make its way into some future creative idea that you can’t even imagine today. And the more open-minded you remain about what you learn, the more likely you are to see how it can be combined with other information to form a novel and original product or idea." 

Develop a novelty-seeking ability in your life today.

Let the Light Shine

 

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.  The broke world waits in darkness for the light that is you.  - L. R. Knost

Today we face challenges that do not belong to us alone. We cannot control the media, government, or others' opinions.  

Personal intention matters. Once our eyes grow accustomed to the dark, details appear. Shapes and colors arise for consideration and choices. Breezes bring in scents not noticed before. Birdsong announces another view.

What we do next involves giving the best of love, respect, and devotion to making decisions beyond the darkness. 

Creativity moves us.

Gradually we gain ideas of what we can do to enhance life for ourselves to translate to others. 

Our enlightenment revels in thoughts put into actions.

Jump beyond any wallow in a wilderness of frustration. Make plans to greet the day with brightness and acknowledge others who walk with their heads down. Bring their eyes level with yours and turn their frowns upside down.  

It takes small steps. The flash of a bee at work will bring illumination into your world. 

When wandering in the dark, discover three ideas to arouse awe. Use your potential.

Manage from your inside out to bring in light necessary for renewal. Follow Rollo May's directive and develop the Courage to Create.

Wonder into Awareness

Our minds can create strings of thoughts that move from anguish to armageddon within minutes.  We move deeper into despair by thinking about the next . . . and the next possible disaster.

What if the next time the chain begins, we stop and re-arrange the lines to develop creative solutions - absurd or awesome.

Instead of asking, "What if this happens?" Flip the chatter.  Ask - "In what ways will I prepare for all situations."

Begin in awareness.

First describe the internal feelings when the anguish begins.  Notice how they circulate in the abdomen or tighten the chest.

Breathing becomes shallow.

Find a word to stop your train of thoughts. Write or yell:  Halt!  Gizmo! Never!

Begin to consider your breathing patterns and find a rhythm of five counts in through the nose and six counts out through the nose. 

Think of how nature deals with timing. Imagine the challenge of a seed breaking the covering to develop shoots and roots.

Where does dark go at dawn? Create imagery to remove yourself from the anxiety of the situation.

Focus on a scent like lemon or your favorite aroma.  Chase it to all components and tastes. Let it transport you to a time of tranquility.

Listen for a bird song, waves, wind in tree branches.

Hear the click click of a hummingbird, a duck's wing beats, or a gull's cry.

Get into the details of the shapes and depths inside flowers. 

Bring in the Ha Ha Ha of humor. Laugh out loud. Make fun of the situation.


By using awareness and delving into distraction, laughter and creativity, watch the fragments of worry disappear.

 

Awe of Autumn

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”  ― Albert Camus

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” ― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” ― George Eliot

“At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honeysweet where you feel it touching the first sounds.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!” ― Humbert Wolfe

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple...” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Autumn abounds in angles and awe.  -Penny Wilkes 

Celebrate the first day of autumn reveling in natural settings.

The Super Power of Self

Revised to self-care eases any feelings of selfishness. Self-care means commitment to an active role in physical and mental well-being. We build self-esteem and resilience by attention to our needs.

Self-care is not self-centered. It extends to our community of family, friends, and the natural world.

Living from the inside out with fun and ferocity builds self-esteem without a need for audience approval.

Compassion and a positive attitude, regardless of challenges and frustrations, assist the process. 

A quick fix of self-indulgence won't solve a situation. Discipline sets limits to prioritize importance and define boundaries. 

Examine rhythms of daily life. 

             Find ways to Balance.

                         Develop a flexible outlook.

Enrich creative talents. Let nature guide you to appreciate bird flight and song. Take a walk and use the cellphone to record moments of joy.

Consider studying mindfulness and developing a focus with breathing and meditation. Use writing to examine fears and frustrations. Move into exuberance and wonder.

When an anxious thought appears, find three possibilities to take its place.

Choose three bad habits to replace. See what happens in a week's time.

Naps nurture resilience.

Indulge in what makes you joyful. Spread it to others by a compliment on their smile.

Hum a tune. Play an instrument.

Let humor percolate during the day. Laughter assists beyond tears.

If you feel cranky, create a cartoon character for a chat.

Find fun activities to rescue a frenzied mind.

Live in the present moment.

Develop your Super Power of Self.

Flower Language

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear." - Ram Dass

"The silence was enchanting. Infinite space seemed to enter it, and my spirit, alone with the stars, seemed capable of any adventure." 

- W. Somerset Maugham

Flowers bloom in love's language.

Find the silence to let nature nurture.

    Focus on colors and scents.

           Feel the texture of petals.

Language of silence stimulates creativity.  Where will the adventure continue?

Curiosity and Anger

 

" . . . anger is one of my favorite creative resources." 

 - Justin Kleon

Focus angry feelings on the curiosity of that emotion. Avoid the first reaction of complaining or lashing out.  Discover where the intensity leads into wonder.

Instead of attempting to "get even" with the situation, redirect energy. Take five deep breaths with the eyes closed. 

Open the mind to imagination and innovative connections.

Write with the color green, a scent and a favorite song. Sing along. Smile. Add a chuckle or two.

Blend into the flow of words. With an adventure into creativity, anger will transform into Fun.

Visual Experience

 

Photographs capture visual art with an examination and preservation of details.

           Moments save a shift, a change, a challenge. 

                             Nature unfolds through depth, shadows, and light.

Butterflies pose for attention.

Search for a variety of perspectives. Notice color movements, edges and textures.

Discover nuances, dips and curves. What will evolve in the shadows?
 

Capture details of the day.