The 37 Days Challenge (background: Why 37 Days?) and reading passages from the book Running in the Family (Michael Ondaatje's memoir) have inspired me (kicked my butt) to get back on track to tsunami anniversary storytelling vignettes. Microstories. Whatever. Excuses. Over my temper tantrum with words. So. Go write girl.
Patti is (and invites us to also) "for at least the next 37days, I'm going to write an essay each day, shorter, different, exploratory, fodder for longer essays, rough works in progress, notes on a palette of sorts, thoughts that might end up here in some form."
I'm late. About four days late. Yeah I'm in.
Quote lifted from the 37days Challenge post:
"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." - Joan Didion
Bonus: "i read this quote once from the spiritual teacher adyashanti. i don't know much about him, but the quote was on an advertisement that came in the mail. it was about writing and revelation. he said that the act of writing for an audience is uniquely helpful in helping a person become clear about things. there is something about writing with the intent of making yourself understood that brings about greater self-understanding and growth than just scribbling phrases or rants in a notebook. i find that with this blog. i've been journaling since i was 10 and have never had the kind of personal experience that i'm having in this type of writing." - This Life blog (great blog, btw)
Oh, if only all my blog-writing was un-self-consciously Zen:
Loretta said...
I think all writing is very zen in that the writer is totally immersed in the moment as the words are created. In that context, I think all blogs are "zen".
Hi Evelyn, just getting caught up here. (We were without a computer for a month and I'm gradually getting through my blog-reading backlog.) So glad to hear that you're going to do the 37 Days Challenge, although I have to say I've always found your posts inspiring. I, too, am doing the 37 Days thing although it's taken me in an unexpected direction. (Then again, maybe not.) It's what that quote above says, "...there is something about writing with the intent of making yourself understood that brings about greater self-understanding and growth..." I very rarely edit blog posts, and I'm not doing it during this 37 Days Challenge either. I just start writing, but for some reason it's helping me to dig deeper...and it's definitely leading to more self-understanding.
Posted by: Marilyn | Mar 02, 2006 at 08:09 AM