Friday was an interesting sort of day.
First, a bit of a triumph in the land of t-shirt creation. The mechanical elves were not in a helpful mood, but, finally, the goal was achieved. Just in time, it would seem, if you’ve been watching the news!
Then, my currently problematic kneecap decided to get stuck in a sub-optimal location. This led to a bit of drama involving the knee brace & walking stick & big dogs whimpering in concern .
A bit of lunch and some joint & muscle oil later, things began to look up. It was time to hang out with Annie!
I mean, who could turn down a live (Zoom) Q & A with Anne Lamott??? Not me… even with the crabby knee!
The crowd was filled with writers. Those who claim the label and those still reaching for it. An Intentional Creativity® Sister. And a woman who looked a lot like an old friend. Annie was up for it. We chatted a lot about what to write. And how. And, even, why.
Here are a few of my favorite bits, drawn heavily from her Bird by Bird which lives on my ancient, actual bookshelf, beside Buechner and Brueggemann, and bits of C.S. Lewis.
(What follows are not exact quotes from the book. They’re more Annie musing and me scribbling on the obligatory index card.)
Where to start??? Shitty first drafts!
How to write every day? Bribes & threats! (Gentle ones!)
How do you decide what to leave out? Deletion is a huge part of creativity!
How do you know you’re a writer? As soon as you stop not writing… you’re a writer!
I was, except for my knee, like a very happy Grammy after a platter full of stone crab claws as our time together came to a close and Annie went off to the next right thing… which I suspect had something to do with the puppy!
My next right thing was skipping a recorded meeting in favor of a knee-up, eyes closed event. This required background noise and I opted for music.
Joan Baez. In this case, a recording of a live concert held in Cesarea Israel in 1979.
And, yes, it’s time for the context brackets to appear!
Most of the songs were ones I had loved for years. Blowin’ in the Wind. Kumbaya. Dona Dona Dona. One about Jesus. Well, you get the drift. Some of them were unfamiliar.
Notably, one sung in Hebrew and another in Arabic. (Joan is a language genius!)
In Israel. In 1979.
And then the YouTube elves got busy and started sending random songs from Joan, and I hummed along, deeply engaged in untangling a new stash of red yarn… a Red Thread Guide graduation gift!
There came, as sometimes happens, a surprise! With God on Our Side.
This one was a bit of a challenge for me. The punchline was the assertion that God is on everyone’s side.
True confession time.
I set aside my yarn long enough to grab another index card and the first thing I wrote down was that God is on the side of everyone who believes God is on everyone’s side.
That was tempting, in this moment, but not quite enough. A bit of conversation with the Legendary Husband later, and some more literal and figurative unwinding and I was ready to edit my index card.
God is on everyone’s side… and weeps for those who can’t accept that.
And somewhere inside me, as I hung out with Annie and Joan in the context of this moment – and those moments gone by – I could have sworn that I was surrounded by glimpses of the Divine Feminine at work, even now.
Which caused me to wonder what it is that wants to be born in you? Or set free???
ps… looking for a writers’ retreat? Check out Heal & Create!
pps… so, given all the “context” issues of the moment, here’s a first glimpse at the Legendary Husband’s timely t-shirt! So hoping you’ll check it out!