inspiration

Looking Ahead to 2021

/ dianathormoto / 2 Comments

Hello, dear readers! Happy Boxing Day to those who celebrate it. Happy almost 2021 to everyone. It is hard to believe we are at the end of another year, but even a year as odd and hard and exhausting as 2020 must come to an end. And this is the week of looking towards the new year. So, let’s look ahead, not behind, and not get maudlin, but instead get ready for another new year for us to create and to learn and to grow.

While the turning of a calendar page won’t make things magically better or create more time in the day to write or to do anything, it does always seem to me o be a fresh start. There is hope at the beginning of the year. Another 365 days to play with, to create in, to live through, and to make better. I don’t do resolutions anymore, a bit too much pressure to make grand statements and, let’s face it, I have no desire to have any more guilt in my life.

But I do find setting some goals or intentions and making sure my schedule reflects them to be useful, not only for writing, but for every aspect of life. In the new year, I want to ensure I hold time for family and friends. (One of the few upsides of the pandemic, and let’s be honest there have been very few, has been more time with my immediate family). I need to continue to make time in my schedule to write, even if it means getting up early to have a few minutes to myself every day. And I need to continue to learn so I can show up and be in community with others doing work I believe in.

And, at the end of this year, I’ve found that it is so important to have time to exercise so I can keep up my energy to do everything else. I know it isn’t for everyone, but breaking a sweat is one way that I keep balanced and calm (even more than meditating, which I’m horrible at, but keep trying). I hope you’ve found what keeps you balanced, even through this year.

So what does any of this mean for this blog?

Expect some short (very short) stories in the new year and other posts as I work to be more intentional about not letting this blog atrophy. And hopefully we all create something we’re excited about in this coming year.

I wish you all the peace, joy, and energy you need to create and care for and be in the new year. Thank you, as always, for reading and I’ll see you in the new year.

Thoughts at the Start of NaNoWriMo

/ dianathormoto

Happy November! Can you believe it is already November? I feel like part of the year has gone missing, like it’s rolled under the couch and now we can’t find it so the year has been ridiculously short (and yet also feels like the longest year ever. Time is weird and wibbly wobbly, too.). So you know what November means. No, not quite turkey time here in the United States, but it is the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

I quite love NaNoWriMo. This is my fourth year of participating and it really is a lot of fun. It’s frenetic, too, because how could it not be? It is the start of the holiday season after all. But it is a wonderful month for writing amongst others here, as the days grow too short and the nights grow too long. For me it is hibernation weather, so having an outside impetus to get me out of the house after work is a happiness and getting out of the house to be surrounded by other writers is a joy.

It’s a slightly bonkers and wonderful thing to attempt to write 50,000 words in a month, crammed between life and work or school/work and life or any other combination of things we have on our plates. But it is fun and it is community-building and I love it.

I love the sound of keyboards clicking and pens scratching as we race to get in our world count for the day. The word sprints where our hands might actually get ahead of our thoughts, instead of the other way around. The laughter that only comes when everyone is just on the cusp between elation and despair that only other writers, other creatives, other people trying this mad thing can understand.

For most of the year, I’m a solitary writer. I prefer silence when I write as noise and music distracts me. I like the quiet of morning and evenings to write, when the cat curls up asleep next to me and my tea is still warm in my mug. I set deadlines and goals just for myself and keep them, more or less. But in November it’s my time to break out of that routine, to find comfort writing in a group, and to learn from others even if it is only by diffusion as we all lean over laptops and notebooks scribbling until our hands can’t take any more. But in November the ideas and compassion and encouragement swirl freely and I only have to reach out my hand to grab some to last me through to the next writing session.

So if you’ve never tried NaNoWriMo before, or you are an old-hand, I hope you’ll join us on this journey this month. Find your home region, go to a write-in or two, and be amazed at how much fun writing with your community can be. You never know what inspiration may come only when you are in the final stretch, typing as fast as your fingers can fly. It’s November 1st and anything is possible, dear writer, anything at all.

Saturday Short: The Community Bookstore

/ dianathormoto

photograph of two polaroids of bookstores

It used to be, back when your mother and father were young and there were still such things as penny candy and magic, there was a bookstore in every town and every one was different. Some were so small that you would have sworn it could have fit inside a shoebox.

Yet the proprietor always managed to find the exact book you needed, when you needed it, even if you had no idea that particular book was going to make your heart sing.

Others were so large that you could lose whole gaggles of children amongst the stacks. Some did, only to be found at closing time by the store cat, asleep with picture books open in their laps.

Nowadays, when people live next door to each other for years, yet still can’t rightly tell each other’s name, there are fewer bookstores and less magic, too.

But if you’re lucky enough to find one in the town where you hang your coat at the end of the day, go in and say hi. Put your phone in your pocket and gaze around in wonder as you step over the threshold into a place of joy and welcome.

Find that book you’d forgotten, which made you brave when you were young. Pick up a slim tome, on the recommendation of a handwritten sign stuck precariously between the spines, that may just save your soul. Buy the fat novel with a title that tickles like déjà vu at the base of your neck on the advice of the bookseller whose smile crinkles the corner of her eyes when you say yes and who whispers that the book is one of her favorite friends.

There’s still magic in the world, though it’s hidden more often than not. But you can find it wrapped up in the pages found in bookstores owned by people whose veins flow with prose and poetry. Don’t be shy, come on in, and if you listen closely, you’ll hear the books call your name, too.

~~~

Dedicated to Renee on the occasion of the Grand Opening of Books on B. Thank you for bringing back magic, warmth, and community into our downtown through your bookstore. May all the pages of your days be blessed.

Why I’m a Hobbit (and not an Elf)

/ dianathormoto

I know, I know. I’m not really a hobbit either, I’m simply a human. But of the two, I’m more of a hobbit than an elf (even if I really, really am enamored of the elvish interpretation of Art Nouveau). Why does this even matter? Well, because I was thinking about how what we believe is a good life, a worthwhile life, a life to strive for influences what we create.

Okay, I know that seems like a bit of a stretch, but I can explain. First, I love Tolkien’s writings and his worlds. I love Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Lord of the Rings (I mean, really, who can hear Sam’s speech near the end of The Two Towers and not get misty eyed?). And I really, really love Hobbiton. I grew up in a small farming town and I love villages. I love the countryside and gardening and tea and community and everything about it. I love the idea of having a simple life, a rooted life. I’m definitely a Baggins though because I love to have an adventure or two, too, but then I want to come home to a place that feels like home.

I sometimes wish I were more like an elf, but I’m not. I’m not graceful all the time and I’m sure not wise (yet) and I definitely can’t walk on snow. But perhaps that’s not the point and that thinking I should be like an elf is a way of perpetuating the idea that a life needs to be extraordinary to be a good life, while research tells us that joy is found in the small moments of what can appear from the outside as an ordinary life. (I highly recommend watching Brene Brown’s talk that touches on this idea, which got me thinking about these intersections between life and writing and meaning more deeply, again as her work usually does. Not to mention, having the courage to be vulnerable and keep sharing what I create and write, even when it’s scary.)

So what does any of this have to do with my writing? My love of Hobbiton and a hobbit’s life shows up in my writing even when I’m not conscious of wanting to put themes such as home and belonging and peace and good tilled earth into it. It shows up in my writing worlds that feature great open spaces and rolling countryside and people on reluctant adventures and the belief that people can create a better world, a just world. Thinking about what is meaningful to me allows me to more fully embrace the stories I’m writing, dig deeper and write what’s true (even when it cuts a little more closely than what seems fully comfortable).

I get to choose what’s a good and meaningful life for me and you do, too. And it’s fine for me to be a hobbit and for you to be an elf or a ranger or whatever else floats your boat and gets you home to where you need to be for your writing and creating. So if you need me, you’ll find me in my hobbit hole and I’ll put the kettle on for tea. Until then, watch your feet…(you know the rest). 🙂

Random Writing Thoughts

/ dianathormoto

This has been a particularly hard week and I’m not sure why. The weather hasn’t been as hot as the past couple of weeks, we’ve gotten rain (a bit weird, but not unpleasant), and there hasn’t been any huge crises at work (*knock on wood*), but it’s still been a hard week. I’m exhausted and just feel like curling up with a book and a cup of tea and ignoring my writing. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels a bit hopeless or pointless or useless especially with everything bad happening that needs our attention. So today, I thought I’d share some things that have helped me keep writing and creating, just in case you may be having a bit of a difficult week, too.

So it’s probably no surprise here that I’m a big fan of Chuck Wendig’s blog, terribleminds. I find myself laughing and nodding in agreement in equal parts when reading his posts and save them to return to whenever I need a bit of a lift (or a kick in the pants). I wanted to share three with you that have been helpful to me. First, his post on ways to stay motivated. Second, “So, You’re Having a Bad Writing Day”which I think says it all. Third, PSA to Writers: Don’t Be a Shit-Flinging Gibbon, I just love the post title and it’s good advice (though hopefully you don’t need it).

A dear friend gave me Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird, which I love so I had to share this article on 14 writing tips from Anne Lamott. Funny and useful writing advice, what more could we ask for?

And, whenever I really need a kick in the pants I repeat to myself what Stephen King wrote, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

So what inspires you on the days that are really, really tough for getting through the day and keeping on with your writing and creating? I’d love to hear about them.

I hope you keep writing and dreaming and creating because it is important and it does make the world a better place. Plus, momentum is a power thing. Making progress in my creative work always energizes me to get other things done and help out where I can. I wish you all the best in the sometimes fraught, busy, tiring, but occasionally amazing days ahead. We can do this, together. 🙂

 

Goodness is What We Do

/ dianathormoto

Sometimes words fail. I don’t know about you, but after getting past “Nazis are bad” and “hate is bad” it can be difficult to know what to say or add to the conversation. Sometimes we have to act for good, giving of our time, money, and creativity to make the world a better place in whatever way and space we can, but still can’t find the words to represent or contain our emotions and reactions and all that messy stuff we try to work through in our art, our writing, our living. So I’m rather thankful this week for the quote I found in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide and I wanted to share it with you.

Goodness has a First Amendment right, too. Southern Poverty Law Center

First, go read the guide. It is full of useful tips and actions that we can all take to make the world a better place, a place of goodness and welcome, a place where everyone is valued and safe. That’s a world that I want to help bring about and I want to live in.

Second, remember that goodness has a right to be in the conversation, too. (And, whenever you need it, there is always the PSA from xkcd about free speech, too.) We can spread goodness, at work and at home, in our communities and across the world. One person can only do so much, but together we can do a lot. And while it is really, really difficult to continue creating art in such a time, we need to do that, too. It can sustain us so we can continue fighting and it can be used, as we’ve seen for resistance.

Also, if you’re like me and a lot of your creativity takes the form of writing, it can be helpful to know you are not alone in finding it difficult to write now and good to read other writers who also all about getting art done at the same time as working to better the world through their activism and support of various causes and organizations. For a bit of cheer and something concrete you can do, go read the guest post from Michael Damian Thomas on Terrible Minds then go support Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. Also, check out the 10 Things for Good from Janine Vangool, the publisher, editor, and designer of Uppercase. 

I hope you find some way to help spread goodness today in the world and whatever kindness you can. I hope you find it in you to create and share your art because we need it, always. And I hope you find some joy in whatever small things you can because we need joy to continue our work, our art, and our lives. Let’s smother the hate of the world with goodness in speech, action, and art. I know together we can do it! 🙂

All the Time We Have

/ dianathormoto

I think about time a lot. How much faster it seems to pass now than when I was in grade school. How much of it I seem to waste in meetings that my work requires. How much more I’d love to have to do things and how little I seem to be able to get done in the time I have. But, as today’s quote reminds us, no matter how the time is passing, it’s all we’ve got:

Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got. Art Buchwald

This is not the most comforting quote I’ve shared in this space, but it is an important quote. Especially now when it sometimes (often) feels like the world is spinning off its axis and there is so much that needs righting and it can make us feel hopeless and small, it is important to remember that time still passes so we’ve got to do what we can in that time. Because, no matter how much time we have, it never seems like enough.

So, even in these lazy days of summer, I’m reminded to keeping moving forward and using the time I have in the best ways that I can. And, for me, that means spending time with family and friends, creating and sharing my art, helping out with what I can, and remembering that sometimes the best thing to do is take a break and stare out the window (preferably with a glass of iced tea).

So let’s keep up the good fight, keep creating art, and keep sharing our time and love with others. Time really is finite. How will use your time today?  I hope you find time for the things you love and the people who inspire you today. 🙂

Ordinary Heros

/ dianathormoto

Well, here we are in the second half of 2017 already. It’s been a year, hasn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely ready for a bit of a break during summer. Some slower days, longer nights, and time to work on some of my non-work projects sounds lovely to me. Life becomes a slog if you can’t find the time to sit back and unplug every once in a while.

But we still have to interact with the world and try to make it a better place, through our work and our art. So in that spirit, I wanted to share this quote:

I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Christopher Reeve

I think this may be one of my favorite definitions of a hero. It is something I can aspire to do, even if I don’t face overwhelming obstacles. I can continue to persevere and endure and help others to, too, even when it seems like everything is going up in flames.

Plus, if we manage to persevere together, we have the potential of not just enduring but thriving and kicking those obstacles in the butt. And that gives me hope, which gives me the strength to continue to take action. I think we all need that these days.

Also, if you need some inspiration to keep writing (or doing whatever creative acts you do), I still can’t recommend reading Chuck Wendig’s blog enough (sample motivation post found here). It can definitely be NSFW sometimes, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t still a great read. It helped me take the holiday yesterday and start writing fiction again. And to me, that’s a great win.

I hope you find ways of being an ordinary hero (just don’t start calling yourself one, that’s a bit pretentious), of creating your art, and of sharing it with the world. Let’s help each other and let’s make some great art. Be kind and I’ll be back with a Saturday Short this weekend. 🙂

Spending Our Days and Our Lives

/ dianathormoto

We have sunshine where I live for the first time in what seems like weeks. I know it hasn’t been that long, but the rain in California has been intense this year and it is nice (and necessary) to have a break. I always feel more energetic when the sun is out, but I wrote out this week’s quote when it was raining because it reminds me to get on with life even when I feel like just curling up and doing nothing.

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Annie Dillard

This is both profound and oh, so, simple, right? Our days make up our lives so we better spend our days doing what makes us create the life we want. I mean, that shouldn’t be hard, should it? But it seems like too often we let things get in the way of using our days in a way that is meaningful and productive. I know I’m guilty of fixating on work problems and conflicts or the dozen small tasks that I need to do, instead of focusing on whether I’m moving towards my goals and towards helping anyone in what I’m doing with my day.

So I need the reminder that our days create our lives. I need that reminder whenever I feel that time is going by too quickly and I don’t have enough time for those things that make life worth living for me: family and friends, time to create and to share, giving and laughing, listening to the birds, and walking without constantly looking at my watch.

I hope that you life your days the way you want to spend your life. Reframing my days in that way makes what I do have purpose and meaning, even if sometimes it seems futile. If you have any tips on what you do to make your days meaningful, even in the midst of busy work weeks, I’d love to hear them.

Also, if you have a chance, I highly recommend The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams. It is a wonderful read and a reminder of what makes for a good, meaningful life. Plus, who doesn’t want to exist in a place of joy? No one I know. So I wish you a joyful day and a joyful life. Let’s create something wonderful, okay? 🙂

Sharing and Having

/ dianathormoto

Well, it’s February already. Did anyone else feel like January went by in a hazy whirlwind and you’re not quite sure what happened? The world is way too interesting for my taste right now and it is hard to fell like there is time for art when there is so much else to do, so many others to help. So today feels like the right day to share this quote b Leonard Nimoy:

the miracle is this-the more we share, the more we have Leonard Nimoy

It makes me smile and remember that sharing truly does give us more. Not just talking about “stuff” either, but the important things like more compassion, more empathy, more knowledge that we are enough no matter how flawed our attempts to share and to care might be. In doing things to help others, we inevitably help ourselves and that’s a good thing.

The world may seem to be getting harsher and less caring, but there are so many good people in this world sharing and caring and helping. So we need to remember this—I need to remember this—to keep up my energy and to keep caring.

And our art is a part of this sharing. It’s important. I got back to creative writing on my next manuscript a few days ago and it felt wonderful. It felt right. I hope to have more to share soon.

Keep sharing, keep caring, and keep making your art. We need it. We really do.