This is wonderful. I've recently gotten into Natalie Goldberg's material on writing as Zen meditation and this reminds me of her rules for writing practice from Wild Mind:
1. Keep your hand moving.
2. Lose control.
3. Be specific.
4. Don't think.
5. Don't worry about punctuation, spelling or grammar. 6. Be free to write the worst junk in America.
i love the tiny things! the tiny things are so so important! mundane moments like these are my favorites, like secrets of the world that you’ll only get to hear if you really pay attention.
Love your sharing on the flow of life through your eyes. The everyday is truly the best, and writing certainly has a big hand in romanticizing life. My favourite subjects to sketch are the everyday scenes: the trash can, the train station, the kitchen - perhaps you find that similar feeling, too, maybe even with your poetry? Would love to see more of your trivial treasures from time to time.
I love this celebration of everyday moments. I love your story telling with these 3 vignettes, they’re so visual and I can imagine myself in your shoes experiencing these lil delights.
“I stared at the shadows; they swayed in harmony with the branches, rising and falling, reminding me of a buoy bobbing atop an ocean’s waves.” I find this moment so peaceful and a trance I often fall into. I love your reflection of your experience of this moment too, how you felt the flow of life.
“Like a child playing acrobat, he tiptoed on the edges of the tiled star, bent down, and picked up a vine with a single leaf. He gently painted the statue’s feet with it.” I’m picturing a big burly man breaking out his playful tender side. I want to find something like this and I want to go people watching with you!
“The tiniest moments are important because they make up most of our daily lives.” I’m resonating with this idea a lot. And I’m wondering how much of my daily life I’m not capturing, reflecting on, and archiving. I feel like we’re all focusing on the future, and have a goal to become grandiose, because that is what we celebrate the most as a society. We strive and live for these one-off moments that last a second, and want the present to end as fast as possible so we can experience that big event ASAP. But the present is very real. And we tend to avoid it bc it’s not that future big life event.
I’m inspired to pay more attention to the present and write about it! And already started taking note of my commute observations! I’m excited for your next essay!
Such a worthy responsibility you have taken upon yourself, and we’re all the more complete because of it. Totally, by writing about them, you give power to those "mundane" things, moments, feelings, which, as you so rightly point out, is pretty much all life is.
"My self-doubt is always a signal to write." So much wisdom contained there! Will start paying more attention to that, now that you've articulated it. Seems like the greatest north star for any writer to bring authenticity into their pieces.
Besides all thatl, reading this feels like a meditation, bringing me into the present moment.
I was thinking about how much I love reading about these little moments you write about when you said you had a moment of doubt. I love them! You have a fan here! I feel like I’m outside with you, the details are so beautiful and so poetic. And funny. I loved the guy with the leaf blower popping. Beautiful piece!
This is so beautiful, Sandra. And so relatable. One of the phenomena I noticed ever since I've started writing is the natural attention to detail, the attraction to the seemingly unattractive, the noticing of beauty in the unnoticeable. "Writing validates the subjects we choose to write about. That validation is elevation." -- I love this. So perfectly conveyed.
Jul 31, 2023·edited Jul 31, 2023Liked by Sandra Yvonne
Looooooooove this. I appreciate the walkthrough of noticing life, noticing the self-doubt, and then writing it anyway. Did you paint the monarchs? Have you seen the movie Showing Up?
👏👏👏Bravo!!!
This is wonderful. I've recently gotten into Natalie Goldberg's material on writing as Zen meditation and this reminds me of her rules for writing practice from Wild Mind:
1. Keep your hand moving.
2. Lose control.
3. Be specific.
4. Don't think.
5. Don't worry about punctuation, spelling or grammar. 6. Be free to write the worst junk in America.
7. Go for the jugular.
i love the tiny things! the tiny things are so so important! mundane moments like these are my favorites, like secrets of the world that you’ll only get to hear if you really pay attention.
Love your sharing on the flow of life through your eyes. The everyday is truly the best, and writing certainly has a big hand in romanticizing life. My favourite subjects to sketch are the everyday scenes: the trash can, the train station, the kitchen - perhaps you find that similar feeling, too, maybe even with your poetry? Would love to see more of your trivial treasures from time to time.
I love this celebration of everyday moments. I love your story telling with these 3 vignettes, they’re so visual and I can imagine myself in your shoes experiencing these lil delights.
“I stared at the shadows; they swayed in harmony with the branches, rising and falling, reminding me of a buoy bobbing atop an ocean’s waves.” I find this moment so peaceful and a trance I often fall into. I love your reflection of your experience of this moment too, how you felt the flow of life.
“Like a child playing acrobat, he tiptoed on the edges of the tiled star, bent down, and picked up a vine with a single leaf. He gently painted the statue’s feet with it.” I’m picturing a big burly man breaking out his playful tender side. I want to find something like this and I want to go people watching with you!
“The tiniest moments are important because they make up most of our daily lives.” I’m resonating with this idea a lot. And I’m wondering how much of my daily life I’m not capturing, reflecting on, and archiving. I feel like we’re all focusing on the future, and have a goal to become grandiose, because that is what we celebrate the most as a society. We strive and live for these one-off moments that last a second, and want the present to end as fast as possible so we can experience that big event ASAP. But the present is very real. And we tend to avoid it bc it’s not that future big life event.
I’m inspired to pay more attention to the present and write about it! And already started taking note of my commute observations! I’m excited for your next essay!
Such a worthy responsibility you have taken upon yourself, and we’re all the more complete because of it. Totally, by writing about them, you give power to those "mundane" things, moments, feelings, which, as you so rightly point out, is pretty much all life is.
"My self-doubt is always a signal to write." So much wisdom contained there! Will start paying more attention to that, now that you've articulated it. Seems like the greatest north star for any writer to bring authenticity into their pieces.
Besides all thatl, reading this feels like a meditation, bringing me into the present moment.
I was thinking about how much I love reading about these little moments you write about when you said you had a moment of doubt. I love them! You have a fan here! I feel like I’m outside with you, the details are so beautiful and so poetic. And funny. I loved the guy with the leaf blower popping. Beautiful piece!
This is so beautiful, Sandra. And so relatable. One of the phenomena I noticed ever since I've started writing is the natural attention to detail, the attraction to the seemingly unattractive, the noticing of beauty in the unnoticeable. "Writing validates the subjects we choose to write about. That validation is elevation." -- I love this. So perfectly conveyed.
Looooooooove this. I appreciate the walkthrough of noticing life, noticing the self-doubt, and then writing it anyway. Did you paint the monarchs? Have you seen the movie Showing Up?