Words and the inspiration that generates them have been in short supply for me lately. But I’ve noted the absence in my life and missed my interactions with this site. I don’t intend to abandon it. It only reaches a handful of you, nearly nobody I already know. I don’t know your stories, though I appreciate your eyes. I hope the few of you who read what I write draw some benefit from the words and thoughts I share. I write, in large part, to fulfill a personal need, but there is of course some part of me that wants terribly to share it. Wants to know that the thoughts I grapple with are not unique. Wants to know that my perspective is observed, perhaps helpful. Wants to know that I’m leaving something of meaning in my stead.
My life has been busy lately. My inclination is to say, no excuse. Is it? Poetry, for me, takes a certain amount of brain space. Much of the poetry I post here I write relatively quickly, with little revision. Occasionally a word, or two words, or a phrase will pop in my mind and percolate until sentences start to emerge, more fully formed. Followed by line breaks, and a feel of intonation. Sometimes I’ll decide I want to write a poem and I will sit and stare into space until an idea comes to me, but the time and wherewithal to do that have felt distant in the last month or so. So here I am, writing freely, aimlessly, so that this tiny corner of the internet feels a bit of sun. When you write, what is your process? Can you sit and do it at any given time, or do you have to work into it? Do you stockpile imagination? I’m hoping that as soon as this busier time subsides slightly, I’ll be rejoined by my creativity.
I have also thought that I’d like to make this site a more active spot. So, rather than waiting until inspiration strikes and sharing a new poem, which could span days or weeks in the in between, I may start sharing older work, or doing more narrative writing, which generally doesn’t require the same foundational sensation for me to create.
I have also committed to doing more reading this year. Like, I suspect, many of you, I have always loved reading. I fell out of the habit somewhat in 2017, claiming no time. This year I’m proactively aiming to do better. I like a mix of nonfiction and fiction, across genres. I want a book I can fall into completely. I have loved utterly My Bright Abyss. I enjoyed the perspective offered by Hope in the Dark. I was exhausted but inspired by Just Mercy. I was transported by The Lost City of the Monkey God. Where will I journey next?
Tell me. What are you writing? Or reading? Or thinking about?
caroline ridgway 