March Newsletter

By Jessica Page Morrell

In the week that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks I heard our greatest living poets talk about these troubling times. They read their favorite poems, offered insights, and sent soothing words into our midst as a healing balm. And their words simply took my breath away. Most of the poets were elderly and I can still here both the quaver and the strength in W.S. Merwin's voice. But what struck me beyond the stunning power of poetry to move and comfort, was how these men and women of words led lives of deep reflection.

There are many sources for sustaining the writing life-creativity, community, and commitment. But few of us discuss how a life in words requires a reflective mind. A mind bent like a weather vane to capture the qualities of wind and storm and calm, always keenly noting the pulse beat of earth and humankind. Always keeping track of its own vagaries and breakthroughs, sorrows and suffering. Noting the pulse beat of self, but not succumbing to the doom of human frailty.

And I would like to suggest that while creativity may be the genesis of your ideas and inspirations, that reflection is the heartbeat powering your words.

I would also like to suggest that a reflective mindset, where a writer purposefully pursues answers, where noticing and awareness are as natural as breathing, enhances all parts of us. We experience life twice by writing about it, but we also slow down time when we are mindful and reflective. We capture thoughts, ideas and insights that often tumble past like tumbleweed among the dailiness of routines and habits. We see the grace in the ordinary. We trace recurring themes, we track down demons, we recall dreams, we carve inroads into understanding.

I usually get up before dawn to record my dreams, capture the first thoughts of the day, and then struggle to produce a poem or two. Although I've often written in the morning, poetry is a new part of my regime. I have been at this for months and have completed only a few poems that really contain the music and resonance I'm striving for. But I trust the process and that the words will come and that my mind will quiet long enough so that the poetry of my soul can swim free. Mostly I splash around, plucking out words for these morning poems and entries while keeping the demands of the coming day at bay. Sometimes in these first hours, with the sun just a shadow at the window; I discover that my starkest fears are crushing my chest and I'm working through my thoughts with a mental pick axe, stunned at how early the mind is playing the trickster, stealing my morning peace. Sometimes in these early hours my pen is on fire and I'm writing as fast as I can to capture it all.... By writing so early, I'm especially aware that every morning we're born new and have an unwilted opportunity to hone our awkward poems or slug away at an unruly manuscript.

There are mornings when breakthroughs happen. When like a lovestruck new mother I hush my colicky mind, and manage to launch the loveliest of ideas onto a huge map of the world. From my bed I can imagine the world around me, in the distance are mountains that somehow hold a promise. Far north of the equator at the crowning dawn, my thoughts are tamed and yet are roving free, and the words come.

Lately I have been teaching and editing a lot so don't seem to have nearly enough time for my own work. I know that these demands aren't forever, but there are days when I worry that the words pushed aside by the constraints of my schedule are the frailest of unborn darlings. But I manage some writing every day and keep my biggest dreams alive by reading, thinking about my favorite books, mulling over the issues of our times and the truths that define what it is to be human. Writing is a lifetime passion, not a fleeting pursuit. No matter my schedule, I know that I always think like a writer and that as Henry James said, that I can be someone on whom nothing is lost.

"What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers." Logan Pearsall Smith

"A book should serve as an axe for the frozen sea within us." Franz Kafka

I also believe in mindmapping as a process for gathering ideas, starting a process, or jump-starting a stalled project. I've taught mindmapping to hundreds of my students and we're always amazed at its efficacy and how it creates almost magical inroads into our ideas. The best instructions for this technique are found in Writing the Natural Way by Gabriele Rico. Mindmapping, called clustering by Rico is a method to harness your ideas and connect to new associations. In fact, one of the main concepts in her book assures us that the right brain (which she refers to as Design-mind) is associative-that it will always seek connections and bridges. Like Rico, I believe that mindmapping is a doorway to our creativity and hidden thoughts. Rico explains the reasoning behind the practice: "Clustering is a nonlinear brainstorming process akin to free association. It makes an invisible Design-mind process visible through a nonlinear spilling out of lightning associations that allows patterns to the unknown to emerge. Through clustering we naturally come up with a multitude of choices from a part of our mind where the experiences of a lifetime mill and mingle. It is the writing tool that accepts wondering, not-knowing, seeming chaos, gradually mapping an interior landscape as ideas begin to emerge. It is an openness to the unknown."

Here are the steps:
You might want to gather colored pencils or markers because often vivid colors and designs can inspire us as much as words. The idea behind this exercise is to allow our childlike curiosity, creativity and sense of wonder release the adult mind.

Begin the process by writing a key word, idea, or phrase in the center of a blank sheet of paper. Think of this concept as the nucleus of the process.
Draw a circle around the word or key concept. As you contemplate the nucleus, simply allow whatever comes to mind, to rise to the surface. As the thoughts surface, immediately begin jotting down ideas, associations, or words triggered by the nucleus-one key idea per inspiration.
Relax and allow the ideas and words to easily ripple to the surface without judging them, but at the same time work quickly and efficiently to capture your ideas. While there is no right way or wrong way of completing the exercise, whenever you pen a new idea, draw a circle around it and connect it to the nucleus.
As you spill your words across the page, you might want to add colors, pictures, or symbols to create meaning or emphasis. If you run out of ideas you can doodle or sketch while you wait for more ideas to emerge. Allow yourself to feel relaxed, playful and receptive.
Continue the process for five to ten minutes. You'll usually discover that you're ready to write or have a new slant on a topic.

Quote of the Month:
"One must be pitiless about the matter of "mood." Art is, as I believe it to be, a genuinely transcendental function-a means by which we rise out of limited, parochial states of mind-then it should not matter very much what states of mind or emotion we are in. Generally I've found this to be true: I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another 5 minutes...and somehow the activity of writing changes everything." --Joyce Carol Oates