Please Mr. Postman – Putting Pen to Paper to Keep in Touch

 

                                            Photo credit: Pixabay, via Pexels

We've all had to adjust our social habits and find new ways of keeping in touch with friends and family this year. And as winter approaches and it's becoming clear that normal is still off the table and the pandemic is going to continue to dictate our behavior through the last few weeks of the year, staying in touch is even more important.

Back in the spring, about a month or so into the shelter-in-place order, I bought some vintage-design postcards, thinking it would be fun to send them to friends as an alternative to a social media ping. (It also became a way to support the post office, but that's another story). It was an enjoyable distraction while I got used to working from home and began to realize just how different this year would be.

An interesting thing happened the more postcards I sent. I stopped thinking of them as an analog answer to a Facebook post, and started thinking about crafting an actual message within the tiny space provided on one half of a postcard. Mark Twain is credited with saying he didn't have time to write a short letter so he wrote a long one. I get that, and I like it. The less space you have, the more important each word becomes. And physically writing a message feels so much more personal than typing a few words on a screen.

So I'm going to keep at it. If you'd like to hear from me this way, text or PM me your address. I'll put pen to paper and let you know what's going on with me. Maybe some of you will even write back.

Creativity and Chaos in California

 

                                            Photo credit: PhotoMIX Company via Pexels

"I think most art comes out of poverty and hard times." – Willie Nelson

It's easy to say that 2020 has been a year like no other. I've neither heard nor read the word, 'unprecedented' so much in my entire life. (Who's with me on permanently striking that one from the dictionary?) Any one of the major events of this year—-a global pandemic with 1.3 million casualties, economic upheaval, catastrophic fires on the west coast, an extremely volatile political climate and civil unrest—-would be horrifying. But all at once? How are we to respond, apart from large quantities of profanity and alcohol?

We're home sheltering in place, not going out to movies, restaurants, or concerts. Is that sparking creativity? We've all heard that great art comes from great adversity, and history has proven that to be true. But what does that look like in 2020? I'm curious to know if my fellow creative types are able to concentrate long enough to make art. It's been hit or miss for me. One day I feel that 'now or never' passion and the next I have the attention span of a gnat. So, my creative friends, are you painting, recording music, writing? Or are you staring at a blank canvas or blinking cursor?

Another concern I've struggled with is how to avoid appearing tone deaf. The pandemic is far from over, with new cases on the rise in staggering numbers across the country, the sheer ugliness and dangerous division the election brought to light make our democracy feel extremely fragile, fires were raging from San Diego to Seattle in September and October, and here I sit, saying, "Hey, I wrote something. Wanna read it?"

So what's the answer? I have no idea. Crises cause a deep emotional response, which can lead to beautiful art, amazing music, and stirring poetry, which we certainly need right now, don't we? It doesn't feel like we're coming out of this anytime soon. Seems to me it's time for more art. I'll be here attempting to summon the muse. Who's with me?