No Jokes Here

An April Fool, I'm not. Alas.

4/2/24

Greetings, dear reader,

If I were a funnier person, I would have sent this out yesterday, and there would have been  lots of pranks happening . Alas, I know that while I live ready to be delighted and to laugh, a prankster I am not. 

Forsythia I forced to bloom in my office on campus.

When Life Happens

And happen it does, no? I’ve been dealing with a non-life-threatening health issue for about a month. Weeks of chronic mouth pain. So much sympathy for those I know who live with chronic pain more regularly. Last night, I felt frustrated because I could not make any words or images slip out from around the pain. I did manage a good night’s sleep, and after I hopped and rabbitted yesterday morning, I thought of one of my most respected members of the Ladies League of Ghostly Maestras (don’t know what I mean? Follow my #2024postcardproject hashtag #ladiesleagueofghostlymaestras on Instagram), Frida Kahlo. Don’t know her story? Check out the 2002 biopic starring Selma Hayek. Frida lived her life in pain, and she didn’t let that slow down her work. I gave myself a little talking to, and I am ready to catch up on posting both my postcard project and Dear Ms. Tomato’s zines. 

I’m relying on my confidence in my pain going away before too long, relying on a good night’s sleep, relying on my belief that I make the rules for my art, for my projects, for my life. A lot of that emerges from the privilege of being a solidly middle class white woman of a certain age living where I live. I’m able to not only shape my own life, but I can also try to use my privilege to help others to be able to shape their own lives. To survive so they have lives. Doctors without Borders is a good source for information about Gaza and a good place to share some of your financial privilege, if you’re so inclined. 

In addition to providing financial support, I believe I will do more good by making phone calls and writing emails/letters to elected officials than by posting my protests on my social media feed. I admire the folx who use their social media effectively for protest, but I’ve made the choice to take different actions. Actions focused on my own responsibility as a citizen. If that’s more your style, you might find this script for calling elected officials to demand a ceasefire in Gaza helpful. 

Upcoming Creative Patina Workshop

Can a header make a real transition from one topic to the next? That’s what I teach in business and technical writing classes. But in the case of writing about Gaza in one paragraph and about creativity in the next, a header feels inadequate. And it is. 

So let me work out that transition here, in front of you. I believe that it is my creativity and my consumption of others’ creative work that helps me to be a better human. When I understand myself and others more fully, it becomes challenging to remain neutral. To live in a bubble of my own privilege. To do nothing. The more I create, and the more I empathize because of art, the more compelled I am to take actions that feel useful, that matter to me, that might matter to those in need. 

Recognizing how creativity grounds me, I feel compelled to help other people to develop their own creative practices. When Joyce Hayden and I craft our course descriptions, we focus on writing, but we welcome all creativity into our workshops. Write poetry or prose–we’d love to see both. Draw. Collage. We provide context and inspiring prompts; you bring your creativity in whatever form it wants to take. Here’s a link to our Spring Workshops. Our next workshop is on a topic that fascinates me and Joyce: “Reveling in Uncertainty: Embodying Negative Capability.” If you’ve never heard the term Negative Capability before, join us and learn about it–I promise it will get your creativity cranking.  And if you are familiar with it, well, come explore more deeply with us!  This workshop is one of the few places where I get to bring Nick Cave and Emily Dickinson together. Here’s the description: 

April 15, 2024, 7:00-8:30 p.m. EST “Reveling in Uncertainty: Embodying Negative Capability” Investment: $30.

As experienced teachers of writing and creativity, we understand the impact that cultivating one's creative capacities can have on personal and professional fulfillment. Negative Capability, a term coined by the poet John Keats, refers to the ability to embrace uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity without succumbing to the pressure of searching for immediate resolutions. It's about dwelling in the "mysteries, uncertainties, and doubts" and finding inspiration within the unknown.

A complex, slippery concept, negative capability opens up creative thinking in a productive way for writers of all levels, whether by helping writers to trust the mysterious in your writing, to find surprising connections, or to live comfortably in the “gray” areas of life.

We’ll provide writing prompts designed to enable you to explore negative capability in your own work and lives, exercises to help cultivate it, and the opportunity to write an early draft of a poem or other writing that embodies the concept.

Link List:

Books I’m reading: 

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. This is my before-bed book. Still dipping into it each night. 

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley. I’m listening to this as my commuting book. Despite murders and a Poe influence, it’s been pretty fun so far. I admire that it is one of the most sex positive novels I’ve read, and I’m eager to see what the oh-so-likable protagonist discovers.

What I’m Watching:

Basketball. Lots of basketball. Go, Huskies.

What I’m Eating:

Soft things for at least another week. Scrambled eggs. Lots of tea. Soup. 

Creative Prompt: Make it opposite day. Try using your non-dominant hand when writing or drawing. Eat breakfast for dinner. Walk in a different direction than your usual. Notice how it feels, it being whatever opposites you take on, and explore how you could harness that feeling for your creativity. 

Thanks, as always, for reading this. 

xx,

Beverly