Hunkering Down: Beyond the Usual Writing Routine

I’m guessing everyone is hunkering down to avoid getting or giving the new coronavirus to others. I’m wondering what people are doing to move beyond the usual writing routine. Whenever I read what writers say about their creative routine, it seems they top out at four hours of new, fresh writing. Then they have to do something else. That could be revision or reading. While we are practicing social distancing, going outside into lonely spaces might also be a way of energizing the creative spirit.

Hunkering Down

Seeing John Fogerty in concert is on my husband’s bucket list. We purchased tickets months ago, but The sponsor canceled the concert mere hours before it was scheduled. We had already traveled to the city where it was to take place. I’m pretty cynical about this. I think the sponsor waited to cancel so that everyone would travel and need to stay in their hotels—which is what happened. Soon after, an emergency was declared.

Pretty much everything around us closed down. We needed to get home and refocus on the new reality.

Beyond the Usual Writing Routine

One of the things I’m grateful for when hunkering down is the everyday written word. I have received several cards in the last two weeks, all with handwritten, heartfelt messages. Some thank you for things I have done and made for others. Some condolences on the passing of my fifteen-year—old dog, Zainy (AKA The Big Sassy).

I’ve also had the chance to write many cards of my own, both in thanksgiving and of the ‘thinking of you’ variety. Writers may not consider this practice of their craft, but honing down an message of emotional support does force us to think of what is most essential to voice.

Hunkering Down: Paying Attention

I’ve also had the opportunity to hike in nature. Walking into a pasture, I delighted in finding this hidden shrine. It isn’t visible from the hiking path. One must walk a way into the meadow to find it behind a pine tree.

Looking closely, I saw that the creator of this used words as well as images to remind the passerby to embrace positivity.

Beyond the Usual Writing Routine: Lessons of Nature

I saw a tree growing out of a rock. Nature is often metaphor to me.

One of the most interesting things I saw was the vine of a wild cucumber reaching out into space to grab hold of the next leaf. It immediately reminded me of Walt Whitman’s “A Nosieless Patient Spider”:

A noiseless patient spider, 
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated, 
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, 
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, 
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. 

And you O my soul where you stand, 
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space, 
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, 
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold, 
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

I was in the office of a friend some days ago. I’ve been trying to notice new things and changes in the spaces around me. She had this rock on display. Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a weird one. My dad went into the hospital with pneumonia and is not allowed visitors. My mom lives with him in assisted living, but is not allowed visitors as facilities for the elderly are trying to keep the coronavirus out. I am basically useless to both of them. Perhaps that is something I will have to contemplate in my writing—my own frail humanity.

I hope you had a good day despite all the health concerns. I have a lot of gorgeous photos of the outdoors that I’ll post next round.

If you are looking for some writing prompts to spark ideas while you are hunkering down, I posted some here. Stay connected.