On Writing

It’s been a long day. I don’t want to write. I wasn’t going to write. Until I read this quote in my readings for class…

“Noble Truths” — Gail Sher (1999) One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers

1. Writers write

2. Writing is a process.

3. You don’t know what your writing will be until the end of the process.

4. If writing is your practice, the only way to fail is to not write.

This is definitely food for thought. I call myself a writer, but I so rarely write for reasons other than school. I used to write all the time–poetry, prose, nonsense in general.  So I’m going to try to make an effort to write a little something every day. This might mean you will unsubscribe from my blog posts (all two of you), but that’s okay.

I’m not writing for you right now.

lame, Lame, LAME!!

I know.

I’m lame.

I have not blogged since I moved to Virginia and for that I am truly sorry. It’s not that nothing interesting has happened. And it’s certainly not that I don’t like y’all. The simple truth is I grew sick of self-reflection and sharing. There’s a lot of that in the art therapy program and I got to the point where I just couldn’t share anymore. There’s also a hell of a lot of writing. I was spent.

But here I am, on the eve of a new semester and I feel the need to share. First off, last semester went by in a streak of lectures, projects, and several wine-infused evenings with new friends. I’d forgotten how much I missed the world of learning. I actually looked forward to class each day. That’s also in part due to my fellow future art therapists. My classmates are phenomenal. I’ve never seen a group of beautiful women get along so well and be so freaking intelligent. I’m very lucky to have come here when I did. I feel that this particular group of ladies can literally accomplish anything.

Norfolk is a pretty cool town, once the summer craziness calms down. I survived my first nor’easter without losing power or having any trees fall on my car/house/self. I’m proud of that. I’ve joined the YMCA and even found a great hot house yoga studio, too. There are tons of restaurants and bars and museums in this city and when the weather is warm, there’s always the beach. I’m looking forward to spending my summer here. Feel free to come and visit if you like!

I’ve made a few trips down to Raleigh/Durham to visit the good Doctor Sutton. What a great area, too! There’s so much going on. I feel like we would need at least ten years to discover all that those cities have to offer. I did manage to get a taste of Chapel Hill when Ben and Kelly came to visit Matt in October. We had some great food and made a trip to the Picasso exhibit at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. What a treat! I hope the rest of the gang makes it out some day.

Tomorrow I start my internship at Province Place, an assisted living facility incorporated into the DePaul Medical Center. I’ll be working with a range of older patients, some with dementia. Naturally I’m somewhat nervous that I’m going to actually be expected to use my extremely limited knowledge to facilitate therapeutic art activities. Luckily I have some great advisers. I’m looking forward to the challenge, for sure.

I guess I should hit the hay and be well-rested for tomorrow’s challenges. Luckily Matt will be coming to town to visit. For the whole week! I hope he doesn’t get bored…