The Art of Listening

Hi folks. My novel PLUMB CRAZY is a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. Please give the excerpt  a look here. If you enjoy it, consider liking it or reviewing.

I hardly know what to write this week. Rough waters to tread right now. I thought I might write about what I have learned about those rough water days and how to keep moving forward as an artist. I know I'm a writer, but I always think of myself as an artist. I think this makes all the difference. I paint my pictures with words. I weave my tapestries with words. I sew my quilts with words. I carve my sculptures with words. I build my boats with words. Like Walt said, "I am multitudes." The artist within in me is a wise old soul. 

On rough water days, my artist self knows to call a friend and talk about it. I think about being kind. I make space for imagination . I open to the art of others.  I hope.  I pray. I do the work of communicating. I don't hide.  I take time to connect with the natural world: the shape of the moon, the touch of the wind, the warmth of the air, the curve of the land.

The trees whisper to me, "We keep standing.
The creek says, "You are being shaped into the form that you are destined to be."
The flowers promise. "You'll bloom. "

I listen.

Isn't the best art born of a listening soul?

I know the rougher waters shape me,  bringing out the best parts of me and washing out the worst. Whereever you are on your journey of life,  I hope you all seize the day this week. Let your art rise.

Here is my doodle this week, This doodle is called "Dolphin Faces."  Something about dolphins brings me words like jubilation and joy.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

Martin Luther King, Jr.