Last night I was in the mood for a slow, quiet film and found the perfect one. It’s called Paterson and is about a bus driver who writes poetry (played by Adam Driver). We see a week of his very routine life, hear him create poems and spot repetitive themes.
It made me smile in so many ways and inspired me to get writing. My friend Zoe bought me a gorgeous notebook a while ago and I wasn’t sure what I was going to use it for, but it’s purpose quickly became clear. I filled about 10 pages of it with words and drawings.
I listened to music and allowed myself to feel boredom for the first time in a long time, and it was glorious. So today I’m due to write my monthly short story and it couldn’t have come at a more apt time.
The image I’ve picked as my prompt comes from Krissy (@oftheeveryday) who created a 365 mindfulness project through Instagram. I’ve borrowed one particular image as a prompt for today, but to be honest all of this is inspired by Krissy and her wonderful way with words and images (click the picture to read her beautiful accompanying words).
The artist
She wants to inhale books. Breathe in the knowledge of artists gone by and bathe in their wisdom. With every turn of the page she feels renewed. The ink on the page seeping into her consciousness is messy, yet exquisite.
When she’s not reading, she’s writing. Taking pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, she lets the words simmering beneath boil over.
Sometimes the words make no sense, sometimes they make every sense. To her, the release of these words is as essential as breathing. When they get stuck, trapped, she feels lost. She wanders around her daily life in a haze of monotony.
The elusive words turn into emotion and sears through her veins. She picks an argument with her partner. Belittles her mother. Snaps at her dog. It builds up into a heap of sadness and she sleeps for days.
But when she once again puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, she frees herself.
The words fall sloppily onto the page. Written in a fury, the sentences are scrawled and confused. She comes back to them later though, picks each word up, and cleans them. She rearranges them, puts them in their right place and smiles.
One day, her camera winks at her from across the room. Sat beneath a cascade of dust and longing, it whispers words of encouragement. She picks it up and wipes it clean.
Pacing around her house she begins to capture every inch. She photographs her achievements, her regrets, her everyday. Her camera sings with every click, delighted to add to her artistry.
The pictures she makes come to life with light and feeling. In a very different way, she feels renewed again. Shedding her skin, changing, growing, adapting, she is an artist reborn. Words and images now come in pairs, one giving depth to the other.
Like soulmates they dance together in her mind, stepping out, one day at a time, to show the world who she really is.
It’s been so nice to have the breathing space of two weeks off work to feel creative again. Really hope I can keep up the momentum throughout the year.
Whilst we’re on the subject of next year, I wanted to let you know about a hashtag challenge I’m making for January to encourage people to be a little kinder in 2018, #amonthofkind.
If you’re on Instagram, my challenge for you is to share moments of kindness throughout January using the hashtag #amonthofkind. This could be showing kindness to someone you know, a stranger, or (perhaps most importantly) yourself.
Tell stories through your captions, take a picture of the bath you’re treating yourself to, encourage your followers to join in and start 2018 off on a kind foot. I’ll be checking the hashtag regularly and sharing my favourites regularly on my stories, I hope you’ll join in! Here’s to a kinder 2018.
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