Recalibrate & Create
Monday, January 6, 2014 at 10:01PM 
my studio space at vsc
There's a frozen river outside my window, but inside I'm toasty warm and aglow with possibility. Today was the first full day of a month-long writing residency at Vermont Studio Center. I allowed myself to ease in. This morning I wrote a few email messages, some social media updates, and several journal pages. After lunch I dozed off in the faded hunter green wingback chair next to the floor to ceiling window that overlooks the river. I thought maybe the day was a lost cause for writing, but after my mini-nap I felt a blessed clarity and animation of the mind, and I wrote 1,052 words of something new. They might be the start of a short series, or they might just have been some warm-up exercises. Either way is fine by me. I haven't been writing much for many months, and this time is an amazing opportunity to sink into stillness, to listen for the stories that want me to tell them, to tend to nothing but my own personal needs and my work. I am not taking this gift lightly, no-siree-bob.
Last night, during the welcome dinner, one of VSC's founders gently prodded us all to abandon the struggling artist motif, should it arise while we're here. He said (and I paraphrase): There are 7 billion people on this planet, and the vast majority of them don't care about what you're doing here. And given that half of them are struggling to have enough food and water and to stay safe from all manner of war and dangers, having three meals a day and a studio space to work in a safe place is a pretty good deal. So if you start to judge yourself or your work harshly, take a step back and recalibrate.
I think this whole experience is going to recalibrate me.
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