Love is not a sticky dollop
of sentimental goo too anemic to face storms. (Who needs impotent fluff like that?) Love is the fortifying iron from which you sprang. It is muscular enough to stabilize you whenever you feel droopy or weak. Love lights the Sun. It enforces gravity. It knits fetuses into perfect lil' beings. We always have access to this power to stand. The trick is to simply remember. So don't just look at tulips. Listen to them. And all of Nature, for that matter. That way, you won't ever forget. Deciding is the first step in any creative process. By deciding to make kombucha, I also decide not to make (at least in that moment) beer, sake, wine, mead, cider, etc.
So the first batch/draft is made. Now what? Wait. That four-letter word is why I wrote these kombucha posts. Waiting is what gives your creations flavor and maturity. I used to really, really struggle with waiting. (Now, I can use just one 'really.' Hey, it's progress.) When I started fermenting things I finally understood how essential waiting is to making things that are robust, rather than weak and watery. So after your first round of making something: * Put it away. Step aside. * Live your life and tend to other things. * Resist the temptation to peek and meddle. * Rest in the knowledge that transformation is allowed, not forced. * Chuckle at the irony that you, and your perceptions, are changing while you wait. Conscious waiting is not idle. It is a very active state of mind, and state of mastery, that rounds out the body of your creation, while also mellowing its creator. Adopting a fermenter's mindset, and applying it to your writing, will help you relax and be at-ease with your creative gaps. Do you really want to crank out vats of uninteresting, non-nourishing kool-aid? There's plenty of sugar-water already flowing in the world. Take your time with what you pour. Choose savory. |
The question "How are you?" is PROFOUND. But it has been watered-down to a synonym for "Hello." Forced or fake auto-responses of obligated okay-ness are expected. (And if you are going through something tragic, it really doesn't matter! Every social encounter OPENS with this well-established Ritual of Insincerity.) The question "How are you?" prompts an answer that begins with "I AM _____________." This means many times each day, you are invited to SPEAK THE MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT that can be spoken of yourself. And the socially-expected thing to do, is be QUICK + SLICK with your answer. For a change... TAKE YOUR TIME, and tell your truth. ✍🏾 |