Let it pour from your soul

Image courtesy of Marja Flick-Buijs,
rgbstock.com

Happy Thursday!

I've been rereading one of my favorite books—Ted Kooser's The Poetry Home Repair Manual—and this week I came across a passage that I think will resonate with all creative people. Kooser talks about how the form a poem takes doesn't matter as much as what it says, and he quotes a passage from Anton Chekhov's The Seagull to illustrate his point:

"I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that it's a matter not of old forms and not of new forms, but that a man writes, not thinking at all of what form to choose, writes because it comes pouring out from his soul."

I find this liberating. Just think: It doesn't matter what form our creativity takes; we don't need to shoehorn ourselves into a particular style. We should write (or sing or paint or draw or act or knit...) simply because we love to do it. We should unleash our creativity in whatever form it takes—whatever rules we choose to follow or break. Our work will speak for itself.

What do you think of Chekhov's quote? What's your creaitve outlet, and what are you doing today to follow your passion?

Wishing you all a creative—and wonderful—Thursday. ☺

Thursday yeas and nays

Beautiful fall!

Happy Thursday, friends.

Thursday always feels like a wild card day to me. It's one of the two days each week when my daughter doesn't go to preschool, and it's also different from most of the other days because I don't have a set schedule to follow. It's almost a free day! As I was thinking about the things I need/want to get done today, I came up with this list of yeas and nays—and I learned that I can always find a lot of good if I take the time to look for it: ☺

♥ Project Runway All-Stars is on tonight. Yea!

♥ I'm way behind on my NaNoWriMo project, but I'm still plodding along. Yea!

♥ I have to write the store list for our weekly grocery shopping trip. Nay.

♥ My daughter and I are going to the library today. Yea!

♥ Yesterday's weather was beautiful, so I took the kids outside to play after school. Today, however, it's gray and rainy—not an outdoor playday at all. Nay.

♥ On the other hand, back home they already have snow, so I guess a little rain is just fine—and the leaves are still pretty. Yea!

♥ I'm almost finished with the book I'm reading, so soon I'll be able to move on to one I've been waiting to read for a while, Ted Kooser's Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems. Yea!



We can find them if we look: rainbows and silver linings!

♥ Since I cooked so much this week and have tons of leftovers, I don't have to make dinner tonight. Yea!

♥ Mount Laundry is waiting for me downstairs. Nay.

♥ Today is a new day to get things right. Yea!

How about you? What are your Thursday yeas and nays?

Wishing you all a wonderful day. ☺

Bringing words to life

Happy Monday, friends. ☺

On Friday I mentioned that I thought my weekend would be busy, and I was definitely right! I missed my Saturday and Sunday posts because of it, and I'm glad to be back today. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Today I'd like to highlight one of my favorite poets, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Like my all-time favorite poet Ted Kooser, Collins writes about everyday life in a very conversational and accessible way. Bruce Weber of The New York Times once called him "the most popular poet in America."

I began reading Collins' poetry a couple of years ago, and during my research, I learned that several artists have worked to create animated videos of some of his poems, bringing them to life even more vividly than the poet's words alone. I'd like to share one of those short videos with you today. I hope you enjoy it.


(Animated by Julian Grey of Head Gear Animation. You can find the poem here.)

Wishing you all a fantastic Monday. ☺

Note: For some reason, Blogger is not allowing me to respond to all of the comments on this post. I appreciate them very much and will be visiting each of your blogs during the next few days. Thanks again.

Let's talk about books!

Today I'm linking up with Booking Through Thursday, a weekly meme about books and reading. You can find out more here.

Today's question is a simple one: What are you reading right now?

As usual, I have a couple of books going. The first is Ted Kooser's Pulitzer Prize-winning Delights & Shadows. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that Kooser, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, is my favorite poet. He writes what many people describe as "accessible" verse, always finding new and creative ways to look at the ordinary, simple things in life. I've read this book before—it's a wonderful collection—and my favorite poem in it is one I've mentioned before, "Tattoo."

I also enjoy this one, "A Room in the Past," which is found in Kooser's One World at a Time. Here he is reading it:



If you're interested in reading some poetry, Delights & Shadows is wonderful—although in my opinion, you can't go wrong with any of Kooser's books.

Another book I'm reading right now is the irreverently titled Sh*tty Mom by Laurie Kilmartin, Karen Moline, Alicia Ybarbo, and Mary Ann Zoellner. It's a somewhat funny (in my opinion), tongue-in-cheek parenting guide. My local library was featuring it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Would I recommend it? Eh...I'm not sure. There have been moments when I've laughed out loud while reading it, but overall, I think it's just mildly amusing.

A book I do recommend, however, is a young adult novel I finished earlier this week: Every Day by David Levithan. It's about a person who wakes up each morning in the body of someone else, which, because it's the only life the character has every known, seems to work out fine—until, that is, love becomes a factor. The tagline says it all, I think: "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl." It's not my usual genre, but I found this book to be moving and well-written, and I definitely recommend it.

So that's what I've been reading lately. What are you reading? What do you recommend?


Wishing you a wonderful Thursday!

Six things I love about Mondays

Image courtesy of Gesine Kuhlmann,
rgbstock.com

Happy Monday!

I admit that sometimes it's hard to drag myself out of bed on Monday mornings. After all, Monday means I'm back to waking up at 5:30, back to packing lunches, back to the daily routine/grind—all things that seem just a little too difficult to think about after a weekend off. However, there are also some things about Mondays that I absolutely love:

♥  The promise of a new beginning. Monday is all about second chances. ☺

♥  Storytime at the library. My daughter loves it, and I love having the opportunity to pick up some new books.

♥  A new episode of The Carrie Diaries. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows.

♥  Naptime. Because we're usually busy on the weekends, my daughter often misses her nap. Starting on Mondays, naptime is back, and that means time for me to write and get things done around the house.

♥  A new edition of Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry column. I look forward to this every week.

♥  On Wednesday, the temperature here is supposed to reach nearly 60 degrees. That's definitely something to look forward to!

Love them or hate them: How do you feel about Mondays?

Wishing you a wonderful week!

What's inspiring me today

I'm feeling creative today and inspired by so many things.

♥ This song—a reminder to seize the day.


Lyrics here.

♥ Poet Ted Kooser. I try to write every day, whether it's fiction or memoir or just a vignette about something I've seen or done. Today feels like a poetry day. One of my biggest inspirations is Ted Kooser, a poet who has the ability to see so much in the simple things in life. I adore "Tattoo." The poem he reads in this video, "Daddy Longlegs," is also one of my favorites.




♥ Today's sunrise. I wish I would have thought to take a picture. The sky was gorgeous this morning, all pink and blue stripes—absolutely beautiful and inspiring!


Image courtesy of Ronald Carlson, publicdomainpictures.net

What's inspiring you today?

Bringing words to life

Today is the last day of May and therefore the final day of the Blog Me MAYbe blogfest. I admit I'm a little sad; I've had a great time writing these posts. Still, this morning I'm excited to introduce you to a man who, along with Ted Kooser, has had a great deal of influence on my writing: May I tell you something about Billy Collins?

Billy Collins at D.G. Wills Books, La Jolla, San Diego.
Photo by Marcelo Noah.

Collins is an American poet who served two terms as the U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003). He writes about everyday, ordinary aspects of life in a very conversational and accessible way, and Bruce Weber of The New York Times once called him "the most popular poet in America."

I began reading Collins' poetry about a year ago, and during my research, I learned that several artists have worked to create animated videos of some of his poems, bringing them to life even more vividly than the poet's words alone. I'd like to share a few of these short videos with you today. I hope you enjoy them.

"Now and Then" -- read by Billy Collins and animated by Eun-ha Paek of Milky Elephant:

"The Country" -- read by Billy Collins and animated by Brady Baltezor of Radium:



"The Dead" -- read by Billy Collins and animated by Juan Delcan of Spontaneous:




"Forgetfulness" -- read by Billy Collins and animated by Julian Grey of Headgear:

(You can find more of Collins' animated poems on YouTube.)


Do you have a favorite poet or poem? What do you think of animated poetry?

* * * * *

Photo credit:

Billy Collins. Photo by Marcelo Noah (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10381539@N03/3397761317/) [CC By 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

K is for Kaffeeklatsch (and Kooser)

Once again, I couldn't choose just one "K" word, so I present you with two:

Kaffeeklatsch:

Photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com

I used to be a college English professor, and nearly every morning before classes started--and sometimes in the afternoons as well--a few of the other faculty members and I would grab our coffee and meet in the cafeteria or on benches outside the school and chat. These gatherings were often the highlight of my day--our own little Kaffeeklatsch! When I left teaching, one of the things I missed was this time I spent drinking coffee and talking with my coworkers, who had become good friends. 

Then a few years later, I became a stay-at-home mom. Mothering is often a lonely job. It's hard to get out, especially when the children are very small, and I found I missed my daily Kaffeeklatsch even more.

Before long, though, I realized something: the Internet had become my new Kaffeeklatsch!

Every day I sit with my coffee and log on to Twitter or read blogs and post in chat rooms and forums, and every day I talk online with like-minded people doing the same things. I've made so many friends on Twitter and here at my blog. (A big welcome to my new followers!) Some of these people have become close friends, ones I chat with nearly every day, and I sometimes imagine that we're sitting in our respective houses, sipping from our coffee cups and enjoying our own little Kaffeeklatsch. (And we don't even have to comb our hair first!)

Kooser:

Those of you who have visited my blog before probably know that I enjoy writing poetry. One of my biggest influences is Ted Kooser, who served as the United States Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. I admire him for being able to look at simple, everyday things--a tattoo, dishwater, applesauce--and see so much more. He writes mainly of the Midwest, where I was born, so perhaps that's part of the reason I can identify so well with his subjects and themes. His poetry, though, is universal, and it's the type of poetry I long to write: finding new, creative ways to look at the ordinary, to capture the heart of the simple things in life.

If you're interested in poetry, I recommend that you visit his site: www.tedkooser.net. He also writes a great weekly column, American Life in Poetry, which features contemporary American poems. You can find it at www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/


So tell me, have you enjoyed a Kaffeeklatsch lately or read any of Kooser's poems? Are there other poets you enjoy? I'm always looking for recommendations.

Writing about the simple things

Today's 100 words:

I've been reading a book of poetry by Ted Kooser, former Poet Laureate of the United States. I admire him for being able to look at simple, everyday things--a tattoo, dishwater, applesauce--and see so much more. He writes mainly of the Midwest, where I was born, so perhaps that's part of the reason I can identify so well with his subjects and themes. His poetry, though, is universal, and it's the type of poetry I long to write: finding new, creative ways to look at the ordinary, to capture the heart of the simple things in life.