I have found it so helpful to be in a cafe, in the company of strangers, yet alone at my table to write. Something about the ordinary shuffling of lives and the bits of conversations floating by like confetti is enlivening...and yet so appreciate the boundary of my small table and the sense that my writing was somehow touched by other presences.
I'm at my most creative by myself. I love writing poetry and like to follow my own idiosyncraticies in writing. I may spend a long time listening to music with the a vague idea or feeling of a poem in the background of my consciousness. I might walk around a bit doing some light clutter clearing, humming. Finally, I will come to my notebook and hopefully write a few lines or a poem or a few poems depending on the day. I don't get to do this very often but when I do I am so at peace, content and creative at the same time.
I love time alone to think, create, ponder, and reflect. I find it difficult, if not impossible, to do these things well while interacting with other people. I tend to keep them mostly separate and often choose solitude over social.
For me, silence and art making go together. Out of silence emerges the scent and feeling of a color. Out of silence comes the voice that declares, Look at this. Out of silence heralds the energy to get to work.
Also for me, painting and drawing are solo activities. Silence and aloneness are so much a part of my life that I don’t usually call them by their names. It’s when I have encounters with my neighbors or with a friend who’s more gregarious than me, that I have the impression that there’s anything out of the ordinary about how I live my life.
Art has become a great gift and conduit into a childhood lost and discovered for me. It brings me such joy to connect with others through stories I can tell through my art. It is truly my happy place of solitude and discovery
. I think of art as an expression of joy and a great refuge from all the sorrows of the world … a place to be alone with your tears …. of connection and growth.
I have found that deep pleasure in the solitude and focus poured into a creative project in the garden recently. Powerful beautiful experience that would have been very different if done in company.
There is something magical about being alone, writing a poem, and feeling the creativity pour through me. Nothing else quite like it. But I do love to share it when I’m done, after time and consideration and editing. I’ve always been shy, but at this stage of my life, reading a poem aloud at a small dinner party, is like dessert.
I am by nature a person who is so much more comfortable in solitude that being part of the crowd. This is , in part, due to being told that I would be so much happier if I was part of the crowd. This never rang true for me. Solitude has furnished with the foundations I need to be creative. My most recent inspirations came during the time of my wife’s illness and death. This was followed by the shutdown.
The selections from Intimacy and Linkages were written during these initial changes in my life. Intimacy is about a vision of a life ahead of me. Linkage is about going from being in a very dark place to a fulfilling life. The other selection have been written less stressful tmes
Some of my best creative endeavours have been in an art studio shared with others but I had earbuds in listening music - Pink Floyd to cinematic themes. I can totally focus on my art with the music cranked and take breaks for the camaraderie of an active studio. There are times when I would go to the studio knowing I would be there alone. As I write this I realize those times would be at the end applying finishing touches.
interesting, never thought about purposefully playing music while creating. I think it would be fun to do an experiment and play some rock music at one sitting, and the next creative endeavor try a different genre and see how the outcomes may vary.
Great topic. I think of it and discuss it often. I love solitary, creative activities (painting and writing), but I also love going to the pottery studio and working alongside people with music playing in the background. Some chatting occurs naturally, but it reminds me of playing music with others. I love to practice solo and then love getting together to play with others. Just doing our thing together with no pressure to talk about other nonsense😊.
Writing is definitely a solitary activity, and although I generally don’t suffer from writer’s block, I do suffer from FOMO—fear of missing out—or related guilt that I really should be attending to duties for others. My solution when younger was to write at night, but at my present age, there’s always the question of whether there is enough energy once the sun goes down. And the thoughts of the night are different than the thoughts of the morning or afternoon. So I try to steal hours during the day, but it bugs me that it feels like stealing.
I can imagine our mentor, Susan, writing in cafes, and often casually watch others tapping away at computers or writing in notebooks while they sip coffee, isolated by their headphones, and wonder what they are up to. But I can’t imagine doing that myself.
Photography, botanizing, and working in my native plant garden are places where I thrive. I've been practicing and developing these skills for almost 40 years. I never feel alone when I'm participating in any of these endeavors and feel as though I am connected to something much bigger than myself—ineffable, really.
I'm easily distracted, or set off balance, by others' talking or even by their presence. I often need a sustained chain of contemplation or reverie to arrive at "MY answers", especially on complex or subtle subjects.
An old saying: If you want to get one-fifth as much done in five times the time, just give it to a five-person committee. ;-)
I can relate! instead of just rapidly responding, let’s say to a deeper conversations by pausing to absorb what’s been said, and collecting one’s thoughts before speaking back, I feel, offers deeper response meaning.
but too often, people are uncomfortable with brief silent gaps.
My creative outlet is writing and it is hard for me do so simultaneously with others. For example, I don’t generally like sharing a document on a video platform like Zoom to write collectively. I need time to think, reflect, and play around with what I want to say, and how I want to say it. I can write iteratively with someone—I create something and send it to another person for input and/or changes and vice versa. But even then, only in certain contexts and/or with certain people.
I enjoy and was raised to be a highly active listener in social situations. After that tho I find I need time alone to process all the interactions. I love both things. But then I need MORE time to settle in to creative thoughts. Oftentimes- something’s gotta go and often it’s the creative (luxury). Being a present person requires that sacrifice I have found.
I have found it so helpful to be in a cafe, in the company of strangers, yet alone at my table to write. Something about the ordinary shuffling of lives and the bits of conversations floating by like confetti is enlivening...and yet so appreciate the boundary of my small table and the sense that my writing was somehow touched by other presences.
I'm at my most creative by myself. I love writing poetry and like to follow my own idiosyncraticies in writing. I may spend a long time listening to music with the a vague idea or feeling of a poem in the background of my consciousness. I might walk around a bit doing some light clutter clearing, humming. Finally, I will come to my notebook and hopefully write a few lines or a poem or a few poems depending on the day. I don't get to do this very often but when I do I am so at peace, content and creative at the same time.
I love time alone to think, create, ponder, and reflect. I find it difficult, if not impossible, to do these things well while interacting with other people. I tend to keep them mostly separate and often choose solitude over social.
For me, silence and art making go together. Out of silence emerges the scent and feeling of a color. Out of silence comes the voice that declares, Look at this. Out of silence heralds the energy to get to work.
Also for me, painting and drawing are solo activities. Silence and aloneness are so much a part of my life that I don’t usually call them by their names. It’s when I have encounters with my neighbors or with a friend who’s more gregarious than me, that I have the impression that there’s anything out of the ordinary about how I live my life.
Love this probe for all that have responded…
Art has become a great gift and conduit into a childhood lost and discovered for me. It brings me such joy to connect with others through stories I can tell through my art. It is truly my happy place of solitude and discovery
. I think of art as an expression of joy and a great refuge from all the sorrows of the world … a place to be alone with your tears …. of connection and growth.
I have found that deep pleasure in the solitude and focus poured into a creative project in the garden recently. Powerful beautiful experience that would have been very different if done in company.
There is something magical about being alone, writing a poem, and feeling the creativity pour through me. Nothing else quite like it. But I do love to share it when I’m done, after time and consideration and editing. I’ve always been shy, but at this stage of my life, reading a poem aloud at a small dinner party, is like dessert.
I am by nature a person who is so much more comfortable in solitude that being part of the crowd. This is , in part, due to being told that I would be so much happier if I was part of the crowd. This never rang true for me. Solitude has furnished with the foundations I need to be creative. My most recent inspirations came during the time of my wife’s illness and death. This was followed by the shutdown.
The selections from Intimacy and Linkages were written during these initial changes in my life. Intimacy is about a vision of a life ahead of me. Linkage is about going from being in a very dark place to a fulfilling life. The other selection have been written less stressful tmes
INTIMACY
Intimacy is life everlasting
Life that continues in all times and dimensions
Intimacy is you and all you have been
And have been since the creation of time
With Intimacy there is no final journey
LINKAGES
We are still looking in all the wrong places
For love and fulfillment
They have always been in our heart
But we have always sadly kept that door locked….
Show us your judgment of ourselves
Before we judge others
So that we may judge them not
But approach all with an open heart
GUIDANCE
Your problems dissolve when you reach out
Reach out to someone today
You hold in your heart the
Strength, passion, and love
That someone needs
Kirk Catina
Some of my best creative endeavours have been in an art studio shared with others but I had earbuds in listening music - Pink Floyd to cinematic themes. I can totally focus on my art with the music cranked and take breaks for the camaraderie of an active studio. There are times when I would go to the studio knowing I would be there alone. As I write this I realize those times would be at the end applying finishing touches.
interesting, never thought about purposefully playing music while creating. I think it would be fun to do an experiment and play some rock music at one sitting, and the next creative endeavor try a different genre and see how the outcomes may vary.
thanks for the idea !😉
Great topic. I think of it and discuss it often. I love solitary, creative activities (painting and writing), but I also love going to the pottery studio and working alongside people with music playing in the background. Some chatting occurs naturally, but it reminds me of playing music with others. I love to practice solo and then love getting together to play with others. Just doing our thing together with no pressure to talk about other nonsense😊.
Writing is definitely a solitary activity, and although I generally don’t suffer from writer’s block, I do suffer from FOMO—fear of missing out—or related guilt that I really should be attending to duties for others. My solution when younger was to write at night, but at my present age, there’s always the question of whether there is enough energy once the sun goes down. And the thoughts of the night are different than the thoughts of the morning or afternoon. So I try to steal hours during the day, but it bugs me that it feels like stealing.
I can imagine our mentor, Susan, writing in cafes, and often casually watch others tapping away at computers or writing in notebooks while they sip coffee, isolated by their headphones, and wonder what they are up to. But I can’t imagine doing that myself.
I am at my best creative self when I have a safe space to express , most of the times it is with a teacher or a mentor in that field !!
Photography, botanizing, and working in my native plant garden are places where I thrive. I've been practicing and developing these skills for almost 40 years. I never feel alone when I'm participating in any of these endeavors and feel as though I am connected to something much bigger than myself—ineffable, really.
I'm easily distracted, or set off balance, by others' talking or even by their presence. I often need a sustained chain of contemplation or reverie to arrive at "MY answers", especially on complex or subtle subjects.
An old saying: If you want to get one-fifth as much done in five times the time, just give it to a five-person committee. ;-)
I can relate! instead of just rapidly responding, let’s say to a deeper conversations by pausing to absorb what’s been said, and collecting one’s thoughts before speaking back, I feel, offers deeper response meaning.
but too often, people are uncomfortable with brief silent gaps.
My creative outlet is writing and it is hard for me do so simultaneously with others. For example, I don’t generally like sharing a document on a video platform like Zoom to write collectively. I need time to think, reflect, and play around with what I want to say, and how I want to say it. I can write iteratively with someone—I create something and send it to another person for input and/or changes and vice versa. But even then, only in certain contexts and/or with certain people.
ditto!!!
I enjoy and was raised to be a highly active listener in social situations. After that tho I find I need time alone to process all the interactions. I love both things. But then I need MORE time to settle in to creative thoughts. Oftentimes- something’s gotta go and often it’s the creative (luxury). Being a present person requires that sacrifice I have found.