Humor Walkabouts & Angry Journaling
A triptych of beauty for you
Dear Friends, Dear Beauties,
Today’s missive is coming to you in three kisses.
💋
I’d like to introduce you to my dear friend Jeanette. She recently texted me this one-sentence poem, and I want you to have it too.
“My humor takes long walkabouts, and then surprises me with such a sudden appearance, that even I have to laugh.” - Jeanette
J and I send each other love texts. They ping and pong the day after attending a dance performance together, or following a two-hour woodsy walk, in which we explore all our latest creepy-crawly thoughts, AND shout at the beauty of the world: The fucking mountain! Those willow trees! The sun shining on the lake! The heron! The clouds, WOW, don’t they look like . . . . hey you, over there, did you see THE MOON!?
What happens in these day-after love texts is Jeanette will profess her love because love falls off her lips so naturally it’s a work of art, and I respond in kind and then we’re down a memory rabbit hole. “Remember when . . . ?”
A recent love-text went down the rabbit hole of a time in my life when I felt low because someone I loved wasn’t appreciating me in the way I wanted. Jeanette listened, sympathized, and got good and mad at this person, which is always the right response. Then, in the most delightful, razor-sharp quick-witted way, J had a comeback that was so funny, so ridiculous, so perfect, that not only did I laugh for days (and continue to, 20 years on), but that little scab of hurt upped and skedaddled right there on the spot. I’m sorry I can’t give you specifics, but if you email me I might.
Jeanette sent her reply in this one exquisite sentence. Please, just read and enjoy, and consider Beauty as a surprise. And humor as a high form of beauty, in the way it calls our attention home, gives us a respite. Humor, like beauty is unconditional, omniscient, and during certain times of life will wait up ahead, just around that corner, right there, see? see? and will be there when you arrive, or, as Jeanette says, could come out of nowhere and surprise you. Boo! There.
“My humor takes long walkabouts, and then surprises me with such a sudden appearance, that even I have to laugh.”
💋💋
I’m on week 5 of the Artist’s Way, as part of my Summer Enchantments. It’s not enchanting, it’s time-consuming, and occasionally pisses me off AND I’m glad I’m doing it, in the way you know moving through a particular kind of resistance is spinning gold—to be collected later. It will produce enchantment down the road, and that’s what summer enchantments are about. I’m already seeing a big distinction between doing creative work and feeling creative.
The best part of AWay is when other Beauty Hunters show me their fresh copies of The Artist’s Way, and pledge to open notebooks and purge words. Also, I’ve reconnected with my Baltimorean-Roman friend & poet Moira Egan. She’s doing her morning pages in a scalding Rome, I’m doing mine in a temperate Seattle, we check in on WhatsApp, and that makes all the difference.
If you have an enchantment and feel the feet dragging, get a buddy. Invite someone to do the Thing with you. If you’re not sure how to work the buddy system, email me.
💋💋💋
I’m still on a huge George O’Keeffe plunge, and I might bring her to August’s Playful Writing Salons. These are free hour-long pop-up salons for Beauty Hunters. You can attend them a la carte or all four, you choose. We’re going 4/5 Tuesdays in August, 9 - 10 am PDT.
Here are the details.
SPECIAL Playful Writing Month💥
Tuesdays in August,
9 - 10 am PDT
Register here, on Zoom
If you flirt with a writing practice, or want to begin (or return to) a project, this one’s for you! We're going to spend four 1-hr sessions writing from a variety of prompts and exercises that underscore play and fun to get us into a new state of creating. Let’s shred those struggling-writers myths. These salons will also set you up with a playful toolkit of your own. Experience the mystery, the magic, the synchronicity, the exploration, the je-ne-sais-quoi that transpires when we touch pen to paper and are ready for ANYTHING.
This is for paid Beauty Hunter subscribers, *or* anyone interested in / registered for the Creators' Circle that starts in September.
PS. You can subscribe for just one month at $8, with one free trial week, and receive an entire month of playful writing, at the price I almost spend on my morning coffee. Can't wait to write and play with you. XO
