What I've been up to ...

photographing the photographer
What a weird and wonderful week it's been. I am positively bubbling with creative energy. And, right about now, caffeine. Which might explain the rapid-fire typing you're hearing.

Yesterday had a stinker of a start. Well, not the very early start, which was spin class, and which, though I never quite got into it, still kicked off the day with a rush of happy endorphins. But then I got home. And discovered that CJ was refusing to go to nursery school, again. And you know, he's been sick, so I wasn't sure. Maybe he was still a bit off? Okay, kid. I'll give you another day. Even though that means cancelling my morning plan to go record a song at my brother's studio. Fine. Except it wasn't fine, and I wasn't fine, and I had to go to the basement and throw laundry into the washer and yell things and slam the door and perform other unpleasant and completely immature venting activities. It put a pall on the general everyone-heading-off-to-school-and-work part of the morning. I have a rotten temper.

It's all about the expectations. I'd expected and planned to do one thing, and when plans suddenly shifted, I was disappointed. And frustrated. And facing another housebound day with a less than willing spirit.

But I came around, in a moping sort of way, to acceptance, and went on with the changed plans. When suddenly the phone rang--it was Kevin. His morning appointment had to be rescheduled. "I'll come home and look after CJ, and you can go and record." "Seriously?" "Seriously." Well, off I went, let me tell you.

Proof that a stinker of a start doesn't mean the whole is ruined. Remember this. Remember, and leap for the unexpected opportunities that parachute into your hours.

Why didn't I take my camera? My brother's new studio is filled with light. It's an old Mennonite schoolhouse, one big room, and I sat right down at the piano to get loosened up. And then we recorded. Just one simple song, a lullaby. I wrote it for a character in Juliet. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wrote it as my character. Because my brother Karl is such an amazing and talented producer, as well as a musician, I know we're going to have a beautiful song at the end of the process. It's exciting. And I found myself up late last night perfecting more songs as my character. It's weird, but I can write songs as her better than as me. Maybe it gives me the distance necessary to be vulnerable, to allow myself to tap uncritically into emotions and even a particular style that I can ascribe to her. Maybe it's like writing a poem in a persona. I won't question it. It's working.

This morning, I surfed the creative wave toward a different shore. It helped that CJ trotted merrily off to nursery school--unquestionably healthy again. PRAISE BE. This morning, my friend Nancy arrived with coffee to share, and her camera. She is working on a new project that she calls "ipowr," or "Intriguing People of Waterloo Region," and she chose me as her first subject to interview and to photograph. I couldn't resist photographing her too, plus it put me at ease to stand behind the lens. A nice way to warm up, perhaps for both of us. Less pressure. The photo above makes me think of a villa, a place both stark and soft, and somehow old-fashioned. The crop doesn't quite do it justice. You can see the original here.

And so that is my yesterday and my today. I am basking in creative activities that would seem outside of my comfort zone. But neither feel like a stretch. Instead, both are extensions of what I'm already doing. And I'm brimming with appreciation for this quiet time between major projects, when I can do and try anything.

The world is full of beauty and light.
I am teetering on the brink of over-caffeination.
It's all good.

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