Reverb 10, Day 2: Writing

Over the month of December, I am taking part in Reverb 10, and the daily prompt for today from Leo Babauta is this:

Writing.
What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing – and can you eliminate it?

The answer to this one is so easy and the answer to it so simple and actionable that I am embarrassed.

I watch television. I turn it on when I get up and leave it on most of the day. It is the background noise while I work and is in constant demand of my attention. I am watching it right now. In fact, I am watching a Melissa Joan Hart Christmas movie right now.



If this isn't a sign that I've got a problem, I don't know what is.

Once upon a time not so long ago, I used alcohol and drugs to numb my brain. It's a busy place up there, and a heavily emotional place at that, so I used chemicals as the shortest route to a quieter mind. What I didn't seriously take into account until today was that I have been using television in the same way. Television may be irritating and creatively hampering, but it distracts. Part of the reason I took on sobriety is because my creativity and my life are too important to put in second place next to what only amounts to distraction from them.

So, I've quit smoking and I've quit drinking, and, if I am to follow that rule of threes, I suppose I should quit television now, too.

Next thing you know I'll be doing yoga and eating whole foods.

I'm going to have to start pureeing kittens into my morning smoothies to balance out my life if this goodness keeps up.



If you count yourself as a writer, what keeps you from it? Is there anything you do on purpose to distract yourself from writing?

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PS.  The new photo on Phoneography today is a portrait of my grandmother.

PPS.  I don't drink smoothies in the morning. Yet. One step at a time, people. One step at a time.

Reverb 10, Day 1: One Word

Over the month of December, I am taking part in Reverb 10. It is the brainchild of Gwen Bell, Kaileen Elise, and Cali Harris, an "...open online initiative that encourages participants to reflect on this year and manifest what's next. It's an opportunity to retreat and consider the reverberations of your year past, and those that you'd like to create in the year ahead."

There are daily prompts to guide you through December and into the next year, and today's prompt from Gwen Bell is this:

One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you're choosing that word. Now, imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

What is my 2010 in one word? Contemplation.



When I use the word contemplation, I do not mean that my last year was roundly calm and thoughtful and passive. What I do mean is that much of the action of my last year happened up inside my head. I have battled addiction, worked through some of my fear of public speaking, thought through and re-thought through the background work of the Canadian Weblog Awards, and performed an autopsy on my old understanding of professional life.

My one-word dream for 2011? Movement.



Although I do feel that I have accomplished quite a bit through my brainwork this year, and quite a bit of that has found its way into the outside world, I am going to do more visible work over the coming year. As much as I am an artist and a writer who is quite comfortable living up inside my head, I have a practical side that needs to see the fruits of its labours birthed into the world.

Contemplation and Movement. It feels like a good, deep breath and a foot forward.

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PS.  Are you ready to contemplate on 2010 and move forward in 2011? Join me and participate in Reverb 10!

PPS.  I'm supporting The Fresh Air Fund throughout the month of December. I've put a button in my sidebar and this little banner here, because I had ready access to experience forests and farms and the like during my childhood, and those experiences changed my life and my heart. A lot of kids don't get that kind of opportunity without an organization like The Fresh Air Fund. You can sign up your own child, host a child, or donate to change a life.



PPPS.  I have a new photo up on Phoneography: The Palinode On Broadway.

PPPPS.  Aiming Low relaunched today after an extended hiatus, and it is rockin'. Also, I write there once a week now, so show it some love.

The A to Z Of My Present Internetting

Headless Mom reminded me of this meme that I like to do occasionally, and, because it is 4:00 a.m. and I cannot seem to stay asleep for more than two hours at a time, I decided to revisit it. To complete the meme, you type each letter of the alphabet into your browser's address bar to see what pops up as your most common url visited. I have saved us all the boredom and excluded urls to my Google image searches and the like, because otherwise half of the following list would consist of links to collections of wind-up toys, circus parades, and pets from the early 20th century.

Without further adieu, here is what my browser says I've been up to:

A — Autopinger
B — Browsershots
C — Canadian Weblog Awards
D — Deb on the Rocks
E — Liu Bolin - Eli Klein Fine Art
F — Schmutzie | formspring.me
G — State of Grace
H — To Haiti with Love
I — Knitting Iris
J — Jurgen Nation
K — Kirtsy
L — Life As A Human
M — MamaPop
N — National Geographic Magazine
O — Ordinary Art
P — Pull My Daisy
Q — Quick: A 1951 News Weekly
R — Raymi the Minx
S — Slouching Past 40
T — Terrible Mother
U — Flickr: UNHCR's Photostream
V — doobleh-vay
W — With Smudge In Yard
X — A BeTaMaXMaS
Y — YouTube
Z — Benjamin Zander on music and passion | Video on TED.com

And you?