Yesterday I picked up boxes of books from my publisher.

I’d seen the proof for the new book, This Other Way of Knowing. I’d seen the new cover design for the first book in the series, Other Wise. Still, looking down into the open box, seeing them piled and packed tightly — solid, beautiful, & real — I was ridiculously happy. I had to share that feeling with you — my community! And I had to offer a suggestion.

I know you know the feeling. I know you’ve had moments of ridiculous happiness in your creative life. And I hope you’ve celebrated to mark them well.

Last week, I received an email in which Emily Fletcher, a meditation teacher, suggested a gratitude practice with a kick. She talked about how a gratitude practice shifts our attention to look for what is going right and encourages our brain to see the constructive themes in our life. Then, she offered this phrase: “I am so ridiculously grateful for… .”

She went on to add, “…for everything I have and I am so excited for what’s on the way.”

I took the first words of her statement for my own use and I offer them to you. Why? … Because I’m ridiculously grateful to you for being co-creators in a world that needs rampant creativity.

As I celebrate the completion and publication of my new book, I look forward to your sharings of the bright moments that have kept you going. Those moments for which you are … so ridiculously grateful.

I love Becky Karush’s literary podcast, Read To Me. I love her voice and her ability to distill essence from a short passage of a longer work. I learn something every time I listen. I highly recommend that you sign up for her offerings. Always short. Always delightful. Always insightful.

Today I am honored to share Day 3 of SPREE WEEK on Read To Me wherein Becky reads a passage from — ta-da! — my novel Other Wise. Apologies for the blatant self-promotion but I believe her take on any piece of writing is worth a listen.

I was humbled as I listened to her delicious voice read this scene and discuss, as only Becky can, what she loves about the writing. She has given me renewed insight into my own characters, my own words, and my sometimes unconscious choices. She has brought to the surface the work of my inner writer — that wise part of the writing self always present and contributing.

Please consider signing up for regular doses of Becky’s brilliance. You won’t regret it. And check out her Gateless writing salons. She is a truly gifted facilitator.

https://www.readtomepod.com/season2episodes/spreeweekday3?fbclid=IwAR0Dk1NEs69rhv7qsuluEZPtplIpsYwrvmAJ8xKf0B9Aua5mMTadWOfnc_M

We’re on the threshold of a new month. A short one. What will you do with your twenty-eight days?

May I suggest a new practice? A daily haiku? A flash of fiction? A sudden-prompt? A five-minute sketch? A gathering of imagery — a collage?

When I sit to write, I have a ritual that tells my body, mind, and spirit it’s time to create. I breathe, … light a candle (a particular candle), … and ring the ting-sha. I wait for the sound to settle into silence and then begin. This ritual is the doorway to story telling time for me.

To this I am adding something new.

Tomorrow, February 1st, following the tone of the ting-sha, I’ll compose a fresh haiku. If you wish to join me in this practice, create an intention and come to the page or canvas. Though we’ll be working in our own time and space, we’ll be companions in spirit.

The haiku tradition I stick to is the Japanese form of seventeen syllables arranged in three-lines of 5, 7, & 5. It can be spoken on a breath and is of a moment.

In the introduction to her book, haiku mind, Patricia Donegan says:

“A fine haiku presents a crystalline moment of heightened awareness in simple imagery, traditionally using a kigo or season word from nature. It is this crystalline moment that is most appealing. However, this moment is more than a reflection of our day-to-day life–it is a deep reminder for us to pause and to be present to the details of the everyday. It is this way of being in the world with the awakened open-hearted awareness–of being mindful of the ordinary moments of our lives–that I’ve come to call “haiku mind.”

Step into haiku mind with me. Then let that thought go and allow whatever wants to be written to come. Don’t worry about doing it right or even well.

Perhaps yours won’t have a reference word or phrase for nature. No snow or icy pond. No woodsmoke or burning leaves. No crocuses or forsythia. No shimmering heat or thundering storm or dandelion sending off her seeds. And that’s okay.

A remembered haiku from years ago comes to me for inspiration now:

I scooped up the moon/ in my water bucket and/ spilled it on the grass (Ryuho)

And another:

Chrysanthemums bloom/ in a gap between the stones/ of a stonecutter’s yard (Matsuo Basho)

One syllable off, but it’s a translation. And even if it weren’t, it’s okay.

If, however, haiku is not your February choice, then try some flash fiction. It’s a great springboard. An excellent resource is Going Short – an invitation to flash fiction, by Nancy Stohlman. And there are many online sites that offer daily prompts to set you alight.

Perhaps you’d prefer sketching for five minutes each day. Or gathering images from calendars and magazines and greeting cards and building a layered collage or 28 minis.

Whatever you decide, meet me metaphorically and prime the pump before beginning to write, or rewrite, or artistically explore.

Will there be days when your “results” are less than stellar? When your 5-7-5 is more like a 3-9-4? Or your watercolor sketch becomes a muddy mess? … Absolutely. … It’s the practice that matters, the continuous rhythm, the daily journey into self and onto the page.

When out walking, I’m often reminded of a story I read years ago and an image returns. — A Japanese master on his death bed, all stillness but for the faint fluttering of his fingers, … five, seven, five, …

Sometimes I notice my own fingers moving as I go and I smile:

toward the chuckling brook/ I’m walking on tree shadows/ mingling with the melt

Join me, won’t you?

Share a haiku or two along the way in the comments.

You are a creative …

Be still. Breathe. Begin.