“How ARE you (ye-oo)?”

“I’m goo-ud.” You say that and just by saying it, just by answering that question asked with such warmth, you actually do feel “real good”. I love the South for that. The willingness to admit unapologetically, I feel good.

And today, that’s how I’m feeling. I’m doin’ good.

I tell myself when thing’s are out of sorts – something hurts, life is tough, I can’t find peace – that when it’s otherwise, when I feel good, to REMEMBER to pinch myself. To notice. Pay attention. Give myself that gift.

Last night I was working on my art. I haven’t been aware in the past of the time it takes for “what’s next” to emerge. It just happened. But now, with attention on it, I’m putting pressure on the process. I’m not sure that’s necessarily bad, other than when I judge it. And, of course, if it’s coming into being, it is not always so obvious what is good or bad.

Yesterday, I had brought in some found objects that I noticed in the back of the garage – wood block kindling. I brought in a few in the afternoon and liked how it interacted with my fabric. What looked positive in the afternoon looked less so by evening.

But this morning, I played some more, I had a new angle on it. A new perspective and understanding of where I was going with this work. I got excited about what’s happening, even as it’s taking this new twist. I was finding my way in this journey of the art unfolding.

In line with this, Stephen King, in conversation with Neil Gaimon talks about the way stories develop:

Gaimon tells Stephen that, “…on the story I was working on, that everything I needed , fictionally, was waiting for me when I went looking for it.”

King agreed. “I never think of stories as made things, I think of them as found things. As if you pull them out of the ground and then pick them up.”

It surprised me: King sounding so Taoist. But it’s a fitting way to describe creation, especially at this time of year, as spring happens and the earth is producing so much life. I like the idea: that I have this ingredient inside myself, something that grows from seeds planted deep within, and that I am just discovering them, in a sense. I’m not sure about “pulling them out of the ground.” Maybe a gentler verb? But as to the organic nature of the process: yes.

Here’s to spring, to creating. Here’s to feelin’ goo-ud.