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Dialogue with my muse |
| I have been carrying on a dialogue for almost a year. During this time we have discussed the progress of my writing, editing, and publishing efforts. Join in to listen to our conversation about my daily writing life and add your comments if you think of anything Calliope and I miss. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: I missed you yesterday. JOE: My apologies. I was off early for a workshop on Internet marketing. CALLIOPE: Tell me about it. JOE: Mary Anne Shew, president of Business Vitality, presented an all day SCORE workshop on Internet marketing. CALLIOPE: What did she have to say? JOE: Plenty. I left with my head full. I'm still digesting it all. I have been working for quite a while to make sense of the topic with little success. She brought it all together in a comprehensive and simple way which clarified the process for me. CALLIOPE: So now you've mastered Internet marketing. JOE: I didn't say that. Not by a long shot. But now I have a road map of how to start and where to go next. CALLIOPE: What did you like best about her workshop? JOE: Her "Idea Collector" where she invited us to write down ideas as they occurred to us during her presentation along with specific applications and expected results. I came away with two pages of specific actions, how to do them and what to expect. No one ever suggested that to me before. As a result what I learned got lost in my pile of papers. CALLIOPE: What do you think will be your biggest challenges? JOE: The two which come to mind are search engine optimization and implementing e-commerce. CALLIOPE: Big topics. JOE: I need something to work on. They will both keep me busy for a while. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How was your weekend? JOE: Excellent. I spent it communing with nature and with people I enjoy being with. CALLIOPE: Taking a break? JOE: Not really. It's my way of refreshing myself and reconnecting with what really matters. CALLIOPE: How does that affect your writing? JOE: It gives me a sense of perspective on why I do what I do. CALLIOPE: Could you be more specific? JOE: Without a larger perspective it is easy to become lost in details and spin my wheels. CALLIOPE: Tell me about your perspective. JOE: I think we might have talked about it before. It has to do with my spiritual focus or context for living my life as well as for my writing. CALLIOPE: I see. JOE: My focus is on understanding life, my own and that of others, and sharing insights which occur to me. CALLIOPE: Is that what you mean by wisdom. JOE: Precisely. Now back to work. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's up today? JOE: I'm resting from all I did yesterday and plan a day trip to the Southern Tier of New York after I finish this post. CALLIOPE: Sounds like fun. What did you get done yesterday? JOE: I am working on becoming more familiar with the recording technology including my microphone and the editing software I found. I am beginning to feel more comfortable with it. CALLIOPE: What else? JOE: I found a source of free royalty free music I can use on my CD's at the beginning and end. I was able to download some clips successfully. CALLIOPE: What about content? JOE: Ah. The crux of the matter. I started brainstorming about the content and decided on a number of CD's for various age ranges. CALLIOPE: Where will you start? JOE; With seniors. They have had the most time to become wise. CALLIOPE: What will you offer them? JOE: Stories about wise seniors, definitions of wisdom, quotes through the ages, and some of the writings I already have. I will supplement these with thoughts of other writers. CALLIOPE: Sounds like more than you can fit on one CD. JOE: I realize that. I will start with one and then develop others depending on the response to the first. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Energized. CALLIOPE: On what account. JOE: I'm proceeding with my latest project. CALLIOPE: Which is? JOE: A series of recordings on wisdom for various ages. CALLIOPE: Sounds interesting. Where are you with it now? JOE: Back to working on technology. I found a good microphone and editing software as well as a company to reproduce and distribute CD’s. CALLIOPE: Sounds like the mechanics are coming along. How about the substance? JOE: I have been wondering whether I have enough to say. Then I read Julia Cameron's wisdom in The Right to Write. She sees creativity as a process of listening, recording and transmitting rather than trying to think everything up yourself. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a humble stance. JOE: It is but I can identify with it. I often wonder where I get ideas. Then I realize that if I pay attention they come to me. My job becomes a simple task of taking dictation from my experience. CALLIOPE: Interesting way to put it. JOE: It's a lot less responsibility and more fun to boot. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. I have a book review to share with you today. CALLIOPE: Great. Let me see it. Between Me and the River by Carrie Host In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron observes, "My body which carries a knowledge deeper than my mind, has answers for me as an artist and a person." In her new book, Between Me and the River, Living Beyond Cancer: A Memoir (Harlequin, 2009), Carrie Host chronicles her encounter with the river of cancer, sometimes paddling along, sometimes caught in the rapids and sometimes grasping desperately for the shore. Her account reminds me of Dante's Divine Comedy, especially the Inferno with its River Styx and the Purgatorio where her body, mind and soul are purified. She never quite makes it to the Paradiso, although none of us do in this life. From the start of her account, I wanted to push or pull her boat to safety or paddle with her. Before her encounter with cancer Carrie wrote poetry. She learned to watch, listen, smell, touch and taste the joys, frustrations, fears, defeats and victories punctuating her voyage. She shares with the reader her poignant observations, thoughts and feelings as her body experiences them. You will share with her the sting of each setback and the glory of each victory. As Julia Cameron says, "We store memories in our bodies. We store passion and heartache. We store joy, moments of transcendent peace." Carrie's book shares her perspective on wrestling with cancer, from the loneliness of facing it alone inside her body to the loving support of her thirty-eight muses who helped write her story. She starts writing with the goal of finding an ending to her story. Eventually she does, "Radiating pure light, I've surreptitiously come to a place with winter clarity along the banks of a magnificent river, its roar a vague whisper, a place with all words sleeping." |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Feeling productive. CALLIOPE: Tell me more. JOE: I finished my current column about the Fall Fling. CALLIOPE: Which is? JOE: A community event hosted by City Church in Batavia. They had booths providing information to needy people on services available in the community. They also gave away an enormous amount of food, clothing and household goods donated by businesses, agencies and individuals. CALLIOPE: Sounds like quite an experience. JOE: I found it heartwarming. I have become somewhat cynical about how much people even notice struggles their neighbors endure. CALLIOPE: That's a nice feeling. JOE: It helped restore my faith in humanity and caring for fellow members of our human community. CALLIOPE: Do you think selfishness is on the wane. JOE: I don't think so. But at least there are corporations and individuals who do care. At least there is hope. CALLIOPE: So now what? JOE: It's time to keep reminding people of their struggling neighbors and to do what they can. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Thinking about yesterday's post and realizing I shared more personal information than usual. CALLIOPE: Is that why you had to think about it a while before posting? JOE: It is. CALLIOPE: How do you feel about having done so? JOE: I think it's a step in the right direction. Writing in generalities keeps my writing impersonal and harder for readers to feel a personal sense of contact. CALLIOPE: I think you might be right. What's leading you in this direction? JOE: I'm still reading Julia Cameron's book, The Right to Write. She has been quite an inspiration to me. CALLIOPE: How specifically? JOE: She shares quite a bit about her personal life especially as it affects her writing. I feel a kinship with her I would like to establish with my readers. CALLIOPE: Ah, she's setting a good example for you. JOE: Exactly. I hope to learn more from her. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I missed you on Saturday. JOE: I learned that some experiences are like some books. They need to be chewed and digested. I needed some time before addressing what happened Saturday. CALLIOPE: Sounds rather dramatic. JOE: It wasn't so much dramatic as profoundly affecting me. CALLIOPE: Tell me about it. JOE: Okay. I met a woman I had once loved and had not seen in ten years. CALLIOPE: What happened? JOE: She was a shell of her once vibrant and bright self. Only faintly glowing embers remained of her personality. CALLIOPE: What happened to her? JOE: Mental illness ravaged her and she almost disappeared. CALLIOPE: Did finding her in this state surprise you? JOE: No. I knew what to expect. Still it is sad to see the remnants of a once promising life now tenuous at best. CALLIOPE: Sorry to hear it. JOE: I have known it all too well as a psychologist but it's still hard to accept. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's on your mind this morning? JOE: I was just reflecting on yesterday's field trip. CALLIOPE: Where to? JOE: Spiritus Christi Mental Health Center in Rochester. CALLIOPE: What prompted that? JOE: Several things. I had wanted to see what they were doing. I have considered volunteering there. Mostly I went since I committed myself to doing so as part of my involvement in the Mental Health Board in Genesee County. CALLIOPE: What did you discover? JOE: A unique undertaking. As far as anyone knows, they are the only such operation in the country. CALLIOPE: Tell me more. JOE: They have two full time employees. All of the psychiatrists and therapists volunteer time to see patients. They are funded by Spiritus Christi Church donations and a second hand furniture shop. They don't have to deal with any of the state, federal or insurance company regulations and treat uninsured and underinsured patients for free. CALLIOPE: I never hear of such a thing. JOE: Neither have I before discovering them. CALLIOPE: Are you still planning to volunteer? JOE: I want to see how things go with Americorps first. But that's a story for tomorrow. Talk with you then. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Still feeling good about my writing decisions. CALLIOPE: Tell me more. JOE: Writing for money or with an agenda confines my writing. I become responsible for finding what to write. CALLIOPE: As opposed to what? JOE: Letting my observations of life and the human condition guide me. CALLIOPE: Is that a new approach for you? JOE: No. It's where I started when I began writing. It's more a question of getting back to my roots. CALLIOPE: Could you elaborate? JOE: At the beginning I saw myself as a channel for observations rather than being in charge of deciding what to write. CALLIOPE: Sounds like you chose to follow your muse rather than try to force anything. JOE: Exactly. That's how our conversation started in the first place. CALLIOPE: I'm happy to lead you where life takes us. JOE: Glad to have you as a guide again. Talk with you tomorrow. |
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Hope they like snow! 
I just tell them to go get a life...
It's a sunshiny 24 here at the moment; 19 in Buffalo.