Book Signing Reminder

Just a reminder:  I will be signing my books at the TACK SALE and BOOK SIGNING at Riding with HEART tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the farm at 639 County Road 513 Pittstown NJ.

 The open house will provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about equine assisted programs at Riding with HEART. There will be demonstrations of hippotherapy and equine assisted learning as well as the opportunity to take sample lessons throughout the day.
 Michelle Labriola, certified John Lyons instructor of natural horsemanship, will be giving a live training demonstration from 11:30 a.m. to12:30 p.m. She has recently moved from Saratoga, N.Y. and is now basing her training business out the farm. She will be teaching riding lessons this spring to both children and adults with an emphasis on safety.
The tack sale will run throughout the open house with great deals on new and used tack, riding attire and barn supplies. Light refreshments will be served.
 Riding with HEART is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for physically and cognitively challenged adults, children and their families and to provide opportunities for youth development through our diversified equine assisted programs.
 The organization’s next group of programs begins April 9.
 Visit ridingwithheart.org or call 908-735-5912 for more information, to learn about volunteer opportunities or to make a donation.

Observation and Writing

This is where my theological training and my writing intersect.  Without the ability to observe I wouldn't be able to write.

Pema Chodron

On The Spot Equanimity "An on-the-spot equanimity practice is to walk down the street with the intention of staying as awake as possible to whomever we meet. This is training in being emotionally honest with ourselves and becoming more available to others. As we pass people we simply notice whether we open up or shut down. We notice if we feel attraction, aversion, or indifference, without adding anything extra like self-judgment. We might feel compassion toward someone who looks depressed, or cheered up by someone who's smiling to himself. We might feel fear and aversion for another person without even knowing why. Noticing where we open up and where we shut down-without praise or blame-is the basis of our practice. Practicing this way for even one block of a city street can be an eye-opener.”  Comfortable with Uncertainty

I'll give you wait...

So yesterday I write about waiting for inspiration, the state I was in at the moment.  Today Adelaide won't shut up in my head.  Perhaps that is a way to deal with writer's block?

Waiting

Some writers use helpers to trigger an end to what they refer to as their block, they read books that give them writing suggestions or work their way through lists of writing assignments.  I prefer to wait.

Writer's block is the bane of most writer's existance.  It sneaks up unexpectedly and suddenly you find yourself cleaning the bathroom instead of typing away.  Now, anyone knows that cleaning the bathroom is the last thing you want to do but sometimes it's preferable to sitting in front of a screen or with pen in hand and just staring.

I prefer to think of writer's block, though, in terms of the growing season. (Yeah, I know, I've lived in a rural county too long.)  Everyone, no matter what their profession, has the fertile summer, the time when ideas come shooting out of your ears and you can't implement them fast enough.  But we also have times when the beer and the Yankees take over and we sit, like mindless blobs in front of the television with no productive time in sight.

Instead of trying to force productivity during those times, I liken them to the winter.  Oh, I know, winter is so bleak.  But we can't force it to become spring.  Nature doesn't run on our timetable.  We have to wait it out.  Even though we can't see what is happening below the surface there are seeds germinating.  We impatient humans just have to wait.

So until the words come, I will write in my blog, sit in front of my spinning wheel as the fiber turns to yarn, watch the Yankees and clean the bathroom.  Something is germinating.  I just have to wait.

Quote of the day

"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”


Joan Didion