Skip to main content

The Art and the Act of Writing & Reading

I love the act of writing whether putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. All of it  - whether I am creating poetry, essays, copy or ghost writing. And I love writing letters  as well as receiving them. I wish this had not gone out of  style or been replaced by the quick soundbite or messaging. I love the process.

Writing for me is tactile. Poetry for instance must first be written with pen and notebook. There is something particular about physically connecting to the paper and it must be the right paper. I have many notebooks for this purpose and they are chosen very carefully for size and feel and sometimes for a message they might have imprinted on them. Similarly, the pens must also be special whether by colour, shape or a unique design. How they feel in my hand and how fluidly they write is very important to the process for me. 

When I am writing it feels the same as if I were painting with a brush on a canvas. The page is my canvas and the paint translates my thoughts into words. 
I wonder sometimes if I have an alter ego conducting this orchestra of words working independently of me.

The poetry and the personal  essay writing come from a unique place which is completely separate from my conscious, rational mind. It’s a very still and quiet place, a dark pool into which I can fall freely and am allowed to swim like a water-baby unfettered by thought or will. I feel that I have been gifted with this special access to what feels like and seems to be an unearthly and spiritual space within me. It allows me to be better than I am. More than I am. It gives me the essence of “I Am”.

There is a similarity between the feel of writing and reading a book for me. True I occasionally read books on my iPad but a printed book evokes a completely different sensation. It brings me literally into contact with the actual words on the page. The feeling of holding the book in my hands and being able to touch and turn each page seems to make it more authentic bringing me closer to the author, as if I might be sitting next to him or her and having a conversation. It has an immediacy and an ease of access which heightens and intensifies my sense of enjoyment. 

Both writing and reading, for me, seem to be a complex sensory experience and both are ultimately pleasurable and frequently inspirational. To mangle a famous phrase by Samuel Pepys: “When one is tired of reading, one is tired of life”.
________________________________

January 2016.


Comments

  1. Unknown1 March 2016 at 19:03

    Lovely and delightful, a description of a true art form that someday I would love to emulate.....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Book of Poetry

JUST ME -  A BOOK OF POETRY Acknowledgement: I am who I am because of my children who changed me into a woman and fulfilled that most basic of needs; the many friends and strangers who touched me as they passed through my life and to the special influence  of those who still walk beside me even though they are no longer here - my Jewish grandmother for whom I was named and my brave and unassuming mother - who both unconsciously showed me how to be steadfast when chaos reigns; to the ghosts of ancestors, some famous, some notorious and all colourful; and to the unique times that shaped me. Because of them, I continue to enjoy the journey - all of it. 2014. Refugee. Sunlight pierces shadow mingles mellow in the garden, highlighting hibiscus - home for hummingbirds, only yards way from teeming traffic and feet pounding dreams into the debris on the street. Watching from that silent, inner space I wonder then whose plan it was to create such beauty from ...
2 comments
Read more

Older Women: Changing The Conversation

Tribune (Nassau, Bahamas) column for August 6 th 2019 The Change of Life - is a phrase usually applied to women going through menopause and, more often than not, is regarded as a negative happening both during that phase and when it is completed. True, for some women it can be a difficult time with distressing, painful physical and emotional symptoms and much credence has been given historically to the theory ,along with many other myths, that it will automatically make the woman a lesser person, diminished by the fact that childbearing is no longer an option. We need to change that conversation first in our own heads so that we can then influence society’s skewed perception that this is another downhill stop on the route to old age. In today’s world of connectivity there is no logical reason for this thinking. We are living longer, have more access to information, medical help, exercise, diet options, recreation and entrepreneurial opportunities and communicating with each other...
Post a Comment
Read more