Motivation--desert time Disappeared

Desesrt time disappeared -- I have no luck witt computers. It was about flow. When I hiked in the Sinai and was close to the white sand, mountains, million stars, Bedouins, camels,..my pen moved by itself it seemd. I spent a week hiking in the desert. I met some remarkable people and as we were leaving my pen began to move. It sounds weird but there was a connection from my heart to the pen.
That may be the ultimate but I think I can pounder on it. When we are faced with time crunches and/or maybe have nothing to say it is a drag. The hike in the Sinai desert is an ultimate experience nd my pen almost moved by itself. Coulfd this simply mean in a perfect worlsd if we are really enthused about each and every day time crunches and blank looks will disappear on the other side of the mountain. I sure hope so but I guess we have to find that something and I guess that leads to today's bit on motivation.



We should come to a regular place, make it comfortable if we can, and practice everyday. Also, do not go to extremes-a little bit, a little bit and before to long we have it. It sounds so simple but a habit is the hardest thing to learn or break. If I can relate it to my exercise; many years ago I started to run a mile a day. I did it everyday, everyday... and after a while that mile became a 5k, then a 10k, and then even a marathon. It is what Boice talks about, "the regular habit of writing to provide the needed impetus." In exercise I ran in the rain, the snow, the heat and it didn't matter. I tied my running shoes everyday. The problem was beginning and doing that mile everyday. But it became a habit. Now if I can do the same thing with writing ..like the Little Train that Thought He Could, because you need a little bit of determination to get that habit up the hill!!!

 

Boice talks about getting into the conversation and I especially like his words, "listening and noticing." Since I am into poetry right now getting into the conversation to means reading as many poets as I can. A poet far more accomplished then me told me that reading poems is our best teacher. Also, Boice mentioned that we may emulate someone else's work. One of my favorite poems is, The Tourist, by the Israeli poet, Yuhuda Amichi. The style of the poem is short verses followed by a stanza that looks to be more of a paragraph. I had a real amazing experience in Jerusalem when an Arab tailor sewed my shorts and I was sitting by him in my underwear. My walk thru the old city was in the narrow verse but my descriptions of the Arab Quarter and Jewish Quarter were in the larger paragraph (stanza) style format. It is an emulation from Amichi ! I haven't said much about listening and noticing but I think that is really the key of writing for me. It is so Important just to be quiet and observe. That way you have a better way of feeling it kind of like a singer keeping their eyes closed when singing a song. The spark comes from inside.