Kindling

A Few Small Adjustments

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:36:00 +0000

I'm honored to be a featured reader at Broadway Books in Portland tonight, for a William Stafford Celebration. I'll be reading this poem yet again: from Even in Quiet Places, "Learning to Adjust." The narrator picks up his mail and discovers he has received the wrong package. He does not complicate matters with complaints or returns. He studies the wrap, the unfamiliar name, the happy greetings. He decides that in a sense, this gift may be for him after all, and even, "might be more than I deserve."

I have this image of the poet, humble and big-hearted, holding up the package and smiling as he tucks it under his arm and trudges forward. What might the package be? What will he do with it?

Assured there are no mistakes in the world, he will open the package to a size four dress or a tinker toy house or a fondue pot and graciously and reverently bring it home and find a use for it, or even put it on display. This is what it means to live a creative life: taking what comes and exploring the beauty of it.

How would it be, if every time we received a thing, we cherished and made a place for it - even if it wasn't what we had in mind?

Look among your Christmas gifts for something you weren't excited about. Write what you can do with what you received. Create a story featuring that object. Consider keeping it forever.

Writer's Block in a Swimming Pool

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:16:00 +0000

From masters swim team member Rob Seemann, who is also an accomplished trainer: "Yesterday I swam my 3000 meters at Mt. Hood Community College pool. I was distraction free, engaged in the swimming of laps." Rob goes on to explain that though he's sometimes had writer's block, he's never had "swimmer's block." He muses, "I suppose that the equivalant of writer's block for a swimmer might look like treading water.

"'Oh, no,' says the swimmer. 'I have swimmer's block. I can't swim today. I'll just hold onto the edge here and not swim. Hm. Hm. Getting kind of cold here. Still, not gonna move those arms in any way that might resemble a stroke. Not gonna do it. It's just not coming to me today. Best get out of the pool!'"

As Rob points out, 'swimmer's block' sounds ludicrous. Yet how many of us have succumbed to writer's block by giving up, saying we just didn't have it in us for whatever reason? If you're treading water in your creative life, just start moving, regardless how you feel. As you take action, you'll warm up, and before you know it you'll have put in a pretty good session.

What area of life do you find never gets blocked for you? Why? How can you act similarly toward your writing?

New Years Intentions vs. Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:10:00 +0000

I used to make New Year's resolutions. Not anymore. Every resolution I made out of frustration and criticism (Read: the inner critic. I call him Dr. Codger), didn't come from the core of me, and I couldn't sustain it. I'd get discouraged and give up.

By contrast, lasting change comes from acceptance. It comes from heart, not head. Instead of measuring what I didn't do "enough of" last year, cogitating on my results in writing, exercise, or business, for example, I look at what I did right. Even if my right action was for ten minutes, I recognize it.

Take painting for example. I'd like to do more of it. I could chastise myself because the only painting I got done was for my Clark College watercolor class last winter. I could get all critic-brained, creating charts and measurements, resolving to be: different! disciplined! new!

Or, I could affirm myself. Look what you did! You painted at least once a week for two whole months. That comes to twenty hours painting last year, plus the year before. Add to the equation that summer class you took. And don't forget, you're taking Lee's class again this winter! Then I can conclude: Hey, this really is a part of your life.

When we start a creative endeavor, we begin out of joy, experimentation, curiosity. No need to continue on with a sense of lack, inadequacy, failure. Then we discount the good, brave things we have done. Pish.

Whatever it is you've accomplished - taking a single class, or keeping a journal for a couple of months, or writing a short story - celebrate that. That is now a part of who you are. Feel good about that.

Your good feelings will expand and grow and keep you changing and creating in 2012. They'll keep you doing the things you really want to do.

What do you want more of? How do you already have this your life? Good! Now keep going.

Brand Spankin' New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:20:00 +0000

Stepping into the shiny new year; I just love that new year smell!

The Santaland Diaries

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:44:00 +0000

I knew David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries wasn’t your typical jingle bells and fa-la-la. I’d heard the sardonic NPR performance years ago, based on Sedaris’s true experience as a guy down on his luck who hires on as a Christmas Elf at Macy’s. And so I was excited about the Portland Center Stage production, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello (playing through December 31). But when Jim Lichtscheidl walked on the bare stage as a plain, ordinary guy droning with disdain, I was a little less excited. Without David Sedaris’s delightful squeakiness, the sarcasm seemed empty.

The audience in the Ellyn Bye studio seemed somber, too, at first. Then I found myself chuckling. By the time our hero donned his pathetic elf-suit and puke-yellow hat, the audience was whooping with delight. What unfolded was a 3D encounter with all the wit of Sedaris’s story. A sparkly Santaland appeared with crunchy glitter and top-heavy ice-cream roofs. Lichtscheidl took on dozens of characters with aplomb. As Crumpet the Elf he pranced nimbly about like a crazed windup toy. There was an amazing bit where he became a spoiled kid throwing a tantrum. And then, in a blood-red haze, he was a prophet of doom, booming out about the evils of SatanLand.

The story follows the lowly elf day in, day out, seeing the public at its worst. There are parents who hate “the idea of a world they can’t make work for them.” Coworkers who are simply using you. There are abused children, narcissistic adults, people with disabilities and deformities. Nobody is as sweet as they appear in the ho-ho-ho holiday specials. What Crumpet witnesses is “23,000 people behaving as if they’re trying to catch the last train out of town.”

Suddenly we, the audience, know why we are here. It is our chance to vent. We can ridicule the worst in people, their greed and impatience. We can acknowledge all the things we hate about Christmas.

But the ugly side of Christmas isn’t just in other people. It’s in us, too. “All I do is lie,” complains Crumpet. Sure, the management put him up to it. But don’t we always have some excuse or other about why we’re cheating, grabbing, rushing, behaving less than our best? And doesn’t the notion that you deserve something special bring out the worst in you?

Laughing with The Santaland Diaries gives us a chance to rethink ourselves. By the time we’ve exhausted our cynicism and tickled our funnybone, we want to live differently. We are weary of perfect Santa-lap scenarios. We’re ready to pay attention to what we’re doing, and ask why we’re doing it. Crumpet tells us the quiet story of one store Santa who made sense. “Remember the most important thing,” Santa told Crumpet. Take a cue from the big guy. Think about what’s really important to you this holiday. And give some credit to the little helper in the puke-yellow hat.

*Photo by Patrick Weishampel.

Trivial Living

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:59:00 +0000

As a writer, I like to think deeply about things. Sally doesn't. This is Sally:

A Writer's Terror

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:56:00 +0000

We've explored the unlined page, and handwriting, and what makes us feel unbounded, and what makes us feel secure. I love Rebecca's fumbling, beautiful rant on how writing exploration is scary, and how the computer gives her a sense of safety.

Paralyzed
by Rebecca R.

Who owns my life? I feel sick and paralyzed if I even let the question enter my mind. I don't want to have to answer that; I don't know how to answer that; I don't even know where to start to answer that. I've set out to capture it, or at least begin the search and I choose to do so at the keyboard rather than with a pen and paper, that exploration of unknown territory in a rustling, inky, wet, messy and too real way. It's safer to be typing.

I feel safe on the computer. I feel clinical. I feel in control, nothing will seep out or sneak out that I can't backspace over or delete, like I just did to get "can't" right. I'm still editing, I'm still suppressing, I'm still withholding, I'm still stuck and I feel not so much angry as ashamed, less indignant and more defeated because I'm not brave enought to really look. If I look and know, then I might have to do, or at least try. And people will watch me try and they'll have to know I'm trying and they'll question and wonder and be skeptical and expect that it's not going to work, or wonder why on earth I decided I wanted to do that and shouldn't I just do this, it's much more suitable, much more predictable, and ought to be good enough. Why does she think she needs to run off and try to do that? Whatever it is.

What feels safe for you in writing? What feels scary? Do you have a preference of keyboard or pen/paper, and if so, why?

Ah-Choo!

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:13:00 +0000

Monday's ordinary thing is sneezing. Not long ago I met a woman who sneezes like this: "AH-choo-choo-choo-choo-choo-choo-choo-choo!" Seriously. I counted the "choo's." She sneezed several times in my company and all the sneezes were exactly the same.

What is it about sneezing that makes it so unique to the individual? Some people are loud sneezers. Some stomp or trumpet like an elephant. Some sneeze in tickly little bursts.

And let's not forget sneeze blessings. In ancient times it was believed that an evil spirit would enter your body when you sneezed, unless you were protected by the prescribed blessing. Nowadays there are "Gesundheit's" and "Bless You's" and motherly folks who hand you kleenex, and also those who ignore you completely.

If you are a sneeze blesser, there seems a proper time to bless and a time not to. Should you bless a sneezer in the elevator? The library? What about a co-worker? What about in a grocery store? It always seems to bring you a little closer, when a perfect stranger blesses your sneeze or you bless theirs. But it's a bit precarious.

Which makes me think of the people I know who live alone, whose sneezes don't get blessed. Are their souls more vulnerable, then, with repeated unblessed sneezes? Other questions: Can you sneeze without closing your eyes? If not, then how safe are you when driving with a sneezy person? And when it comes to a sneezy person, what was up with that Disney Dwarf anyway? Allergies? How sad is that? How would you like your whole life defined by your allergies, not to mention your very name?

Sneezing. Induce a sneeze with cayenne, or wait until the next time you have to sneeze, or just fake-sneeze. Write about it. Set a timer for ten minutes. Without thinking, put down everything that comes into your mind, connected or not.

Bored? Stand on your Head!

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:06:00 +0000

Bored. Tired. I've been feeling a little of the former, thinking it was the latter. Ever notice how a creative thought energizes you? By contrast, a dreary routine saps your energy, just by being the same, day after day.

After starting this post, I stood on my head. Not very well ("crow" pose, in yoga, aided by a chair), but no matter. I'm paying attention to the routines I've turned into energy-drains. I'm realizing, I'm the one in charge here.

If my day is no fun, I'm the only person who can add an interesting, different twist. Even if I'm doing work I love, doing it the Exact Same Way every day, with no change, no possibilities for growth, it gets . . . yawn. What was I saying?

Mix it up today, even in a small way.

Portland Center Stage's Oklahoma!

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:50:00 +0000

All American boy, all American girl, all American town. What comes to mind? I love what Portland Center Stage director Chris Coleman has done with "Oklahoma!" blasting old tropes by setting this musical in a historical all-Black town, showcasing the all-Americanness of these first Oklahomans.

What a cast! Rodney Hicks as Curly has a rich, warm, vibrant voice that could melt butter on cornbread. Brianna Horne with her big-eyed, long-faced beauty is a tough and tender Laurey, country bumpkin and princess at once. And who wouldn't be charmed by Marisha Wallace's Ado Annie, ditzy and adorable, singing her heart out?

I've never been a big Oklahoma fan, to tell the truth. What I've seen has been too straw-hat, corn-pone for my taste. But this - with it's dazzling dancing, its energy and gorgeous choir - it's a winner.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein script seems thin and stereotypical, even for a musical, but this production managed to bring out relevance. It's a show about loving the simple things. "All the sounds of the Earth are like music," sings Curly. How often, in our busy lives, do we listen to the winds, the crickets, the chickadees? "Don't you wisht y'd go on forever?" he asks, painting pictures in our imagination, reminding us how fleetingly we live.

In contrast to having only what you need and enjoying the present, "Everything's up to date in Kansas City," as the town sings. It's this hustle and bustle and greed that disturbs the beauty of now. And "Pore Jud is Daid," is an amazing and darkly funny duet with Hicks and Justin Lee Miller, reminding us of the fact of death, for all of us.

The darkness grabs you by the throat. Indeed, I was mesmerized by Miller's portrayal of the depraved Jud Fry, with expressionless face and hunched bearing. And yet through the nuanced performance we gather that he has been dehumanized by snap judgments. In Laurey's dream sequence, lyrical dancing and lovely orchestral strains give way to maniacal piano thumps, and a pristine white wedding bed spins out of control, the room invaded by hurky-jerky dolls thrust upside down in frightening, twisted postures. What can be trusted in this world?

In a place where there is so much misunderstanding, where we are vulnerable to so much change - where even the farmer and cowman can't get along - how can we find peace? Oklahoma will soon be a state, and we rejoice. But should we? A trusted hired hand appears as a murderer. Are we wrong to keep believing?

Yet we return to the simple things: the cattle standing like statues, the lark waking in the meadow. We return to each other. We sing and shout for the joy of being, just as we are, here in America.

Finding Your Voice

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:53:00 +0000

Four years ago, I lost my voice. For a whole summer, I had to carry throat spray and lozenges and be prepared to stop talking in the middle of a conversation or while leading a class. My voice would come and go, and my throat felt scratched and swollen, and after two doctor visits there was no diagnosis and no improvement. Finally I visited my naturopath.

She provided some alternative medicines and suggestions, but there was still no clear cut picture of the cause. She continued to ask questions as we sat in her office. After a long pause, she looked at me and said, ''One more thing. Could it be that you have silenced your own voice somehow? What is it that you're not saying?''

So often, illnesses are the body's metaphors for what is wrong with our lives. I'd heard this. But I shook my head. I was teaching and coaching writers. I was doing what I loved. My family was well. I was writing.

Of course, I hadn't done anything with that memoir - the story of my confusing, scary childhood. It was shelved, for later. Who cared anyway?

She repeated, ''What is it you're not saying?''

Through her prompting, I came to realize I had to do more than just give ''lip service'' (pun intended) to this idea. Using one's voice is one of the most important things you can do: speaking out loud the truth of your life in poem or story. Telling your story.

I got back to work on the memoir. I started airing it, sharing it, submitting parts of it, many of which were subsequently published. Also, my voice cleared up. Not like magic, but over time, and I came to fathom the connection in a new way.

How about you? What is it you're not saying? How can you use your voice today, in words, or art, or song?

How to Beat Procrastination

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:46:00 +0000

In Writing On Both Sides of the Brain, Henriette Klauser writes, "Resistance always has meaning. When you find yourself reluctant to act, your body and your mind are trying to tell you something."

When you find yourself resisting the task of writing, don't fight. Will power won't change things in the long run. What you need is to find the source of your resistance. This seems straightforward, but in fact, motivations are often buried. It may take some time to let go of the excuses and root out the real reason you're putting things off.

As Klauser writes, "When you delve into the meaning behind whatever it is you are resisting, you will discover that there are choices underlying the work stoppage, a payoff that makes not writing somehow more attractive than writing." Cal Poly Study Skills Library suggests that one cause of procrastination may be "self-downing" - the fear of success. Many times of procrastinating, deep down, I've struggled with this fear. According to Cal Poly, some ways to deal with this are:

◦Practice accepting compliments about your work performance by simply saying "Thank you."

◦Figure out why you feel uncomfortable with success. Did significant others in your life often make you feel that way? Were you taught to minimize your success? Why is success so scary? Will it make you stand out in the crowd? Do you feel as though others will not accept you if you are successful?

◦Remember to compliment and praise yourself for work accomplished.

And here's my biggest secret for dealing with procrastination: do nothing. I reserve the right to let myself procrastinate. I remember the big picture of life, and that the thing I'm procrastinating (writing a blog post, balancing my checkbook, cleaning the garage) is probably not going to make or break me. I get on with living.

Ahhh: acceptance. Now doesn't this feel better than fighting?

Are You Scared of Your Own Fire?

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:57:00 +0000

I have always loved this line from a song by Canadian singer Bruce Cockburn: "When the fire burns inside you, but you jump at every spark." Often we are afraid of our own success. We see the passion and possibilities and turn and run in the opposite direction.

Stay near the fire, no matter how it scares you. That's all you have to do. You didn't create the fire, you simply added a twig or two, perhaps a bit of dried moss, a dry branch--or one ordinary log. Do your part. Feed your writing one day at a time, ten minutes at a time, or one page at a time. Feel the heat and don't run away.

Lift Your Limits

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:21:00 +0000

I really enjoyed this inspiration from Sooz, author of the Long Legs Short Steps Blog. She talks about "untying her NOT's" as someone who always believed she was NOT athletic, NOT a runner. But she's running anyway!

That same determination works with anything we tell ourselves is impossible for us. It works with writing. We all have limits: "I can only write one hour a week" or "I don't have any good ideas" or "Nobody is interested in what I have to say." These limits are set in our own minds, without our realizing. Thanks to Sooz for this great quote from No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running, by John Bingham:

You can find out that it's possible for you to push your limits to new highs and lows. You can realize that what always seemed like suffering is really your soul being galvanized in the heat of effort. You can discover that you have a deeper strength than you ever imagined. Nothing stops you except your own inertia. Nothing prevents you from joining the ranks of those who have found the magic in movement. Nothing keeps you from starting or improving except your belief that you can't. For 43 years, I was trapped in my own false beliefs. I was trapped in a history of clumsiness and strikeouts and dropped balls. Like so many other less-than-athletically-gifted children, I learned quickly that I was different.

All of that can change with a single step. All the memories of failure and disappointment can be wiped out. Everything you've dreamed you can be, all the moments you've wished you could have, are out there for you. The secret is that there is no secret. The magic is that there is no magic. The answers you are looking for lie somewhere between the bottom of your shoes and the road beneath your feet."

For the writer, answers lie somewhere between your fingertips and the keyboard, or between your pencil and paper. For the artist, they lie between your paintbrush and your canvas. They are close to you; they are a reality waiting for your participation.

What single limit can you lift today on your creating?

Taking the Long View

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:54:00 +0000

Our society tempts us into quick fixes, to make a buck, to get by. But as writers, we are called upon to take the long view of our lives. We ask questions such as: What am I passionate about? How am I using my gifts right now? Where do I see myself in five years? In ten years? How can I make my talents and passions a bigger part of my life? Not long ago, I wrote in my journal:

How different it would be if I looked patiently at the long view of my life. I wouldn't jump into so many temporary fixes; activities just to quell the waiting.

Working and waiting go hand in hand. Choosing the writing also means facing the dilemma of living with the writing, working at it, revising, struggling, sharing. In order to go through these actions, we need to have a greater vision than just getting by in the day-to-day. You have chosen to write, to make a way for writing in the busyness of all your other responsibilities. You have taken the longer view.

Where are you taking the short-term urgent view of your life? Where are you looking at the l-o-n-g haul? Write about this.

Random Lines

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:42:00 +0000

They pull at you, make you itchy for more. I love capturing random phrases of Wildfire writers in class or meetings...

"I was about to get mauled. I unbuckled my hunting knife." --Ivan
"...upstairs asleep in his car-shaped bed, wearing a pull-up diaper." --Zu
"He could feel his smile, the stretch of the skin, the coolness of the air against his exposed teeth." --Todd
"The pain was so unreal; it was like being stabbed, impaled, bludgeoned...but all inside her head." --Adrian

Even when brand new beginners, we have no idea how brilliant we can be.

Pick out a favorite line you wrote last week or month. Print it and put it on your fridge, or use it below your email sigature.

Your Mission Statement

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:10:00 +0000

My oldest daughter, whom I'm so very proud of, is serving out the summer as a missionary. Interesting, she's only in one country at a time. How many of us act as if our mission is all over the place, scattered, all at once? Well, sometimes I do. Having a mission statement brings me back where I belong.

Mission Statement. One line or paragraph, on paper, reminds you what you love to do, and exactly how this purpose fits into your life. It may also help you avoid the trap of creating, painting, or writing things you don't really want to. Silly as it sounds, people start projects they shouldn't. They write things they shouldn't. Their explanations: "Well, I started the story about Aunt Tildie's hernia operation/clam bake, and now I have to finish it!" Or "I heard that speaker on crime fiction, and though I don't like crime fiction, thought I'd better learn how to do it . . . "

Don't try to be every kind of artist or writer there is in the world. Choose the projects that draw you, speak to you. Pick your country. Be there, serve.

Who is the person you most want to speak to with your work? Write or draw a character sketch of this one human being you imagine.

Ten Minute Trick for Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:56:00 +0000

Just ten minutes. Set a timer for ten minutes and start writing. Nevermind "getting ready" - the preparation that makes us feel more oriented and comfortable. Nevermind about your perfect writing spot or premeditating your ideas.* When the bell dings, walk away.

The thing is, we have it in our minds that creating should be comfortable. It isn't. Often our analytical sides rail against the discomfort of being thrown into the creative zone. Being nice and comfortable are not conducive to boundless creativity.

Use this ten minutes like a powerful stretching exercise. Use any of the prompts to get you started.

*Don't worry, you can still have your cozy writing times, spaces and places too.

Thanks for sending me all the half-page bits of writing! Keep 'em coming: christi krug at yahoo. (No attachments, please.)

Writing Prompt: Pocket-Sized

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:24:00 +0000

I love what Wildfire Writer Barb did with this prompt...

I've never been pocket-sized. My thoughts won't fit and my feelings would never stay in a pocket. I've lost almost everything I've ever stuffed into my pocket, and often wish I could put my life in a dark and snuggly space, waiting until it felt better.

What about you? What in your life is pocket-sized, or isn't?

Finding Focus: ADHD? Or a creative person with too much to do?

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Sometimes being broad-minded isn't a good thing. My mind becomes a vast, ranging landscape with gaisers, sandpits, thickets, mountains. What I want is focus.

As I write this, I have one teenage daughter packing to catch an afternoon plane out of the country, another daughter thousands of miles away in southern Africa, a family member in the hospital whom I need to visit, a writer's retreat I'm leading this weekend, an out-of-the-country guest I'm hoping to see, two upcoming classes, three books to market, and a pair of jeans to wash.

I feel scattered, overwhelmed, and in need of focus. I've questioned whether I might have ADHD, or whether ADHD is really just another term for a creative personality. What I do know is that my mind scatters under certain conditions. In fact I know many creative people who get burdened and distracted by too much activity. But a wandering mind isn't something to ignore; it can diminish a person's sense of spontaneity and productivity. I've found the following ways to stay focused and peaceful even when my schedule has gotten out of hand.

Journaling. I keep my journal ready for anxious/bored moments, the hurry-up-and-wait kind of moments that come with overbusyness.

Listing. I jot down major goals a couple times a month. In light of this list, it's easier to prioritize the day.

Breathing. Simple as it sounds, we rarely do it consciously. Can you feel your breath filling up your chest, moving down to the lower lobes of your lungs, swelling your torso?

Walking. An essential, healthful, recreational diversion that helps me stay on track.

Peace-Outs. Pockets of time I use to feel centered. I've started carrying art markers in my car, because doodling provides a refreshing mental break. Yesterday I closed office doors in between meetings and pulled out my yoga mat, gaining a sense of clarity for the rest of the day. Sometimes finding peace means just sitting (without electronics). Sometimes I can be busy doing, but doing with a spirit of quietness - putting on music or lighting a candle while tackling laundry or filing paperwork.

I'm not too busy, or too stressed, or too distracted to think about where I'm going and keep my creativity and goals alive. I just have to keep my focus. Gotta go: time to wash my jeans.

How about you? What works to get your mind back on track?

Zombies, Friendliness, Curiosity, and the Fourth of July

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:48:00 +0000

"We're very patriotic, even though we're undead."

Look who I met while in line for the ferry! It started when I noticed the zombies in the car behind us, casually texting while waiting for the Kingston ferry. (Zombies of this un-age love to text.) I didn't know whether I should ask them about themselves, just ignore them, or what. Then I remembered that being creative means embracing my curiosity, and this sometimes requires being friendly - even to zombies. Also, I thought it was interesting how so many people just drove or walked by, ignoring them completely.

As for me and the zombies, I'm glad we got to chat. I learned that zombies just love taking the ferry. (Driving totally wipes them out.) They showed off their outfits for the camera, including the waist packs, always a favorite when you have a hard time grabbing onto things. As well, they explained their matching flag t-shirts: "We're very patriotic, even though we're undead."

Happy Fourth of July, all!

Where is your curiosity leading? What questions might you ask, and who might you start talking to?

How to Get Ideas: Words with Collage

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

This surprise came to me via the first page of my Visual Journal. It's somehow connected to lunch and errands, leaves and an angel wing. Perhaps this is the story: True heroes munch on leaves while holding their wings out of the way of gigantic heroic raindrops.

Or perhaps the message is: Gigantic heroic breakfast!

My point is, get you some words! Bold, colored, cut-out. Get you some glue, and a page, and half an hour to immerse yourself in new word possibilities, embryo poems, and spectral dreams.

Make a collage. Cut out phrases and words from magazines, gluing them in arrangements that don't go together at first glance.

Flattened by Writer's Block?

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:17:00 +0000

It happens when you make a move to write, but your critical mind won't let you out from underneath. You had a good idea, just moments ago, but now, staring at the computer screen or the blank paper, you can't think of anything worthwhile. You ask yourself: why would anyone read this anyway?

In Wildfire Writing classes, we help all kinds of blocked writers to find freedom from the tyrant of the critical mind. Recent writers saved from "the block" include a retired engineer, an oceanographer, a business coach, an elementary school teacher who had avoided writing for decades, an artist, and a children's writer.

Your amazing creative ideas are there, underneath the surface. They've been flattened, is all. The right coaching and instruction can make all the difference! I'd love to hear from you at c dot krug at comcast.net.

(Thanks to cartoonist and writer Jeff Englund for the great illustration!)

Create a Visual Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:32:00 +0000

I've filled over sixty journals of all shapes and sizes, but this spring I started something new. I purposed to "write" in a journal where the focus was not words, but images.

Images have always informed my writing. I wrote "Figgy," an off-beat version of Snow White, after several weeks of gazing in admiration at the illustrations of Charles Santore (I will always be grateful to Sandra Byrd for her gift of the book, and her friendship). At other times, a dragonfly wing, a melting candle, a stack of dusty bricks, and an abandoned freeway kitten were all random images that found their way into my head and became poems.

So I've decided to take a more active role in collecting images. This visual journal also gives me a chance to make art - a nourishing process, whether painting, collage, or photography. Now I can't imagine not having a visual journal to use alongside my other journals. (I don't insist that I use it every day.)

I glued handmade papers, found objects and ribbons, and snips of birds to the cardboard cover of my first springtime edition. I used the Strathmore visual journal as a base. Opening the book makes way for the image -ination...

Writing Through A Crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Christi Krug) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:45:00 +0000

Originally published in Writer's Digest, this article of mine has helped several writers I know through crisis times.

Sometimes life drags us through knotholes backwards. Several years ago, when I lost my mother to Parkinsons disease, grief made everything hard, especially writing. My husband and I were having financial struggles. And I had just learned that an uncle had cancer.

“I’m too stressed to write,” I told my friend Charlotte.

“You have to take care of yourself,” she said. But as I hung up the phone I was thinking of other people I knew who had stopped writing or doing photography or theatre because of events that taxed their emotions. In time, they were halted by new problems that came along. Eventually the sparks of their creativity faded away.

Wildfire Writing asks you to make a choice when the world is sad, stressful or confusing. It teaches that your creative power is ready to be drawn upon, regardless of how blank the page, how scattered your mind, or what is going on in your life. You may be experiencing emotional, financial or physical stress. Still, your creativity can survive.

When life overwhelms you, here are seven ways to take care of yourself.

Put yourself first
If you have suffered serious loss, death or divorce, there’s nothing you can do but grieve. Give yourself a wide margin; let projects drop. Remember: the creative fire is burning within you, and everything that helps and heals the writer/artist/creator will promote the writing.

At the same time, think about how your fire might warm you. Seek comfort in your art. Getting away with a notebook may supply a needed stress-break. Conjuring an off-the-wall short story or a prayerful poem may bring a moment of peace. Journal your frustrations, indulge your sadness. Write letters. Use your creative talent every day, just for the satisfaction, without considering whether it’s a "useful" project.

Do low-energy work
If you can, finish something you started a while back. Don’t demand fresh material. Get out a half-blank canvas. Polish an old manuscript. Keep it easy.

After my mother died, I couldn’t work under my own initiative. Taking a writing course provided steady assignments, stitching a straight row of writing seams into my crooked days. Rather than rely on yourself, find a coach, instructor or class to lower the amount of energy it takes to keep you writing.

Surprisingly, this is also your chance to write something you normally wouldn’t. Psychologists say that in emotional crisis, aspects of creativity are heightened rather than diminished. Your energy is too depleted for Dr. Codger to care about criticizing your work. Dream Kid can play by herself. So go ahead and try something wild, just because. Keep it short. Submit an entry to a writing contest. Do some wordplay.

You can’t give it all your attention right now, and that’s okay.

Shrink expectations
The last thing you need is more pressure. Go easy on yourself, or as the saying goes, “Try softer.” Dream Kid thrives in a state of encouragement and relaxation. Take your normal expectation and cut it. If formerly your quota was one painting a week, try half a painting a week.

Recognize that others around you don’t have a barometer. They can only guess at what to expect from you in your difficulty. Instead of keeping up appearances that you can do it all, acknowledge your need for some days off work, or some time away from this committee, or help with that project.

Put your problem to work
Instead of making it the reason you can’t create, see how your problem can work for you. Let it give you a reason for taking extra time.
With Mother's death, I didn’t have the heart to rub shoulders in social circles. I explained to family that journaling helped me grieve the most. With fewer obligations, I began writing more. Go ahead and pare down your responsibilities by telling people about your life. “My dad’s sick,” or “I’m starting a new job,” or “My husband’s going in for a biopsy.” Whatever your situation, use it to purchase creating time. With the aid of others, you can carve niches for taking care of yourself through the creative process.

Stomp out your stress
Physical exercise can help alleviate emotional and mental stress. One writer I know spent years at her daily writing regimen while she grew depressed and her body slowly declined. At a doctor’s advice, she left off the writing and incorporated morning walks into her routine. Her mental outlook improved, and so did her health and her writing. Consider a swim, game of tennis, bike ride--whatever you can incorporate into your life.

You can engineer creativity benefits into your activity as well. I love to bounce ideas off a walking partner. Walking with a fellow creator has helped to spark ideas. I’ve had some inspiring, art-centered conversations while walking with theatre directors, photographers, healers, potters, and art therapists. Before powering on the stairstepper, grab a magazine that will further knowledge in your field. Make the library, art supply store or bookstore a walking destination.

Write in shorter bursts
When busy or upset, you won’t be able to spend hours at your work. Being consistent is more important than generating volumes. Set a timer for ten minutes after dinner and delegate the dishes. Skip watching the news at night and go write or create. Snip a small pocket of a daily activity--two or three pockets are even better. Make these little bits a priority, keeping your creative work alive. When tempted to give them up, ask people around you for help. Carry a notebook and pull it out when waiting in line, stuck in traffic, or on hold with someone on the phone.

Make necessary repairs
Don’t keep on paddling if your ship is sinking. If you’re having a crisis, especially a middle-sized one that doesn’t take your full attention, you might put it out of your mind, escaping to your studio or desk. We creative people can focus, and stoke those flames, and that's good. But sometimes you and I need to tackle problems head-on. A little cold Groke reality might be in line. This may be true when a family member needs you, when you’re ignoring a health problem, or when you’re wishing away a financial crisis. Stop your routine and patch the boat--so you can get back to creating.

When I was grieving my mother and our money problems hit, I couldn’t seem to act. Finally I saw that counting on my normal work to make up for financial losses was a mistake at this time.

I signed with a temporary agency and used my secretarial skills to take things one at a time, making a steady paycheck. Financial pressures lifted until I could get back into my routine.

What temporary, practical measures can you take to relieve stress? It may be getting a part-time job, hiring a babysitter, taking a retreat at the beach to focus on your art. The important thing to recognize is that your stressful time won't last forever. Whatever you do to care for yourself will fuel your creative flame.