Summer 2019 Six Word Biography

Got Bigger. Getting Smaller. Still Thankful.

Wabi Sabi

UNEVEN BEAUTY

 "Wabi sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, the antithesis of our classical Western notion of beauty as something perfect, enduring, and monumental." - Leonard Koren, author of "Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers,"*

 I am imperfect, flawed, lopsided, grasping and fragmented.  This is only part of what I have learned over the last year, since my work life changed amazingly, immeasurably.  For some reason I thought that a year off would get me to the plane of refinement that comes with not being forced to get up every morning and go sit in a burlap wrapped cubicle under fluorescent lights.  Frankly? I thought I'd be better at living up to my ideals.

But frankly, when it comes to my competition in the world class Bitchiness sweepstakes, I no longer win the grand prize.  Now, when I am in a mood, the dark ethers can dissipate in a matter of hours rather than days.  And, here's a very big difference, I have a new measure of enlightenment...oft times I KNOW when outward circumstances have absolutely NOTHING to do with how I am feeling.  The intense emotional storm is only central to me.  I can choose to externalize it or tuck away to a little corner until the tempest passes.  Not perfect, but, and you can check with my wife, better.

Wabi-sabi.  Imperfect but beautiful.

*Source: Gretchen Roberts, Whole Living

An Open Secret

I've posted here many, many times that I want to be a writer...but I know that part of being a writer, besides making questionable updates on a blog hidden in plain sight, is willfully joining a community.  And in the spirit of trying to join a community AND have some sort of reason for being in Arizona other than "just visiting Mom and sis", I have flirted with the idea of taking classes at the Virginia G Piper Center for Creative Writing. (I have also strongly considered becoming a member of AFA too but their events are too infrequent.)  Still, I will probably join at the Associate Level.)


When it was first founded, VGP center created an annual conference (Desert Nights, Rising Stars) but I didn't think I wanted to participate in a group of any writers in person.  Now, they have this innovative program Your Novel Year which spans 18 months and would allow me to participate online and when needed, I could go to AZ to attend different things.

It would be the nexus of the AZ, creativity, ASU and 'house turned into a creative center' idea.  A perfect middle ground for Mom me and perfect for deflecting her desire to consume me whole with her dreams (this is what you get for not giving her blood grand children).  I could have my own dream, my own brain child separate from hers.  Key to perhaps managing the narrative between us.

Write epic tales about
 Ricky's life and times

I have until October of next year to apply but it would be a good thing to meet the first deadline in July.

It seems pursing the Ray Bradbury initiative would be right up this alley as I need to have 20-25 pages of writing sample.  Not surprisingly, they have a cohort specifically geared toward science fiction and Ray Bradbury is on the certificate reading list.

Still to be addressed in post retirement is my ability to turn the 'office' back into a guest room study.  More on THAT later.