Writing Poolside

I'm finding myself grateful for technology these days, as I'm traveling around a bit and always looking for places to quietly sit and write. I find that I can write anywhere, as long as there's a chair and a table, or even just piece of ground I can sit on where I'm not in anyone's way. I take my laptop or a pad of paper and go to town. Thanks to the wonders of wireless, I'm able to sit beside a lovely pool while I post to CHICKS ROCK! and edit my novel. Paradise? Just about.

Working on the road doesn't feel too different from writing at home in some ways. Creatively, there's a particular space I seek to inhabit when I sit down to work, but it's more of a mindset than a physical location. I've never been tied to my desk, or my particular writing routines. In fact, part of my "routine" is to have no routine at all. I actually feel myself inspired by motion, by change, by taking advantage of great opportunities and situations and jotting down random notes at random times. I like the unpredictable, but you wouldn't necessarily know it to look at how I live my life day-to-day when I'm at home.

In fact, lately I am feeling like it is great for me to be out in the world while I do my work, rather than holed up in my tiny space pecking at the keyboard in solitude. It is easier to stay connected to the moment and the material in total silence and isolation at times--but only at times. The rest of the time my creativity feeds on the energy of people around me, strangers who I don't have to interact with, but who are going about their business and living their lives and reminding me why I put pen to paper in the first place.

When I left on this long trip, people kept saying to me, "but how will you get work done?" I wasn't worried, and it turns out I was right not to be. Because work for me is not unpleasant, not a thing I have to force myself to do. It is something that brings me joy and fulfillment, and I'm grateful for that. Believe it or not, there are fewer distractions to me when I'm away from home--no t.v., for instance, and no regularly scheduled programming of the real life variety either. I feel myself being boiled down to the essence of what I love doing: writing and exploring and sitting quietly in new places, taking it all in.

A dip in the pool now and again doesn't hurt, either. The downsides are few, as far as I'm concerned!

Are you a lover of routine, or do you relish shaking things up now and again?

Hometown Pride

When I go home to the place I grew up, it's always nice to see familiar things. To eat in familiar restaurants, shop in stores that don't exist elsewhere, and generally re-experience the best sights, sounds and flavors of my childhood.

One of those flavors happens to be DeBrand Fine Chocolates, a small (you guessed it) chocolate maker based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Best. Chocolates. Ever. I say this as a person who isn't always a big chocolate fan. I always choose vanilla ice cream. When it comes to candy bars, I'm more likely to go for sweet and fruity Skittles rather than bitter dark chocolate. But I do love DeBrand. They make everything, from simple filled chocolates to elaborate mounded truffles and exotic designer chocolates. All tasty.

Despite appearances, I'm not trying to be an advertisement for DeBrand here. As a kid, I didn't even know DeBrand was a local company that people might not have heard of. I assumed they were everywhere. So when I grew up and learned that this special treat was Fort Wayne-specific, I was a little disappointed. They always seemed bigger than that to me.

I'm especially fond of DeBrand's new Faces of Diversity chocolates, which feature light to dark chocolates molded in the shape of faces. About a year ago, I saw these particular chocolates featured in O magazine in their "Look What We Found" feature, which shows off little novelty gifts and accessories.

I remember feeling so proud of seeing a Fort Wayne thing appear in a national magazine. Unaccountably proud. I remember thinking how neat it was that something from my hometown had come to the attention of someone as influential as Oprah. (Okay, that might be a stretch--it's doubtful that she takes note of every detail even in her own magazine.) But I was having a particularly rough day, as I recall, and it meant something to me, to see a little box of chocolates I knew well had made it to the big time. It sounds cheesy, maybe, but it gave me hope.

At home over the holidays, I received a Faces of Diversity box for Christmas. I'm still savoring them, bit by bit!

A Grand Experience

I recently traveled to the Grand Canyon, in Arizona. As a total coincidence, shortly before the trip I happened to read a commentary which mentioned that the Grand Canyon is one of the few famous sights that when you actually lay eyes on it, doesn’t disappoint. I found myself dwelling on this comment a great deal during my westward journey, and feeling hopeful, because I’d gotten myself very excited about the trip and I didn’t want to be let down.

The line of commentary struck me, because it made me realize that I’d been slightly worried about this in the weeks before the trip–worried about being disappointed by the canyon, based on my larger than life expectations. It wasn’t a conscious concern, but one of those back-of-the-mind naggings that you just can’t quite get a handle on until it eventually comes to light or fades quietly away.

I realized that, in the past, I’ve felt that way about certain tourist attractions—that the anticipation is sometimes greater than the actual experience, and in the end high expectations can diminish the overall result. When you get yourself so ramped up to see something, and people are all telling you how great it is, sometimes the imagination runs away with itself. Particularly as someone with a very active creative mind, the inescapable fantasies can sometimes overwhelm reality. (This happens to me all the time with books, movies, plays—the greater the hype, the more likely to be a slight let down.)

Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by the Canyon. It did not disappoint. The views were breathtaking, the weather was amazing, and the overall experience was really special. All I ended up being disappointed about is that my camera wasn’t able to fully capture the grandeur of the canyon in two dimensions. Oh, well. I’ll just have to settle for a mess of great memories!