Happy Distractions

Every day I stare at a screen. But whenever I need, I can find one or two happy distractions.

Too Much Addendum

But then you find this:

The Boss


And all is well again.

Too Much

Have you ever noticed that when you are writing and reading and thinking well over capacity and channeling all of your energies into your project that your ability to moderate your emotional response to anything else is severely impaired?

I fear today is just the first of many days when I cry in my office for no apparent reason.

First Blush

Starting a new chapter feels sort of like the beginning of a new romance. There is that excitement and uncertainty as to what will happen. Everything is fresh and new. Each day brings a new discovery. Each day holds great possibility.

At the same time, there is a slight fear that things won't work out. That the bloom will fade and the ideas will wither. In "The Figure a Poem Makes," Robert Frost likens poetry to a love affair—"it begins in delight and ends in wisdom." I've had enough failed love affairs to know that sometimes that wisdom is gained at great cost to one's heart and soul. Writing anew courts that possibility.

The work. The work. I hope it will stay exciting and fulfill Frost's measure of a good poem: "Read it a hundred times: it will forever keep its freshness as a petal keeps its fragrance."