Equilibrium

Hello Friend,

I had a peaceful piano playlist playing earlier, but I’ve shut it off now and opened the windows so I can listen to the outside. There’s a gentle breeze and the dried leaves – still on the trees – are rustling like an orchestra of rice-paper pages, crescendoing and diminishing as the breeze conducts them.

Beside me, a cup of coffee (which I’ve only started drinking since Covid landed on our collective doorstep), a burning woodfire-scented candle, and the autumn-coloured bouquet Babe received on her engagement last week.

I’m looking for some equilibrium in this noisy off-balance world. Peaceful music and gentle breezes counter some of that noise. Autumn smells and pretty flowers help me to be still.

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October has arrived, and brought with it reminders that seasons change and every ending is a new beginning.

I have just come through a solid week of writing conferences and workshops. My brain is tipping on information overload. And now it’s time to bring some equilibrium to the balance scale, to actually DO the writing. Some people say the writing is the easy part of: writing a book, publishing, marketing, and getting it into the hands of readers. Others disagree.

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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

Ernest Hemingway

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Ten days ago I attended InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship‘s annual Fall Conference (wow, that’s a mouthful). It was a two-day virtual conference of excellent speakers and lots of interaction with fellow writers. One attendee commented that it was more intimate and interactive than any other virtual writing conference she’d attended.

I was heavily invested in this conference since I was on the planning committee and we’d never done a virtual one before. So that comment meant a lot. The months of brain energy and physical work were balanced off by wonderful reviews like those.

Last week I took part in Siretona Creative‘s daily one-hour workshop entitled Your Publishing Primer, learning about the steps needed before and after writing a book, in order to get it launched and into the world. Very engaging and informative.

And on Saturday I spent seven hours at the Picture Book Summit. This was my third time attending. It’s my only connection with the picture book world and since I always have ideas for picture books percolating in my head, I like to keep up with current trends and themes. Because, you never know. PB Summit is world class and never disappoints.

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You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.

Madeleine L’Engle

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But, as I say, it’s time to bring some balance back to the scale. Time to put what I’ve learned into practice. Time to relax into the routine of life now that the busyness of Fall Conference planning, managing the Writers’ Café book, and all the workshops is over.

Life can be a tricky set of balances, can’t it? It’s usually tipping one way or the other. We aim for harmony, symmetry, but we’re more likely to find ourselves a little lopsided. I’ll never forget something my mother-in-law said: Joy’s house is messy, but her kids are happy. I guess that was the trade-off?

I think wise old King Solomon said it best when he wrote, To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot …

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I wonder if he had some premonition of the year 2020 when he added … A time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing. [Ecclesiastes 3:5b]

I’m sure many of us will look back on the year 2020 as one that threatened to tip our scales almost to the point of toppling over. But then we’ll remember that some good came from it as well. It always does.

Some of the greatest books came out of the Great Depression: The Good Earth, The Hobbit, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Mary Poppins, Gone With the Wind … to name just a few.

Some of the most memorable music came out of the two world wars.

WWI: The Planets by Gustov Holst, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, My Country Tis of Thee, If You Were the Only Girl in the World, and one of my favourites – The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughn Williams

WWII gave us Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, We’ll Meet Again, Appalachian Spring.

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Yes, I think King Solomon got it right. Life is a series of seasons, some terribly hard, some refreshing and restoring. And some in between.

Like the swing of a pendulum, time journeys on in balances and counter-balances, in steadiness and uncertainty. And we forge ahead, regulating our pace as we go. For me, knowing that my God in heaven cares about each step I take, I can forge ahead with confidence.

I leave you with a blessing and a song. Thanks for stopping by, and take care out there.

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FOR EQUILIBRIUM - A Blessing by John O'Donohue

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore, 
May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

As the wind loves to call things to dance, 
May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,
May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,
May your sense of irony bring perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,
May your mind stay clear of all it names.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough 
To hear in the depths the laughter of God.

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Featured Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay