I just finished reading an email newsletter from Lisa Olivera whose writing I’ve recently started following. She wrote this beautiful email simply about the things that are going on in her head and I was inspired to do the same. I’m writing this in early December for it to be published now. This still has a spark of spontaneity to it, but it’s been written three months ago so there’s a distance and I feel much more comfortable writing for the future rather than addressing the present. I’m writing for the future knowing it’ll quickly become the past.
I’m watching the fire in my fireplace slowly burn and I’m thinking about how humans have always been attracted to fire. I feel so much gratitude knowing that technology has advanced so much that we’re able to harness it just enough so that I can make jewelry. I watch its wildness in the fireplace as it moves along each log and think of how it comes out of the torch tip and how the torch directs the fire to where I want it to go. This relationship between fire and metal and water (for quenching) and nature in the form of gemstones and human beings to create adornment is confounding to me, like how did we get here?
I’m thinking about the song my husband just put together on his synthesizer for our daughter. He said he was making a kid’s techno lullaby and I heard it for the first time and that’s exactly what it was. It’s the first song he’s made in years and it was inspired by our daughter and it’s the best song I’ve heard of his. I told him, “welcome to this fascinating new chapter of creativity that’s now influenced by becoming a parent.”
I think a lot about motherhood. I was totally not expecting to love it this much. Babies get a bad rap for being time-consuming and forcing you to change your lifestyle, but there’s hardly any talk about how funny they are. I have laughed every single day with her, she’s absolutely hilarious. I also have a billion more worries that I hope will go away once she starts talking. I feel like her voice will become reassurance that everything will be ok. I think about how some people have come out of nowhere to embrace me and my new life chapter, and others have pushed me away. I’ve had friends from decades ago suddenly show up and be loving, and I can feel others see me as a different person and don’t know how to reach out. I don’t feel different being a mother, I’m just happier and more tired.
I’m on a journey to discover my painting style in the next collection and I’m hoping it looks like illustrations from your favorite children's book. This thought actually has nothing to do with being a mother but everything to do with how I’m naturally playful and err towards whimsy. I imagine people being painted in fun colors and animals wearing fancy jewelry, and lots of flowers and stars and suns and moons. I imagine using lots of gold leaf, and deep purples and midnight blues and lipstick reds and emerald greens and sunflower yellows with hints of neon orange. I can see black and white stripes and lots of funny hats, and wavy hair and pronounced eyebrows and outrageous bosoms and rascally smirks.
I think about the future, I wonder about the past. I forget pretty easily and I love that I can engage so deeply with a topic and then almost completely forget that I studied it yet the impression remains in my conscience. I stare at the books on my bookshelf with pride because some of them are so specific that only I’d appreciate them. I’m excited to fill up the pages of my sketchbooks and then go back and use them as references. I’m scared to write my private thoughts in journals again after rereading what I had written in 2020 and realizing how sad I was and how I don’t want to feel that way again. I think about how much I love my everyday routine and that being a homebody is the best for my peace and calm. I love ordering online. Oh my goodness, I love ordering online. I love reading a good newsletter and discovering someone’s writing and connecting with their words and taking things slower when it comes to my thoughts and opinions as opposed to constantly projecting every aspect of my life in real time on social media. I think about privacy and boundaries and how good it feels to know exactly what I want and don’t want instead of sitting here overthinking. I overthink when it comes to harmless things like art, but life decisions are becoming easier and easier to make.
Writing Prompt No. 6
The first prompts are introductory prompts where the reader gets to know more about you, and maybe you need to become reacquainted with yourself.
But now that the introductions are over, let's get into other realms of creativity. What's your internal dialogue? What are the thoughts that are going on in your head right now/these days as you're working? You can publish this post immediately, or schedule it like I've done. Sometimes you need the distance to feel ok with publishing your thoughts.
As always, you can use the same title I've used for your blog post, email newsletter, or caption for social media. This content is designed to encourage 'community over competition' and I'd love to read your response to these prompts. You can send me a link or forward me your email newsletter to my email, agujayclavo@gmail.com. I will share my favorites on IG stories and/or right here on my website.
Thanks so much. The next prompt will be posted on March 23rd.
Stay tuned and stay well,
Caitlin