Challenge Day 20: Where I Write

Missed a few days again, but I'm back for Day 20 of the challenge. Today's prompt is to write about the space where you write. Well, I write in a few different spots, but the following list is always in play:

• It's gotta be comfy. I'm not a sit upright at a desk kind of writer. I prefer to be in a at-least-somewhat-reclined position of repose. Generally, I chill out on the couch or in my big comfy chair with a blanket and my trusty laptop.
• I need the right amount of the right kind of distractions. I can't have too much stimulation, but I can't be completely isolated either. I like to have things to look at, but it can't be so compelling that I can't pull myself away. So, a window with a semi-boring view will do. And certain objects are important. I like being around things that inspire me. I love being around books. I like to have stuff to play with (I tend to need little bursts of distraction in the middle of writing and other creative tasks) like the lime green ukulele I'm teaching myself to play or some bongos to drum away on or some coloring books and crayons. These fun distractions allow me to ruminate consciously or subconsciously on whatever I'm working on and come back to the task at hand refreshed. I should also mention that I'm a card-carrying member of Procrastinator's Anonymous, and I tend to procrastinate even on enjoyable and no-pressure tasks. But it sounds better to talk about it as a boost to the creative juices.
• There's got to be a handy spot nearby to place some coffee, tea or water.

comfiest chair of all time!

That's pretty much it. All of that being said, I have found working in coffee shops and libraries and other public places to be a positive experience on occasion, but I generally find them a little too distracting to do my best work. And, I often fantasize about ideal office/working/reading/creating spaces. I love seeing the different workspaces featured on Lifehacker, for example. This might make me a bit of a nerd, but I'm pretty sure I'm a card-carrying member of that club already, too. What's your ideal writing space look like??

Resolutions, part 2

Oof, getting around to writing this part 2 has taken me longer than planned! A past self would have used this complete-and-total-failure-at-blogging-and-life as an excuse to give up the whole blogging enterprise altogether, but (as you well know from reading this and this) I am choosing to no longer let my perfectionist all-or-nothing tendencies hold me back. So here we are - later than planned/hoped, but better than never - back at it for the promised part two.

The other resolutions-themed stuff I want to talk about is largely a reaction to the January email newsletter from one of my favorite MS bloggers, Kate Wolfe-Jenson of Dancing With Monsters. I adore Wolfe-Jenson's creative approach to life with MS. She uses creativity as positive fuel in the energy-depleting world of chronic illness. (She's even authored a book on the subject, Dancing With Monsters: Chronic Illness as Creative Transformation, which I've not yet read but will certainly review here when I do!)

Back to resolutions. Her January newsletter takes a creative approach to the subject, with wonderful results.  Basically, she explores the meaning of the word and reminds us that resolution has other meanings, including two from the arts world.  In visual arts, especially in the digital world, resolution is about the number of pixels that make up an image. In digital photography, for example, the number of pixels per inch has a major impact on the clarity of the image. So, a great analogy can be that resolutions are (or should be) ways to bring focus and clarity to your life. Resolutions that don't do this will no longer make my list.

My niece and I late on Christmas Eve, shown here with much lower resolution than previously.
This resolution is probably a more accurate reflection of how tired we were at this point!

As a musician, I appreciate even more her second refreshing look at the word resolution. All college music majors spend quite a bit of time in theory courses learning about resolution, or the process of moving from dissonance to consonance. Anyone with even a slightly developed ear instantly recognizes when a chord doesn't resolve, or doesn't resolve well. The reaction - even in those who don't really know why they're having such a reaction - is one of tension. A dissonant chord that doesn't resolve makes you feel tense and there is nothing quite so ahhhh-inducing as a beautifully resolved chord.  So in the life analogy, another great way to look at resolutions: ways to reduce tension in your life.  Old-me resolutions have tended to be so ambitious and rigid and specific (and impossible to ever meet for long) that they added great tension in my life.  New-me is going for the ahhhh-inducing tension reducers!

So, a big thanks to Kate Wolfe-Jenson for this refreshing look at the word.  May all your resolutions (New Year's or otherwise) take a cue from the arts world and bring you less tension and more clarity!