Just When You Thought It Was Safe

You’ll never guess what I’m doing.

Yes, indeed. Editing the manuscript of that book which has landed in my inbox yet again. This time I’m answering the copy-editor’s final questions on the ultimate rewrite.

La la la, I can’t hear you — mainly because if I do I’ll say something very uncomplimentary that you likely don’t deserve, because I have about this much patience today. (Imagine me holding two fingers touching each other. Yes. Touching.)

I keep thinking a grim mantra which goes something like this: My book will be different… my book will be different… when I finally get around to working on it again, which was originally on today’s agenda… my book will be different….

Things I Didn’t Know I Knew

I chose today as the inaugural day to begin typing the spellcrafting book, it being International Creativity Day and all. I had a few point-form notes that I’d written down in a notebook on Monday, and as I typed them out I expanded upon them, just as I’d planned. And then, out of nowhere, I was writing pages about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and why so many spellbooks concentrate on basic needs like prosperity and love.

*blink* *blink*

No, I’m not sure where it came from either. It never occurred to me before, although it certainly makes a lot of sense.

Go Forth and Create

April 21 is International Creativity Day, which gives you complete and total license to doodle when you ought to be working. The creative collective I belong to (tentatively named the Penslingers, pending any veto) has planned an evening meeting at HRH’s studio to do art stuff, try out new techniques, and generally celebrate how creativity is cool.

I, of course, will be at orchestra, celebrating in a different way.

So enjoy a round of gardening, dancing across intersections, random poetry, web design, cooking, calligraphy on an address label, sewing, or rearranging your furniture. Everything is creative. Think outside the box, and congratulate yourself for doing it. The creative force fuels our lives, initiates evolution and progress, and besides, it’s fun.

Meandering

Every couple of weeks I try to do something to the Owldaughter website to keep it current. I’ve just finished posting a whack of spiritual stuff which you can check out if you’re interested, on the new Believe page, which also has links to the second page and the spiritual articles. I learned how to use anchor tags today. (Thanks again for my new HTML book, Ceri!)

I have the front and back windows wide open, letting the incredibly warm wind through to air out the house. All the cats are plastered against the screens, wildly sniffing the outdoor smells.

Now it’s lunchtime, and then I’ll sit down with my chapter-by-chapter outline of my book and expand everything in point form. Who knows what I’ll discover belongs in which chapter.

Witches Weekly: Spring

Last night’s barbecue reminded me that Witches Weekly asked spring-related questions which I haven’t yet answered.

What do you take as the first sign of spring’s arrival?

The first warm breeze; the change in the light quality; the appearance of potted hyacinths in the supermarkets, and their subsequent appearance on my mantelpiece at home. Mmm… love the smell of hyacinths.

The confirmation of spring is the first barbecue!

Do you plan to take on any new personal activities/duties this spring? If so, what?

Usually in spring I choose to drop an activity. It’s part of my unofficial spring cleaning process: I clear out the stuff that doesn’t benefit me any more, things I’m clinging to just because.

What’s the first word that comes to mind when you hear “Spring?”

Depends on what time of year I hear it. If it’s any time in winter, it’s “Please.” If it’s mid-to late-March, it’s a phrase: “Thank God.” I live in Montreal, the Land of Extreme Temperatures, sub-arctic to sub-tropical. By the time spring rolls around, we’re all heartily sick of winter. (And yes, the opposite is true by the end of summer.)