Help write her memoirs? Tag along to Costa Rica? Learn to draw? Why not?
Friday, 1 April, 2011 at 11:22 AM 
Remember my word for the year? Click for refresher...Last night someone asked me if I write. Well, yes. I do write. Care to elabroate? So she did.
It seems there's a local woman who's looking for someone to help her write her memoirs. Maybe I would be interested in meeting her. Intriguing! People often say "That's about as useful as an English degree." But if someone wanted help writing their memoirs... well, you might have something to offer if you happened to get a degree in English, no? I spent a few minutes enthralled with mental images of me sitting on the veranda of a genteel southern lady, sipping tea, listening to the stories that I would subsequently weave into her masterpiece of a memoir. I did not mind the fantasy. This woman would be delighted and charmed by me. We would have an instant rapport. She would declare I remind her of her granddaughter. The words would fly from my fingertips when I sat down to capture her life's events, for her. My imagination keeps me great company.
But most of my days are spent helping people create their websites, not write their memoirs. How would that work, exactly? Could you write a memoir while continuing to design websites for other people? Probably...
Twenty minutes after this conversation, I was talking with a photographer who doesn't have a website. But he wants one. Again: how handy for me. We should talk sometime. Turns out this photographer sometimes takes his van and traipses off across the country on open-ended shoots. I may have invited myself to Costa Rica. I mean, I never wandered off in a VW bus with a photographer before.
Half hour after that, while talking with a painter friend, I said, "I almost called you yesterday, to see if you'll teach me to draw." He said, "Of course I'll teach you to draw!" To which I responded, "But you don't understand. I should let you in on some secrets about me. First, I'm really, really afraid of drawing. It's intimidating in a way that's deeply-rooted, from childhood. And the other thing is I have this problem with wanting to know everything. Learning new things delights me. And so last year I gave away a small fortune in ceramics supplies. Clay. Glazes. Kiln. Wheel. I used to use these things, but now I don't and it was time to stop storiing them. I own 76 pairs of knitting needles but I never knit anymore. My brother loaned me a guitar which is propped by the wall in my living room. But I've never taken one lesson. So probably I should think about this whole drawing lesson business before I commit to anything else." My artist friend said, "Well I'd really love to have your energy in my class, so I hope you'll think about it." He said a lot of other intriguing things, too, which now make me think perhaps I'm going to one day actually learn to draw.
I painted two more watercolor pages later, last night. Little ones. They're not beautiful but as with the first 5, they'll be useful to me when I'm ready to tear them up and incorporate them into the mixed media pieces they're intended for.
It would be lovely to find out: is there any way to manage all of these adventures?
Perhaps I've mentioned them before, but again my friend's husband's words come to mind: "You can have anything. But you can't have everything." These words resonate to me sometimes, and so I try to focus on balance and prioritizing.
But some days? Some days I want everything...
Reader Comments (5)
I love that you're gettin' your ART on!! That studio is rubbing off on you. F.U.N.
I love this post! It is so... Melody. We should all have your enthusiasm for life.
So Many Ventures!
Miss you
B&B
Thanks y'all. Clearly all this creative energy was what I was missing for a while. Never mind that. It's here now... (B&B: miss you too.)
Drawing skills can easily be improved with practice and by learning a variety of techniques. Despite popular belief, you can become a better artist no matter what your age!
how to draw