What's gone on this week
I've been writing every day, shooting for about 500 words at a time. I'm also writing about the story in my journal. The section that I'm working on has some character driven, rather than action driven, chapters that I'm finding particularly challenging. Brainstorming or doing stream of consciousness about what happens is helping me get things down on the page. That way I can let the story flow and then futz with the words separately.
On the weekends I've been going to a co-working space where I can rent a chair for a couple of hours and writing. Setting aside time and going somewhere to write allows me to focus and feel like my writing is a serious enterprise. There are times of year where this doesn't work because I would much rather sit on my couch but right now it's giving me a boost and propelling me through the rest of the week.
As successful as I've been in getting words on the page I have also been having major doubts about my writing abilities. I've been through enough cycles to know that these feelings come and go, but man are they fierce right now. I'm convinced that everything I'm writing is awful and that I'll never be any good no matter how hard I work at it. Hello, fear.
I also went to MOMA in San Francisco this week. My favorite things about museums are sometimes the art on the walls, but more often than not it's how people interact with art that I find most fascinating.
This room filled with Mylar balloons was full of people of all ages all taking pictures with the Silver Clouds was the highlight of the Warhol exhibit for me.
Most mail art exhibitions are one sided which is frustrating because you can't see the entirety of the works so this display on a window was refreshing. Also great for people watching.
I loved this room filled with printed photos. The artist, Erik Kessels, printed all the photos uploaded to Flickr in one 24 hour period and then piled them in a room. I wanted to literally dive into them.
And this living wall is always one of my favorite parts of any visit to SFMOMA. 19,000 plants make up this green expanse. I love the texture and the lushness of it.
Garden Update
No gardening this week because of the heat wave at the beginning of the week. Our AC wall unit is mounted in one of the balcony walls. So, in addition to the 100 degree heat my plants also had to deal with the hot air of two full days of running the AC. The result was losing a couple of plants including my Firecracker Fuchsia. At least I think it's dead. The leaves are completely crispy.
What I'm loving
I'm listening to Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg Mckeown on audio book right now and it is exactly what I need. The concept of doing less but better seems simple but it's a hard one to practice.
I was also very moved by the Goop podcast episode with Elizabeth Gilbert where she talks about dealing with fear and grief.
Word Count
3553