Tuesday, November 20, 2007

ON WRITING (journal entry 2002)

It seems that all I want to do lately is sit here with the computer on my lap and lose myself in the task of drawing out my thoughts and transforming them into words. Now this is not a bad way to spend one’s time if the thoughts are right there, waiting to be harvested. When you have to dig and scratch through your mind to find something to write about...well then things become a bit iffy.

Usually that is not a problem for me, especially these past few months when my mind has been so preoccupied with our pending move. I am existing in a temporary state, suspended between the past and the future, and my reaction to this is to want to move within myself, reflecting on almost every aspect of my life that has brought me to this point.

But it is not just a need to be pensive that brings me here. I am finding increasing satisfaction and pleasure in the craft of writing...finding the right words and the right sentences to express my thoughts and ideas. I am supposing this is a result of my studio being so disrupted, the writing compensating for my inability to paint and filling a creative void. Sounds good.

And another thing! for years I have faithfully kept my journal, writing in long hand with pen and ink, scorning the use of the computer. Suddenly I find myself thinking...”it may be time to replace the pen with the lap top”. The more I use it the more I enjoy it, not just the flexibility it gives me, but also the ergonomics of the keyboard and the act of typing. Also, my writing is getting increasingly difficult to read; there are some words and lines I have written that even I can’t read! Currently I am thinking that I will switch to the computer after the move to Paducah. That would be a good time to make such a change.

This was written in 2002, just months before our move to Paducah. Later in the year I tried using the lap top for my daily journal and did not like it. I missed the ergonomics of the fountanin pen and paper which I found better suited for journaling. I use the computer for all other writing.

1 comment:

Aynex Mercado said...

Oh God! You scared the bejeesus out of me when I read:

"especially these past few months when my mind has been so preoccupied with our pending move."

Please specify that this is and old essay at the beginning!