Returning with a wrap-up (or July in the rear-view mirror)
Losing my words, evenings on the front porch and back to baseball
For a writer, for someone who spent most of her adult life putting words together to make a living, nothing feels quite right when the words aren’t coming. Over the past few months, I’ve had ideas for essays and glimmers of plots for short stories but not the words to flesh out those ideas.
I’m not sure what prompted this particular drought. I can’t fully place the blame at the feet of social media, though certainly that’s a factor. When Twitter turned to X, I pulled the plug completely and I’m not looking for a replacement. I’m so curious about the sociology behind the reaction to the unfolding collapse of a social media platform. Why do so many users feel compelled to find an alternative? Over the last few months, posts have flared up asking, “So, where are we all going?” It’s a bit like closing time at a bar when you’re not quite ready for the party to end.
Maybe I haven’t had the words because this has been a summer when I rediscovered simple joys like the gorgeous symmetry of a baseball diamond on a summer evening or slowing down with a book, good music and a drink on the front porch as the sun sets low enough to cast shadows across the yard but not far enough that I’m left completely in the dark.
No matter what the cause, I feel the words coming back. It’s slow, but I’ll make progress with each day that I put in the effort.
Things I Read
Full disclosure. I didn’t start and finish all of these in July. I started some of them back in May, but the evenings on the porch gave me plenty of time to finish.
Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono - I’ve been a U2 fan since a friend in high school let me listen to The Unforgettable Fire while we were hanging out in the band room to avoid the social dynamics that are the high school cafeteria. There’s so much here to take in from the beginning and near end of the band to Bono’s thoughts on artists and his work on social issues.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer - I borrowed the audiobook from the local library through the Libby app, but I may need to buy my own copy. There’s so much to glean from this short book.
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond - So much of this sounds so familiar from my work in nonprofits.
In Good Time: 8 Habits for Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry and Practicing Peace by
- This was an audiobook listen that I need to revisit.A Swim in the Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life by George Saunders - I enjoyed this, but would not have enjoyed it nearly as much if I hadn’t read it as part of a group led by
.The Enneagram for Spiritual Formation: How Knowing Ourselves Can Make Us More Like Jesus by AJ Sherrill - In which I slowly started to realize that maybe I’m not a 9 after all. As much as I resist it, it’s entirely possible and increasingly likely that I’ve a 5. Oh, dear.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - Towles is quickly becoming one of my favorite novelists.
Things I Listened To …
Jason Isbell is one of the best songwriters working today. His latest album, Weathervanes, explores addiction, mass shootings, racism and so much more in lyrically stunning songs backed by the talented 400 Unit. IMHO, guitarist Sadler Vaden is criminally underrated as an artist.
Here’s Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit performing King of Oklahoma, one of my favorite tracks, at Riverfront Park in Harrisburg. I so wanted to be there, but couldn’t so I’m glad someone captured this.
A Thing to Remember …
Who cares if the first draft is good? It doesn’t need to be good, it just needs to be so you can revise it. - George Saunders, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain