Living Creativity

The subject of creativity has always been of great interest to me. I suppose my interest peaked after reading Csikszentmihalyi’s, Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. Csikszentmihalyi has been studying creativity for over thirty years and coined the “flow theory” to explain the creative process and its sense of enrichment. The concept of creativity can be applied to many areas in life from gardening, to cooking, to raising kids, to sports, to sex, and to making art. Studies have shown that when we are creative we feel good and experience a sense of living life fully. While a lot of Csikszentmihaly’s work has been connected to artists and writers, he also discusses where creativity comes from, the creative personality, the sense of flow and creativity during different stages in our lives. In general, he says that creative individuals are more flexible and adaptable. To be creative, one must also be curious in regard to the world around us.

The May/June issue of Psychology Today has an article called, “The Enemies of Invention,” which shares other factors contributing to creativity and or a lack thereof:
• positive emotions broaden our perception and thought
• fear of failure hinders creativity
• fear of being evaluated hinders creativity
• optimism regarding innovation is beneficial
• concentration is a creativity killer

This last point really resonated with me. I often have the best writing ideas when I am doing something else, like driving on the freeway. I have not yet trained myself to use a tape recorder while driving, but I have been known to pull aside and put my hazard lights on in order to jot some notes in my journal, whether it’s an opening line for a poem, an article idea or book idea—my little journal holds many treasures.

In his essay, “Reflections on Writing,” Henry Miller says, “writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery. The writer lives between the upper and lower worlds: he takes the path in order to eventually become that path himself.” Creativity is also inspired by the idea that we are writing for someone in particular. For example, while working on my memoir, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal, I had a photo of my grandmother on my desk. While writing. I imagined writing just for her. I visualized her seated across the table from me and I was telling her my story. I had a deep need to share my story with her, and I was also to share it with the world. As John Daido Loori says in his book, The Zen of Creativity, “the art of creation begins with the need to express oneself. Sometimes, the need to write builds in us almost imperceptibly; sometimes it comes on suddenly,” and more importantly to stimulate the creative process, it’s important to be mindful of what triggers your own creativity, and make a point of keeping it in your life. In other words, have your muse nearby—whether it is a person place, person, or thing that initiates your creative process.

Mother’s Day Post-Script

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The month of May has always been a busy month for my family. It is the month of my birthday, my son’s birthday. On a more universal level, other holidays that fall during this month are Cinco de Mayo, National Nurse’s Day, Earth Day, Clean Up Your Room Day, National Bike to Work Day, Visit Your Relatives Day, Limerick’s Day, and Mother’s Day. Yesterday, I celebrated my thirty-first Mother’s Day. Like many Hallmark holidays, I am skeptical about devoting only one day a year to important people. I think every day we should celebrate, appreciate, and honor those we love and who impacted our lives. With three grown children who no longer live in the same house nor community as me, I cherish any time we are able to spend time together. This past weekend was particularly special because my 29-year old daughter, Rachel, flew in from Miami to join the celebration with us. For a busy woman, to take the time meant the world to me. It was also nice for my 23-year-old, Josh, who lives within two hours, to spend time with his sister.

As we get older, and our children leave the nest, our priorities evolve. For those who have children, I feel bad for those who were unable to be with them, or those who mourn the loss of their own mother’s passing. My hope for all of us, with children or not is that we daily connect with Mother Earth and thank her for her timeless beauty. For those with mothers, hopefully they were able to display a token of love by some gesture of appreciation, whether with flowers, cards, gifts or phone calls. For me, the little things in life, like love and family become more important as we age. An extra gesture, visit, phone call or card means that someone cares enough to spend the time thinking about us. It takes so little time to express gratitude and I often wonder why we don’t do it more often.

Rachel arrived bearing me a homemade gift which I will cherish forever. She crafted me a personalized memory box made from of an old printer drawer. For the past six months she has been collecting mementos that reminded her of me—my accumulated passions, which she artfully placed in each little compartment, which I hope to hand in my meditation room. Josh, also with a busy life, admitted to not getting me anything and I told him his time was the best present, but his conscience brought him somewhere else, because while walking through the flea market yesterday he wandered into a jewelry booth and picked out a silver meditation ring that brought tears to my eyes. About the same time, my 27-year old daughter and her husband were calling from to say hello from afar. I had this deep sense of bliss and warmth inside. I felt I had accomplished all I needed in life—I raised loving and thoughtful kids who are now on their own.

Once a mother, always a mother, but when your children leave home there’s a certain identity crisis that strikes. An article in yesterday’s New York Times, called, “After the Children Have Grown,” by Madeline Levine resonated with me. Levine admits that after her kids left home she has had trouble figuring out who she was or who she will be moving forward in her life. Like her, I feel as if I have changed over the years, priorities and attentions, but core feelings as a mother have not changed. I wondered why her words resonated with me so much until I kept reading and learned that she was also a mother and a psychologist.

Like Levine, I realize that special times together are numbered and should always be cherished. Levine states that the concept of “empty-nest syndrome” is no longer a clinical term and that psychologists reject the term particularly because it mainly affects stay-at-home moms, who are becoming more and more rare. It is good that priorities evolve and women no longer sit around moping about children being gone, but rejoice in their own discoveries and achievements as adults. I also realize that our children need us in different ways. We simply need to “be present.” They want us as their listener and confidant offering unconditional love in a judgmental world.

Whether we have children or not, we need to acknowledge the beauty of evolution and change. As Levine says, our younger selves dissolve into menopausal clouds, sometimes we are too old to realize certain dreams and are now living with choices we made. I like her thought that “Chickens tend to come home to roost at about the same time children grow up.” As we grow older, we seem to reflect more, she says—What did we do right? Where did we fail? How do we spend our remaining time? And who will show up to help with the transition? These are all questions that I think about every day and which are all gentle reminders of our identity.

I have been lucky to have nurtured a career as a writer which I was able to weave into the daily chores of motherhood, and so my transition might have been easier than others. In the same vein, men who retire who have had hobbies their entire lives, find their transition easier. Those whose life was “only work,” might find their health deteriorating after they retire.

I am starting to love and enjoy the golden years, as I look back with a certain amount of wisdom and “deja-vus.” I am embracing the journey and aging gracefully like I have always advised my parents, family, and patients to do. As we detach and our kids move into their own lives, it’s not a form of abandonment, Levine says, but, an expression of a job well done.

Mothers Day With Kids

Early Eulogies

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As part of my plan for “a poem a day” for the month of April, I was asked to write one called, “Diana’s Eulogy.” This was one of the most difficult writing assignments I have ever received. Often prompted poems create challenges because unlike most of my poems, they are not spontaneously inspired by an emotion, feeling, or image. This might be one reason why many prompted poems are often not compelling. Writing one’s eulogy is an especially challenging task. As much as everyone likes writing about themselves, it is another thing to laud oneself outwardly line after line. Admittedly, I did not get past three lines of my own eulogy. While it was a good exercise, I wanted to reach out for someone else to write it. The job opportunity is still available.

I have always wondered why eulogies are only written after someone has passed. That person never gets to hear all the wonderful things about them that they might not have been mindful of. After all, writing a eulogy is a form of gratitude. Expressing gratitude is something we should all do more of anyway. I confess, however, that I once started a file of eulogies, some written by others, some written by myself. It is not that I sat home waiting for loved ones to die or anything like that, it’s just that it felt right to honor and recount what I appreciated about them. This is in the same vein as Pablo Neruda’s wonderful collection of Odes. One of my favorites of his is “Ode to an Artichoke.” Perhaps a vegetable’s form of death is it being harvested, so this works, however, an ode can be written to anything alive or dead. In fact, once on our anniversary I wrote an ode to my husband. It was a sort of honoring. A way to give thanks and express gratitude rather than buying one of those patented Hallmark cards, which never seem to say what we want it to say.

Writing an ode or a eulogy is also a way to clear the mind and to regain a new form of appreciation. It could also be a way to see through darkness, by speaking from the heart and soul. Sending an ode or a mock eulogy to someone can offer encouragement during difficult times.

When writing an ode or eulogy, the first thing to be decided is the tone. You might want to stick with the individual’s tone and what suits their sensibility. Sometimes humor works. For example, I know a few humor writers who read my blog, and you know your eulogy will be humorous. After deciding the tone then make a list of the individual’s qualities, interests, passions, and poignant biographical markers. Beside each quality give an illustration from a real life example or story. When writing a eulogy, it is a good idea to think in terms of a beginning, middle and end, but it might not be as important when writing an ode. The best eulogies, like the best books, stories or poems are those remembered long after they are heard. They are specific and consist of visuals and details. They are simple and sincere and written from the heart.

Here is a link for some famous and well-crafted eulogies:

http://www.eulogyspeech.net/famous-eulogies/#.UX6ZPYJhyu5

Here is a link to “Ode to An Artichoke” by Pablo Neruda:

http://allpoetry.com/poem/8496979-Ode_To_The_Artichoke-by-Pablo_Neruda

The Healing Power of Poetry

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Much has been written on the healing and transformative power of writing, whether it is journaling, prose or poetry. Poetry can be powerful because it succinctly puts a voice to our inner most feelings. It helps provide a dialogue to what we are going through. People tend to write poetry when they are in the midst of powerful emotions. In fact, some of the best poems incorporate deep emotions and/or poignant images.

The healing power of poetry is not a new phenomenon. In fact, during The Civil War, Walt Whitman read poems to wounded soldiers. His poems highlighted war, courage, and the military life. Historically speaking, there have been many physicians who were poets. William Carlos Williams is one who comes to mind as writing poems between patients on the prescription pads kept in his pocket. Other physician-poets include John Keats, Chekov, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Poets tend to be in touch with their deepest emotions and the best physicians are those who are also able to tap into the deepest part of the psyche.

More recently, poetry has been incorporated into a number of medical school programs, including Yale and Harvard Schools of Medicine. In her article in The New York Times entitled, “The Doctor as Poet,” (December 1, 2011), by Pauline Chen, M.D. explained how poetry can help physicians empathize and understand what a patient is going through. This can be done by both the reading and writing of poetry.

Perie Longo, Ph.D., a Santa Barbara psychotherapist and our second Poet Laureate, says that it is important to remember that “the focus of poetry for healing is self-expression and growth of the individual, whereas the focus of poetry as art is the poem itself.” For more than two decades Longo has been deeply involved in poetry therapy including as executive Director of the National Association for Poetry Therapy and teaching at the Santa Barbara Cancer Center since 2008. In her groups, she has many techniques to help individuals write poetry. For example, she will sometimes take a phrase from a poem and repeat it for each group member to fill in their thoughts out loud before they write their own poem. Once she used the phrase, “I have a right,” and was astounded where each member took that phrase, and the impact of that exercise.

In his well-crafted book, The Call of Stories, writer and physician Robert Coles, writes about how over the years poets who became ill were also inspired to share their experience through poetry. He says, “It prompted them to look not only inward but also backward and forward—to ask the most important and searching questions about life’s meaning.” Coles is an advocate of all narratives and in his book he accentuates the power of poetry and how he admires poets and the merging of poetry and medicine. “Like patients,” he says, “poets are probably holding on for dear life to some words.”

Perie Longo in addition to other local poets such as Lois Klein and Christine Kravetz teach in the California Poets in the Schools Program and find the students quickly become inspired to write poetry.

In the memoir classes I teach, I focus on the healing power of writing using both the prose and poetic form. I always have a section devoted to poetry because it seems to be a good way for writers to summarize the important details of the story they want to tell. This exercise can also serve as an outline for a larger piece of work. Writing a poem about what you are feeling is a way to embody your feelings and become one with them. Sometimes the best way to start is with an image or an emotion or maybe even a word and seeing where it goes.

Poetry Passion

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There are many ways to be passionate about poetry. Some people prefer to read, while others prefer to write and some, like myself, do both. My particular style is what I call accessible poetry. This is not to say that I don’t respect and admire those who write poetry that might take more than one reading to understand. But I prefer not having to read a piece twice for comprehension. I would rather read twice for appreciation.

After reading and adoring Robert Frost and Walt Whitman during elementary school, my real appreciation for poetry came during a Billy Collins reading when I was in graduate school. There was something magical and crafty about the way he strung words together. I understood his observations of the world around him; they were unique but universal. Further, he had a sense of humor. I admire and aspire to do this myself.

Most of the poetry teaching I do is connected to writing for healing, partly because of my nursing background and partly because poetry has repeatedly served as a tool for me during some of my own physical and psychological healing journeys.I am always astounded when I ask students what their favorite poetry book is. The response is often that they don’t read poetry, and my response to them is that one cannot write good poetry, if one does not read good poetry. Sometimes reading an anthology or collection can help you decide on your favorite poet. Some suggestions might be Good Poems by Garrison Keillor, The Oxford Book of American Poetry by David Lehman, Editor, or Poem a Day, by Karen McCoster and Nicholas Albery, Editors.

Like the clothes we wear, there are days when certain poets resonate with us more than others. For example, there are days when I love reading any works by Rumi. Other days my favorite poet is Pablo Neruda. While on other days I want to relish in the words of Mary Oliver or Molly Peacock. But, I confess that I am always in the mood for Billy Collins, mainly because his poems are so diverse and connect to the ordinary things going on in our lives. He notices what we might notice but don’t necessarily take the time to write about.

During National Poetry Month there are a number of websites you can check out as a way to discover new poets. For example, this week, I discovered a great new poet by way of The American Academy of Poets (Poem-A-Day). Her name is Jennifer Chang and here is her poem:

on my birthday

I want a future
making hammocks
out of figs and accidents.
Or a future quieter
than snow. The leopards
stake out the backyard
and will flee at noon.
My terror is not secret,
but necessary,
as the wild must be,
as Sandhill cranes must
thread the meadow
yet again. Thus, autumn
cautions the cold
and the wild never want
to be wild. So what
to do about the thrum
of my thinking, the dangerous
pawing at the door?
Yesterday has no harmony
with today. I bought
a wool blanket, now shredded
in the yard. I abided by
dwelling, thought nothing
of now. And now?
I’m leopard and crane,
all’s fled.

Here is a list of some great poetry sites to check out:

Knopf Doubleday —newsletters@email.knopfdoubleday.com
Poetry.com—http://www.poetry.com/ —write a poem and get it reviewed for free
Poets.org—Poets.org—poetnews@poets.org
Poetry Archive—http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
Poetry Daily—http://poems.com/
The Poetry Foundation—http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

National Poetry Month and Poet Laureates..

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This is one of my favorite months because there is so much done in honor of poetry and poets. It would take much more than a month of Monday blogs to share all of my favorite aspects about poetry. Suffice to say, however, that cities and communities around the country are joining in the celebration. Tomorrow in Santa Barbara, we will inaugurate our fifth poet Laureate, Chyrss Yost who for fifteen years has been active in the Santa Barbara literary community. She is recognized both nationally and locally as a poet, editor and teacher. She has also received significant awards and honors. (Previous Santa Barbara Laureate’s include: Barry Spacks, Perie Longo, David Starkey and Paul Willis) .

Speaking of poet laureate emeritus’, while looking through some of my teaching files I stumbled upon some words of wisdom from Santa Barbara’s very first poet Laureate,Barry Spacks. I have received his permission to share this informative document that I used when teaching a course at UCSB Extension called, “The Poet’s Notebook.”

Everything You Need to Know about Poetry
According to Barry Spacks
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” ~Robert Frost

• Poetry wants to charm, fascinate, and compel attention. It offers a fresh path through long-known places, a way of going that’s odd and new.
• A poem will usually have a subject, make a “point” (even several)—but what lifts it into language-specialness is tactics, an appealing method of drawing us in—seduction, absolutely—a fetching manner of “coming on.”

“If it is a wild tune, it is a poem.”
and: “We enjoy the straight crookedness of a good walking stick.”
~Robert Frost

• Wild tune. Straight crookedness. Contradictory supports. Wildness tends toward chaos, the danger of incomprehensibility, untamed eccentricity, astounding but baffling crookedness. . . hence the need for tune, which is a principle of order, of sanity, straightness. If it’s just a tune, if it’s only straight-to-the-point. . .no tears, laughter, revelation, freshening, surprise. If it’s only a wildness, then we’re lost and pathless. We need both intent, cause-effect, sequence, “point,” as well as the unexpectedness that marks living language with the unduplicatable flavor of one writer’s personality, thought, speech patterns, style, values, and concerns.

In 1966, the Academy of American Poets designated April as National Poetry Month resulting in celebrations around the country. According to the Academy the purpose of National Poetry Month is to:

• Highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets
• Introduce more Americans to the pleasures of reading poetry
• Bring poets and poetry to the public in immediate and innovative ways
• Make poetry a more important part of the school curriculum
• Increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media
• Encourage increased publication, distribution, and sales of poetry books
• Increase public and private philanthropic support for poets and poetry

In my own mailbox during the month of April I receive poems and articles related to poetry from various organizations, friends and colleagues. One of my favorites arrived this morning from Poet Molly Fisk who is most known for her coaching, radio shows and infamous Poetry Boot Camp, an online workshop to generate new work and jumpstart the creative process. As Fisk says, “What is not to celebrate about poetry?” During this month Fisk invites poets to write a poem a day, in an on-line classroom where you write and share and commenting is optional, but often helpful. For more information, contact molly at molly@mollyfisk.com.

Next week: Other ideas on how to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Women’s History Month

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….ended yesterday. But since today is April Fool’s Day, I am still celebrating it today. Every March, various government organizations such as The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, The National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Gallery of Art, The Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum pay tribute to all the generations of women who have made this world a better place. The dedicated month began in 1981 and has been going strong ever since.

I would like to acknowledge a number of people in honor of this special month. First, my mother, Eva Marcelle Marquise, who was born in Vienna and now lives in New York and who will turn 83 in August. Not only did she bring me into this world, but she also bought me my first journal, which set the stage for my life as a writer. As an English major in University, she also introduced me to books when I was quite young. As soon as I could walk she drove me to the local library to get my first laminated library card. She may not think she has made huge contributions to the world, but the small contributions have added up to big ones in my little world.

Next, I would like to honor my maternal grandmother, Regina Klein, who was my caretaker until her suicide in 1964. My grandmother was also a journal keeper and taught me how to type my first story on her Remington Typewriter that sat perched on her vanity. Her life story of being orphaned during World War I at the age of 12 actually set the backdrop for my first memoir, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal. I would also like to honor my mother-in-law, Jeannine Raab, for all her love and support over the years and all the kitchen tips she shared with me. My beautiful daughters, Rachel Miriam and Regine Anna also play a vital role in my life. As a young adult, I worried I’d never being able to bear children. This was partially manifested when undergoing fertility treatments and then being on bed rest with all three of my pregnancies. However, increasingly over the years, my daughters have added an indescribable dimension to my life I never thought possible. They brought out the maternal instinct in me and taught me the importance of love in the family unit. They helped me realize that the sky is the limit and the importance of following your passions and living your dreams. I am so proud and thankful for their existence.

Other women who have played an integral role in my life include: Anais Nin, Tristine Rainer, Sena Jeter Naslund, Karen Mann, Molly Peacock, and Molly Fisk. My list goes on and on and I would like to also thank all the women writers whose books have changed my life. Lately there’s been a great deal of discussion around the book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg. It’s directed towards younger women, either in college or early work force years, and stresses the importance of women pursuing success in the workplace by speaking up and not backing down from their male counterparts. In order to do this, it is important for women to be innovative, creative and open minded. It is also important for young women to hear and read stories about other successful women as a way to inspire them on their own life path.

Perhaps my interest in memoir and biography took seed in my youth, when I checked out biographies about successful women from the library. I always preferred nonfiction to fiction. I wanted to read true stories to learn true things about real people. Therefore, I was delighted to see a section in this week’s New York Times dedicated to Women’s History Month and the sharing of a selection of books for young readers to inspire and remind girls that they can be whatever they want to be. Unlike my grandmother who was turned down in the late 1950s from medical school in New York because she was a woman. It is nice to see that there are so many more opportunities today and that people are writing stories to inspire the women of the future. For instance, Brave Girl by Michelle Markel, Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone, Mary Walker Wears the Pants by Cheryl Harnes, and Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Lead to ‘Little Women’ by Kathleeen Krull. As a young woman, reading the stories of powerful women inspired me and I am glad to see that this ritual continues in the new millennium.

The Art of Personal Letters

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My platform as a writer began more than five decades ago with a Kahlil Gibran journal and by writing letters. I wrote my first letter at the age of six to my parents from sleep away summer camp. Although that letter included only five words, “I hate camp, Love, Diana,” those days marked the beginning of my life-long fascination with the written word.

During adolescence, I continued my passion of letter writing by writing to boyfriends and to my parents. These were most often filled with emotion and angst about society’s expectations, and frustrations about my future. Many of those letters to my parents remained unsent, but the cathartic exercise made it worthwhile. Today, perhaps more emotional letters in the form of emails are sent because the send button is far too easy to click.

My passion for letter writing took a more intense leap at the age of nineteen during the courtship between me and my husband. For more than two years, we wrote letters to maintain our long-distance love affair while living on distant points of North America—he in Canada and me in New York. Phone calls were also nice, but letters allowed us to dig deeper into our emotions. Now I have boxes of those letters stored away in our hall closet that will one day hopefully be a cherished heirloom for our three adult children.

Over the years, I have also reverted to letter writing to release pent-up emotions, whether in the form of a letter to the editor or to someone who might have been difficult to communicate with verbally. Sometimes it is just easier getting someone’s attention through a letter. It is also a good way to gather your thoughts before engaging in a conversation, even if you decide not to send the letter.

During turbulent times in my childrens’ lives, I also turned to letter writing when I was disappointed in something they might have done or said. I believed expressing myself this way would be the only way to get their undivided attention. It is also less intimidating to speak to someone through a letter than it is face to face.

When my eldest daughter, Rachel, was in fifth grade I chaperoned a school trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. During our visit to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, the tour guide discussed Jefferson’s passion for letter writing. Obviously, in his days, copy machines were non-existent and Jefferson ingeniously crafted a device to make copies of all his written letters. He attached two pencils to either end of a two-foot long wire, and used one of the pencils to write with, and the other was suspended above a piece of paper to copy his words.

My grandmother died when I was ten and I frequently write to her in absentia, which in effect is a form of journaling, and one that I advocate in the courses I teach. I like keeping my grandmother abreast of my current goings on. Since my father passed away nearly twenty-five years ago, I also enjoy periodically writing “to” him. It makes me feel good to link him into my life, plus it gives me a chance to say those things I never got to tell him when he was alive.

According to the mystery writer, P. D. James, “No other literary form is more revealing, more spontaneous or more individual than the letter.” Authors such as Pam Houston, Fenton Johnson and Shawn Wong frequently write letters. Whether they are mailed or not, is really irrelevant. Some people even write to their pets. Try writing to whomever or about whatever inspires you to pour your heart out and remember, by all means, date those letters and make yourself a copy. In the future, it will be amusing to look back at them, and you never know how their contents may be used in one of your future literary works.

Handwriting As An Art Form

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As an avid journal keeper, I believe the written word is a powerful mode of communication. In the writing classes I teach I emphasize the importance of personally choosing your own journal. In many ways this should be an emotional experience as you find one that resonates with you. Equally important is finding a writing tool that feels comfortable in your hand. Many people, myself included, find gel pens easy to write with because they glide easily across the page. I quit fountain pens for a number of years after my favorite purse got ruined from one that leaked. After some research on the subject of fountain pens, I learned that if you buy a quality fountain pen, put it in a case and try to keep it upright in your briefcase or purse, then the chances of leakage are minimized.

I was surprised to learn that it is virtually impossible to get a good fountain pen in Santa Barbara. On a recent trip to LA, I stopped at Sam Flax, in Westwood, who had a fine selection. I chose a medium bib and because I write primarily in purple, I was ecstatic that they sold purple cartridges. I chose the cartridge over dipping because that sounded quite messy. While it’s an ordeal to pull out the pen for random notes or for signing checks, using my fountain pen has added much to my pleasure in journaling and letter writing, art forms which I think are returning.

Like my grandfather used to say, if you live long enough, everything ends up coming back and I am thrilled to see more handwritten notes arrive in my mail box. While the new technologies offer us a lot, it is sad to see that they have taken over almost all forms of communication. A few years back, while visiting my son in New York, I suggested we make a list of what he needed for his new apartment. I asked him for a paper and pen. He said he didn’t have any and pulled out his iPhone to make the list. I ended up making my own list on the back of the telephone bill envelope. As a writer himself, I was actually surprised, but understood that he did not want to rip out a page from his journal.

Writing by hand encourages you to connect and embody your thoughts on the page. It helps you become deeper with your thoughts, even though many people find it is much slower believe that it is much slower to write long hand. Studies have shown that writing by hand brings the writer closer to their creativity and increases the chance of tapping into the subconscious mind.

According to a recent article in Psychology Today, (April 2013) handwriting is a dying art, however, recent research has shown that there are benefits to reverting back to this dying art. One study with preschool children found writing by hand helped them with the groundwork for learning other important skills, such as reading, and that writing freehand actually enhances letter recognition in children. So, I encourage you this week to take the opportunity to “truly write.”

The Healing Power of Silence

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I love making homemade soups. Today at lunch I was using my Blend-Tec to make what my family calls green soup: a collection of fresh vegetables from my refrigerator. Today’s had leeks, spinach, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and a few slices of fresh ginger. The chopping is relatively quiet, but only when I turned on the machine did I realize how, since my children have left home. the smallest bit of noise is bothersome. After blending the soup and pouring myself a cup I went to read my holistic physician’s newsletter. This week’s subject was “The Healing Power of Silence.” Dr. Soram Khalsa gave me a great subject for this week’s blog because I think we are all affected by both sound and silence.

He started by saying, “Noise exists all around us, externally in the form of things like traffic, television, and cell phones, [and blenders], and internally in the form of constant thoughts.”

We might not often think of the noise in our heads, but more of us are beginning to believe that the sound of the voice in our heads stresses us out and has more detrimental effects on our health than external noises. The noise might include worry, anger, fear, and anxiety which can all be very draining on our limbic and neurological systems.
It’s great that more people are finding the value of meditation. My practice began in the 1970s with transcendental meditation that I have been doing on and off for a number of years. Since recently starting my doctorate studies in psychology, I have been meditating at least three times a day. Meditation helps quiet the mind and relaxes the body. Some of the benefits of meditation include: support for the immune system, decreased circulation of stress hormones, lower blood pressure, improved concentration and sleep, increased productivity, and lower risk of cancer and heart disease.

There are many different ways to meditate, and really there is no right or wrong method. Some suggest focusing on the breath, others suggest focusing on sound, others are guided with music. Each person must find what works for him or her. Over the years I have tried different methods and sometimes I mix them up, but currently the easiest one and the method which takes me the deepest is to have complete silence while I focus on my breath. Here are more specific examples of meditation techniques:
o Breathing meditation:
• bring your awareness to your breath and watch it go in and out
• when you no longer observe the breath, return to it
o Body awareness meditation:
• this helps you get more present in the moment
• pay attention to the feeling and weight of your body
o Walking meditation
• this is meditation while walking, also focusing on the body
o Knitting meditation
• focusing on the knitting, left and right needles back and forth
• feeling the yarn gliding through your fingers puts the mind into a relaxed state

Here are some general meditation guidelines:
• set aside 15-20 minutes a day, preferably the same time of day
• sit or lie down in a comfortable position wearing comfortable clothes
• start with a centering ritual (i.e. lighting a candle, getting in a position, closing the door)
• during meditation, do not resist thoughts, let them come and go at will
• breathe through your nose, if possible

Happy Meditating to you and yours!

Diana's Notebook

Literary Musings