The sunlight beckons me, and my soul responds. It was a long, cold winter in Canada. It doesn’t matter how much time we spend outdoors during winter, we still crave the spring sun.
Along with the sunlight, the sprouts beckon me, and my soul responds. Mother Earth awakens, exploding in an exuberance of colours, shapes, and textures. I am one of the lucky city dwellers with a large yard. I miss the rural living of my youth, but in my yard, I can garden amid the birds and the bees. This is my connection to our Mother, and it feeds my soul.
Small wonder that as I contrast my image of the trees and bright green grass around me with the devastation of the tar sands, I become more and more determined that we need to support each other in nurturing our amazing planet. We all need to be rejuvenated by the land. I see it in the faces of people using the waterfront trail in this city. Our population growth necessitates that we live in cities, but I know I’m not the only one who craves green space.
This spring I have become very aware that my love of the outdoors has a connection to my writing. Previously, I saw them as separate, as competing for my time. They still do that. But they also complement each other. My connection to Mother Earth enhances my writing. She is real and good and nurturing. She awakens my passion for all that is real and good and nurturing.
I have often read that the best way to become a good writer is to practise the craft of writing. There is truth to that, but it is by no means the complete truth. Everything we do in life contributes to our ability to be a good writer, all the things we learn and all the things we experience. When we are open to our experiences, they become a part of us.
Writing is so much more than just putting out words. Being a writer is much more holistic than that. It is a state of being. It is a way of looking at the world. It is a way of thinking about the world. To develop as a writer, I need to view the world as a writer. I need to see everything around me as a potential for learning. I need to look for meaning in everything around me, but especially in the things that I am passionate about. I need to be open and receptive.
And sometimes, instead of just writing and observing, we need to jump right in and experience life. I did that on the 12th of this month. An avid biker in my younger days, I haven’t had the opportunity to do much cycling lately. But that day I jumped right into a 70km group ride in cold temperatures, high winds, and bouts of hail. That 70 kilometres was longer than all the preparatory rides I had made this spring so far, combined.
As you can well imagine, this was not an easy ride for me. My muscles were not conditioned for a ride like that. They hurt the entire time, relieved only somewhat by periodic stretching. I had thought of cutting it short about ten kilometres in, but I just couldn’t give up on the adventure. So I pulled on my inner strength and kept going.
It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I fully processed the impact of that ride. I paid attention to my body, and wrote about it:
The fallout is quite significant. I have many, many stiff muscles. I am weak and fatigued. My brain is not functioning as well. My patience is not quite what it should be. Even my digestion is a little off. Paying attention to my body is making me realize the enormity of what I did on Sunday. It reminds me of how I feel after being really sick, when my strength is wiped out and it takes a while to get it back.
Three days later, I was fully recovered and ready to start exercising again. I got back on my bike and headed out to the pool.
I am proud of myself. Proud for the physical exertion of the ride, and my persistence despite pain and fatigue. But I am also proud of how this experience affected me as a writer. Certainly, the living of the challenge will enable me to have a better sense of what my characters are going through. The experience was more than that, though. I approached it with the consciousness of a writer. And in the process, I am realizing that the more I think of myself as being a writer, the more I process as a writer, the more I feel like I am myself.
You can’t always put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, but you can always BE a writer.