Mental Meanderings

Poetry and Diversified Creativity

I wrote a new Shakespearean Sonnet today. For some reason when I want to write a poem I keep coming back to this form. It feels so comfortable. I know I should challenge myself by branching into the uncomfortable so perhaps I'll try stepping away from the sonnets more frequently. But what came to me today really suited the collection of sonnets I've been working toward and so I wrote it in that form.

It was wonderful to work on something new. I'd been struggling to write and today got a very hurtful review of one of my other poems. I've been over and over it in my head, comparing the reviewers writing and other reviews given and come to the conclusion that sometimes there are just people out there that are bitter and no interested in being helpful when they would rather just be egotistical.

I'm not going to deviate into ranting about all that though. Now I'm trying just to understand that there are people like that and to focus on giving the best I can give. I was about to say that having said that my new poem is pretty good. But then I realised that 'finished' it about and hour ago and could hardly expect to have an accurate sense of perspective on it's quality without having more distance. But perhaps "Invalid Item"  will get some reviews that can help me judge and I'll read over it tomorrow and in days to come and see if I feel I can tweak it further.

I've recently been thinking I should do this with my poetry archive. Not the archive I have here on WDC but the CD-rom archive of poetry I keep where I store about 4 years of poetry. These days I save all my work because it's possible there are some incredible insights and brilliant creations amongst them. I want to go over them all and polish the ones that I feel could be made better now I've had years of distance to gain some objectivity.

Of course, this sort of idea comes on top of everything else I want to get done and never have enough hours in the day for. Today for example I would have liked to do some more reviewing but with the renovations going on here I've been out of the house all day. Thursdays is my usual day for errands anyway but on top of a quick grocery shop and helping my mother at her house a little we included some window shopping for bathroom amenities, taps, bathtub, sink, vanity, and then spent about an hour trying to pick tiles.

In a way this was creative for me. Deciding how my new bathroom would look and using my minds eye to visualise what I wanted and what things would look like put together. In a way it was like picturing a setting for my a story or poem, bringing the image into mind until it was clear and focused.

I'd gone into the idea of renovating the bathroom with the mind of making the house more valuable. But as I'm looking at these tiles and seeing ones that the majority of people liked I started really appreciating the fact that I don't want to move anymore. For the years of my marriage I'd always hated this house, it never felt like home and I didn't have the power to make it one. Since my separation however it's been MY house, and I earn the money and reinvest it in making this 30yo airy claptrap a home. I've ripped out the carpet with my own hands and admired the stunning jarrah floorboards underneath. I've scrubbed and painted the walls. Bought and hung new curtains. Furnished and really made this place a place I love. My daughter is settled into a great school. My son will go there when he starts. Basically I have no intention of moving from this house until they finish school. I love my home.

And so instead of looking for neutral colors that prospective buyers would like I gave myself permission to get what I would like. My bathroom isn't going to be planned with some future owner in mind, it's going to be a santuary for ME! So my creativity went into finding the mixture of colors and fittings that I'd like most. My favorite color purple as highlights with smokey wall gloss and white tub, sink, cabinet and chrome fittings. I can picture it in my mind and I know I'm going to love it.

You know the only problem is that by the time the bathroom is finished the rest of the house is going to feel so much older. *chuckles* I expect the kitchen and laundry renovations will move up on my priority list and I'll probably get the floorboards sanded and polished very soon too.

Anyway, today I was creative, and it was great to be creative in my home rather than just on the page. I wrote a poem that I am so far appreciating and I plan to write more. Now I'm enjoying the quiet of my home with kids both asleep in their rooms. I'm in a place that I really enjoy. Ohhhhh, And my garage has a FLOOR!!! *grins* The men finished the cement pad in there, can't skate on it for at least a week but it's there and it looks fantastic.