Thursday, December 4, 2014

Creativity by Katherine Pym



I am a Seattleite. I wasn't born there, but when I stepped out of the airport, I knew I'd come home. In the winter, the Northwest is like a great big wine cellar, cool, damp, with grey skies from October to almost the 4th of July.

The grey skies spit water; the streets are like film-noire after WW2, and being so far north, the skies are dark most of the time. People go to work in the dark and go home in the dark. As soon as the clouds disperse, and a little sun shines, people run outside and take deep breaths. They don shorts, socks, and sandals, t-shirts; then over all this, throw on a hoodie. As the skies brighten toward summer, everyone goes out to play. The days are longer, the dawn and dusk taking their sweet time to ease into full day or night.

In the Northwest, there's not much you can do in the winter but endure. Movies, the mall, bookstores, television. When the rain drips and forms puddles in the roads, plumps up moss so that you feel as if you're slogging through a swamp, I retreat into a world of make-believe.

Praying for Creativity
This summer the Northwest was wonderful. Blue skies and long days, warm enough to rival America's warmer states. We grew bushels of tomatoes, green beans and peppers. During this time, I became distracted, couldn't keep focused. I stared at my computer screen wondering why. My work in progress slipped. It became dull, disorganized. I was getting frustrated.

My husband is a Texan. Where I can endure the Northwest, long winters, he cannot. We have a little homestead in Texas, and toward the end of September, we piled into the car and drove the nearly 2400 miles to our cabin in the woods. Rain dogged us across the nation, but once we arrived, the skies were blue, the weather warm, and the bugs were swarming. Husband was thrilled. I was still disorganized, my writing dull.

Through my disorganization, I lost touch with the story line. Stephen King says a writer should finish the first draft within a 3 month time span. I fell deeply short of that, so I decided I'd start over my work in progress. Re-read. Re-write. The skies were beautifully blue, the days warm. Idyllic. My work went slowly.

Awhile ago our local news said a hurricane from the Pacific was plowing across Mexico toward the Lone Star State. Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico poured over us, and a cold front from the North would clash with all these moist airflows. Storms would ensue with thunder and lightning. High winds. The temperature would plummet from the pleasing high 70’s/mid 80’s to unseasonable cold.

OMG, a weather event! Last year, the area had such a downpour, it dropped almost 14 inches onto our roof. It swept part of our driveway into the road. Others were flooded out. My Seattle experiences held nothing to this. We prepared for the worst. Still in shorts, I put on socks and slipped my feet into sandals.

For several days, the clouds dimmed the bright sunshine. Rain fell almost nonstop, but not the gully-washer of last year. This rain was a constant heavy drizzle. Big drops from the overhead trees plopped onto my head and shoulders. Steady. The air was cool, refreshing.

Couldn't go outside and play. Had to endure. Watching the skies drip, I reflected we lived in an over-sized wine cellar, but we had no wine. It was too wet to go out and buy some. We'll wait for the skies to clear.

Still in socks and sandals, I dug out my hoodie to walk the dog. Typed on my computer one and a half chapters. Researched and wrote a blog. Offered to write two more. Then a light bulb flashed in my eyes. An Epiphany struck. OMG, the rain outside was my type of weather. Like Seattle! It sparked and fed my creativity. I found myself back in the saddle again. 

My creativity glows when the weather is dull. How cool is that?


 


















25 comments:

  1. Interesting quote. Finding the place that shouts home is always a good feeling. Happened to me and here I am some 30 years later. I also once read a book by Rollo May called Creativity Akin To Madness. I recommend it to all who hear characters in their heads and who become as real as the people around them

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    1. Thanks so much for you comment, Janet. Your book sounds very interesting. Writing always brings voices to me.

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  2. I love it and can readily relate. I did some of my very best writing when we lived in Vancouver BC. Never thought about the weather. Here in Calgary it's mostly clear skies unless it is snowing but so cold your fingers are too numb to write.

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    1. Jude, thanks so much for your comment. Yes, I love the weather in the great NW, rain, heavy snow that bends branches, or sun.

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  3. Katherine, I've never been to Seattle, but a visit is on my bucket list.

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    1. Shirley, if you go to Seattle, keep in mind summers don't really begin until the 4th July, and last through end of September. When it's beautiful in Seattle, it is truly breathtaking. Does this sound like a community service advertisement? :-o

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  4. Rain I can weather (no pun intended!) more than snow and cold. That just makes me want to crawl into a cave. One of these days I'll get to Seattle and maybe experience the rain there for myself.

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    1. You'll definitely experience rain if you go in the winter. Spits and spats of it.

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  5. I love northwest winters. I rarely need more than a light weight jacket, walking the dog this morning, I only needed a vest. There are many different types of moss, each with its own color and growth pattern. Did anyone know moss was used in medical dressings during WWI because there was a cotton shortage?

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    1. Did not know that. Very interesting Karla. Love these little details only an author can provide. I miss the clean air up there.

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  6. Very cool. I love hearing about climates in other places and how they affect people, especially writers. It is often said about Melbourne down here in the south of Australia that we experience all 4 seasons in one day-and that's often the truth. Today is dull, muggy and overcast, and looks as if it will stay that way all day.

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    1. Tricia, I heard Melbourne is much cooler than Sidney. You were enjoying the same weather as Texas yesterday. Here, it was dull, muggy, and overcast. And it stayed that way all day. Maybe, we're not so far apart at all.

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  7. You're a rare one to enjoy clouds and rain, but then I enjoy winter--especially if I've paid my fuel bill and don't have to travel/commute through it. Something about the "holed up" times that are conducive to getting on with a WIP.

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    1. Juliet, thanks for your comment. In that way, we're not so different, the weather being conducive to getting on with our WIP. If I'm holed up, a cup of tea and my work is the best way to spend the day.

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  8. Interesting post. Our weather is very changeable too. It has been worse the last 5 or 6 of years.

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    1. It seems the weather is a' changing, that's for sure. Seattle weather is warmer these past years. Texas is drier.

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  9. Unique post, Kathy, weather and creativity. Loved it.

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  10. Katherine, I'm a Seattlelite too-- at least I grew up north of Seattle. Although I've now lived in Oregon longer than I lived in Washington, I can definitely relate to the gray skies and long winters.

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    1. Sydell, I love Oregon, too. One of our favorite places in the world is Cannon Beach. Can't do better than that.

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    2. I agree! And for us, it's just a little over an hour's drive to get there.

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  11. Heaven help us in Newcastle then. I think we're a wee bit further north still. Sunset is right now - 15.54, same as Edinburgh.

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    1. Jen, I remember living in Staffordshire and how short the days were in winter, but how lovely and bright were the days in summer. England is one latitude higher than Seattle, and equal in measure with BC in Canada (or that's how I always measured it).

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  12. There's nothing like a rainy day to keep me chained to the computer. Here in New England we often get a variety of weather, often with sudden changes. It's cold here now, but a couple of days ago, I was out with the dogs in only a sweatshirt. Loved "The Barbers." btw.

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  13. I'm loving never feeling cold while I'm here in Sydney and wonder how I'll acclimatise to the end of the UK winter when we go home. I agree about needing the right weather for writing though. Cold and wet does it for me so my WIP is suffering at the moment.

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