Write as You Are is free to subscribers. If you find this newsletter helpful, you can show your support by buying me a virtual cuppa, donating to Choose Love, dropping me a like or sharing it with someone else who might also enjoy it. Thank you for being here!
Yesterday on the venerable solstice day, the sun rose above the horizon at 7.21 am and returned home at 8.45 pm. The longest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere) has come and gone and slowly, slowly the days will begin to shorten again as the earth turns faithfully on its axis.
Here in Nayarit, we are in rainy season. The afternoon winds that brought kite boarders flooding to town during April and May are starting to ease, and some days there is little escape from the thick humidity that fills the air and coats our skin. Now, the sky is often striped with clouds in the morning which move through to leave a perfect blue sky, dotted with the kind of fluffy white clouds you see in cartoons, the kind you marvel at from the window of an aeroplane that make you daydream.
Gradually, as the sun moves over us and starts to dip towards the ocean, the clouds turn grey, then black, the pressure increasing in our bodies, our heads. Then relief as the clouds so heavy with rain break and pour over the land. I throw open my patio doors and breathe in the freshness of the rain and delight in the cooler air. We have only had a week or two of on and off storms and yet the dry, yellow mountains have already sprung back to lush, green life. The same used to happen in Oaxaca, and every year it excited me. Nature doing its dance.
A small lizard, not a gecko but some other kind I don’t know the name of, takes shelter from the rain in my kitchen. He wanders in and then climbs around the hobs of my stove. I’m not sure why he likes it there, but I exclaim “welcome home” every time he comes back. I love the idea of my small home as his shelter.
Soon enough (or maybe not soon enough- ask me in two months) the rainy season will be over and I will forget what it is like to feel like I am walking in a bubble of wet heat, my hair huge with humidity, my skin glowing always with sweat. I will forget what it was like to crave the coldest water for my showers (the heat warms the pipes making even the cold tap run warm at the moment). Soon these feelings will be a memory that I will struggle to conjure in their most visceral form.
And that’s why as writers we need to document life. Because even us writers forget. I forget now, exactly how rainy season in Mexico City felt on my skin, under my feet because I am living something different. I forget now the smell of summer in London, because I haven’t experienced it in so long. I worry that my ‘memories’ are romanticised idylls; freshly cut grass and “99” ice creams cones…or what were those shuttlecock shaped ice creams with the chewing gum at the bottom called? Do they even still exist?
So, what to do? Here’s an idea:
1) Grab a notebook for seasonal recordings. (If you need an excuse to buy a new notebook, this is it!)
2) Pick a spot in your home, preferably by a window or where some outside light comes in, or make a trip to a nearby park, beach, outdoor space.
3) Set a timer for four minutes and write about what you see, what you can smell, what you can hear, what you can taste, how it makes you feel.
4) Repeat daily at the same time or weekly as your schedule permits. If weekly, try to do it at the same time on the same day.
5) See how this changes your relationship to what is around you. Maybe it makes you feel differently about your environment. Maybe it also makes your sensorial writing better.
6) Come back to your notes when writing your novel/short story/personal essay and thank the former you for making your life easier.
Extra: If you overhear conversations, you may also want to note these down for prompts or use in dialogue. A little bit of writerly eavesdropping.
If you decide to do this, I would just love to hear what you write. How are we all experiencing nature around the globe? Drop me a line in the comments.
I had the delight of being interviewed for the Mind of the Writer Podcast and the first part of our conversation went live this week. We talk about what drew me to Mexico, how Mexico inspires my work and my love of the subconscious drag of the novel, among other things. Part Two will be be out next week, so do subscribe to hear that and other interviews by Rosemary Davison, who asks fascinating questions and is a very thoughtful interviewer.
Mentoring
“One of our chief needs as creative beings is support.” Julia Cameron
I am more and more convinced that while writing is a solitary practice, the support and understanding of others who understand why we do this beautiful, intense, painful, heart-opening craft is key. I feel honoured to mentor writers on their journeys. I work with writers bursting to write their first novels but unsure of where to start, writers who need support getting their work out in the world, writers who are trying to find the balance between paying the bills and filling their creative cups. If you would like support with your writing, do get in touch for a no-obligation chat to see if I might be the right mentor for you.
Share this post