Mangrove Islands

By Dana LaLonde

I am intrigued by mangroves. I love the way they grow where other trees don't. I love how their seeds drop from the sky and how new growth is informed by the current.
I find myself living like a mangrove these days.
I am in a state of growth that's fluid, changing by the day, going with the flow. This is uncharacteristic of me, to say the least.
I have regimented myself into depression on more than one occasion. I planned a life of safety and security until it got dangerous.
Now everything is uncertain, yet I've never been more sure of who I am, of what I want, of what I am doing and where I am going. I am settled in my bones.
I painted a picture of pure want one lonely night more than a decade ago. I was contemplating Woolf, a room of one's own, and how as women, although many men suffer in kind as well, we write ourselves out of our own lives. I painted what felt like finding myself...note how close to the edge of the canvas my kayak is.
Contrast this with the picture taken of me last week. You can't tell from the photo, but the islands I found myself were the same as the ones I imagined so long ago, in that other life.
I find myself exactly where I knew I would.
How's that for women's intuition?

Invitation to Write #1: Create to Write

June 2015- An Invitation to Write from Laurie J. Kemp

I can't remember where I saw this idea, so unfortunately I can't give credit and I'm sure it's not exact. 

Sometimes we need a creative muse to get started on a piece of writing. It may be a visual piece of art, a photograph, or another author's writing. It could be a song, a meal, a walk through a garden. But creativity inspires creativity. Having said that, here is the invitation:

Create something with your hands. It can be anything. Play or create a piece of music, create a collage. Paint or draw something. Take a photograph or cook something. You name it, just don't write it. When you're finished, write whatever you are inspired to write in response. No rules, no parameters. Just write.

Getting Started

Some inspiration as we get this blog up and running! A book spine poem- it really sets our intention.