Day 2, Summer 2022 Mini 1000

Good morning, everyone.

Are we going to write 1000 words today? Fuck yeah, we are. Because writing these words can cause all these magical little shifts. When things click together in our work, it can feel like things click together inside of us. I hunger every day for those little shifts. Moving things into place, at last.

I had Covid for ten days, and only tested negative yesterday. And it’s hurricane season here, so it’s hot, and every day it’s been raining, usually in the afternoons. So what I am saying is: I’ve been at home for a while.

While I was at home, I worked on my house. I rearranged my office. When the sun was shining, I weeded the yard. I stored things in the attic I have been meaning to take care of forever. I mopped, I vacuumed, I did the laundry all the way to the bottom of the bag, even to the loose socks I always ignore and toss back in there. Everything got folded. Everything got put away. My house is perfect, I thought. And if I have to sit here another minute I’m going to lose my mind.

The first thing I did when I finally tested negative was go to my favorite place for coffee in New Orleans and sit quietly with my notebook and write. It was so pure, this shift of location, and I needed it so desperately, even though I love my office and home in general. Everything seemed brighter and cleaner and airier there.

Suddenly this chapter I have been working on the past week broke free and shifted into something new. I realized everything I’ve been writing about with this character had led to this moment. I stopped trying to control her and let her speak her mind. Might as well listen already, I thought. It became funnier, looser, more confident. It was as if she took over the chapter at last, once I was able to shift my physical self.

These little shifts don’t come just with locations. I know you know they can come at any time, from any direction. I find reading or listening to music probably helps me the most. I listened to this interview with John Cage a few times over the past ten days and I think it helped with the shift. Putting ourselves in a new place either physically or mentally, feeling ourselves adjust to it, and then revisiting our work — all of that can help.

I believe the success of our work depends on a series of tiny shifts over a period of time. I’m not looking for the big moments anymore. (You can’t find them most of the time even if you try!) It’s about the accrual of the work. Every day, moving toward something new.

Can you give yourself a tiny shift today?

Good luck, I’m rooting for you.

Jami