As usual, I'm inspired by anything really, that Alicia has to say. Today it was a letter to her friend Martha. Seriously, I think that woman could post her Target list and I'd just sigh, all blissed out and wish my life were more like hers. (My own list says laundry detergent and toilet paper.)

So I commented on Alicia's blog today (see how brave I'm getting..that New Year's resolution is working!) with a quote from Annie Dillard about writing. Here it is:

"One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something for a better place is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulses to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it's destructive. Anything you do not give free and abundantly becomes lost on you. You open your safe and find ashes." Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

I have to say that this blog, humble though it may be, is where I finally do spend it all. I've "been a writer" off and on during my funny little life. Stints as a technical writer here and there, and a fun year or so when Neel was in graduate school when I wrote two and a half novels (I know there are several people out there who will want to ask me about that one, and I can only say...don't.). Even now, a large part of my job is writing, framing my own words or helping others frame theirs. I know I'm pretty good at it, as much as I know that I can be better, always better. And it's funny to me, that in light of this, one of my favorite quotes about writing is not to hoard, but to use, use, use what you've got.

This blog is where I finally do that. (Saying this, as the daughter of the man who just bought six cans of bean soup because his Kroger stopped carrying it and Fresh Market may stop too is really something.) I spend it all. Sure, I have entries running around in my head. I have more, for sure, to say about Greece. Not just the trip, but what it meant to me to be there. I have plenty to say about motherhood. My neighborhood (I have people - okay, Rebecca - asking when our neighborhood is going to be featured here) deserves many a post...I'm just waiting for the right time and circumstances. There's definitely something to say about Lucy-the-hound, and how she made me fall in love with her...

And the whole reason I started this thing was to find a way to chronicle the work I was doing...what happened to all those posts? They're out there, waiting still. But what I love, just really love about this process of blogging is that I trust it and myself to say what I need to say. Sure I need a page of FOs. Sure I need to have notes on my aprons or handbags or socks or jewelry rolls. Sure I want people to see those things and comment on them. Sure I want, as I just said to my dad, a dialogue, not a monologue. But for once, and blissfully so, the stuff I write here is for me. It's meant to meet a need in me. I'm not meant (I don't think) to write a book, and I am meant (I really do believe) to spend this life I have in writing, and more than just letters asking for money(!). So here I go. Spending it all. Come along, let's have some fun.

Necklace roll

The next paragraph in that Annie Dillard quote is this: "After Michangelo died, someone found in his studio a piece of paper on which he had written a note to his apprentice, in the handwriting of his old age, 'Draw Antonio, draw Antonio, draw and do not waste time.'"

Ecelctic Patchwork Apron

This blog is me following that directive. I'm framing my days in words and pictures, and I am so grateful for the way it's making me look, really look at the way I live my life. I was joking with a friend of mine yesterday about how there's always something going on in my funny little brain, and she said, "I know. That's part of why I love you." Well, thanks, but I'm sure it makes me pretty exhausting to be around. Maybe bluerainroom can ease some of that burden on those around me who are always asked to process my latest thoughts or desires. Or maybe I'm just broadening the audience! I'm not sure where it will lead (and like Callum with math, I'm trying to be patient in that place...it makes you very vulnerable), but three months in, at least I'm happy. I'm coming out of the closet. Telling more and more people. I love writing these posts. I love, love, love your comments. Please continue to do so, to give me a dialogue. Come along. Let's have some fun.