Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Sailor is Home from the Sea

Made it home yesterday a.m. after a long 24 hours of traveling and a longer week of workshops and discussions at Goddard in Port Townsend, WA. 

It's hard to describe exactly how it all works, but somewhere in the mix of reading and talking about great books of all sorts and breathing the same air as a host of very, very--I cannot emphasize this enough--very creative people, the energy almost feels mystical. I don't think it is quite mystical, but it's magical, at least.

Highlights
  • A two-part workshop called "Wildness of Mind" led me to a short story I might not have written otherwise, a new sort of piece for me. Will have to see what I can do with it with a little polish.
  • Exercises in my advising group crystalized the creation of scenes for me.
  • One of my fellow students turned me and others on to poet Tao Lin whose work is found here.
  • I read a portion of my master's thesis and the flash pieces that appeared here on the blog around Halloween and got good responses on all of them.
  • Heard my friend who's a better writer than I'll ever be read two incredible pieces.
  • Heard the graduates talk about their experiences and the struggle of creation. Wept.
  • Heard faculty, graduates and other students read in numerous settings. Great times.
  • Ate a great seafood sit-down meal at Sea-Tac waiting for my flight to leave.
These are wild times. It's good to get away from the world for a while, to escape and think about the things that matter, really matter, matter in the grand scheme of the world and not the moment. 

As much anxiety as the world has to offer, the reminder that there's more, that there's substance and hope is all good.

It's hard, but it's good. 


6 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I envy you the "immersion." It really does do something for your mindset. I've just "got" to get away to a writer's workshop pretty soon.

AvDB said...

Welcome back. It's looking to be a very positive experience for you. Does inspiration leak through computers? If so, would you pass some over to me?

Steve Malley said...

Now thank *you* for sharing Tao Lin with the rest of us! Those were neat!

Sidney said...

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.

A guy on Twitter sent me this interesting interview he did with Tao Lin.

laughingwolf said...

good stuff, sidney... i have yet to attend any :(

Lana Gramlich said...

Congratulations! Always good to get that re-enlivened feeling where creativity's involved!

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