such enormous relief and pleasure
how a hobby can help, plus so many things to eat
Hi-Hi,
Today is a good day. I’ve got coffee, I’ve got my husband, my sweet dog, Stanley, and a terrific houseguest (my pal Jennifer Louden who has a substack that enlightens and enlivens), I’ve got good work ahead of me (thank you Jami Attenberg and 1000 Words of Summer Crew!) And, like you, I’ve also got woes.
You know who else had woes? Winston Churchill. Have you seen this article about how he used painting as a balm for the “black dog” of depression which hounded him through life? Yes, he is a complicated historical figure, a villain/hero, yet setting that aside, I love to know that creative expression gave him an outlet.
“His paintings gave such enormous relief and pleasure to him,” his great-granddaughter added, “seeing him through good times and bad times, dark days and bright days.”
I love seeing his painting of a place we fell in love with in the South of France, it’s fun knowing, even after the fact, that we hiked the same trail as Churchill.
Since I’ve taken up drawing, I too find it a balm. Shifting from writing to drawing to watercolor painting when I need to get out of my head is incredibly helpful. If the writing is not coming or if it is making me sad, using my hands + really looking, is a balm.
In a 1921 essay explaining the appeal of painting as a pastime, Churchill himself described the art form as a type of emotional therapy. “Whatever the worries of the hour or the threats of the future,” he wrote, “once the picture has begun to flow along, there is no room for them in the mental screen.”
Alice Neel, one of my favorite painters, said something similar:
The minute I sat in front of a canvas I was happy because it was a world and I could do what I like in it.
Maybe you choose to sit down at the piano, or pick up your ukulele. Maybe you whip up a batch of cookies or pull weeds. I’d love to know what you do to calm your nerves. I salute your reprieve from the world and worries, no matter what it is!
read:
Last week I shared an excerpt from my memoir in progress, GO BACK TO SLEEP. I think, as artists, it is good to show our work in progress. It’s work that isn’t polished. It’s work that you are still nurturing and it’s good for my creative brain to read other writers’ draft work, as well, as share mine. Austin Kleon has thoughts about that!
I’ve taken down the paywall if you’d care to read.
…
Meanwhile, I’m currently listening to Tom Perrotta’s new novel, GHOST TOWN. I am a fan of Perrotta’s writing. There is something wonderfully accessible about his sentences, which are simple and deep. There is something wonderfully accessible about his situations, about the character’s yearnings. Think of MRS. FLETCHER, and her unstaunched loneliness. When I had small children and endured the sometimes mind numbing boredom of being home with them day in and day out (yes, wonderful and lucky)… I loved his novel, LITTLE CHILDREN.
I remember one particular day at home, thunderstorms and torrents of rain. The kids were so squirrelly, we all felt trapped. We took cookie sheets from the cupboard and wooden spoons and ran around the house clanging and screaming at the top of our lungs. I think we were all screaming about different things… but, man-0-man, it worked!
GHOST TOWN is the story of Jimmy Perry, whose world is turned topsy-turvy when his mother dies. Jimmy learns of her death in the middle of his championship little league game. The novel is told in two time frames, one looks back on the summer and the beginning of high school when his mother died. The reminiscences are an attempt for Jay Perry, the adult narrator, to make sense of his life. The second time frame, the present of the novel, is the musings and wonderings of a writer, with a “black dog” of depression at his heels. Jay, aka Jimmy, says:
“I’d left that place a long time ago and I’d never gone back. I’d drawn a circle around my hometown — cordoned it off from the rest of my life — and that had served me pretty well for a very long time. Or who knows, maybe it hadn’t.”
Is there yearning? Yes. Is there boredom? Yes. Is there an Ouija Board, absolutely! Are there bad decisions, comeuppances, love and friendship and falling outs? Yes. Perrotta is excellent writing on the knife edge of humor and sorrow.
As of this writing, I know there is a wallop at the close. I can’t give you a spoiler because I’m not done… but things are getting dicey!
Opportunities to engage in the r.w.e. community:
Mentor Book Group— in which we read memoirs, personal growth books, fiction and discuss what we might like to adopt in our own “work-in-progress” lives. ORBITAL, by Samantha Harvey will be our June book, meeting on 28 June at 9a pacific time. Love to have you join us.
If you’d like to discuss books with me and a group of smart and lively readers, the r.w.e. book group selection for June is ACCIDENTAL DEVOTIONS and Kelli Russell Agodon will be joining us to discuss her poems on Sunday, 21 June, at 9a pacific time. She is a-mazing and you should not miss! Our July selection is THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY, by Elizabeth Strout. We will meet Sunday, 12 July, also at 9a pacific time on zoom. Want to join in?
The book groups are a perk for paid subscribers. I’d love to get to know you better:
Thank you in advance for sharing your love!
write:
My drawing teacher said the other day that we should always have a trash canvas! That is to say, if you are working on a drawing or a painting and you’re feeling stuck, turn to the trash drawing to exorcise the random impulse that you squelch because you fear you might wreck the drawing! Draw away, perhaps lose yourself, then when you cannot fix a problem, turn the page and try a random solution on your trash version of the drawing… use only triangles, make slashes with an eraser, smudge it entirely with your hand… I don’t know, be wild! Continue to work on the trash drawing until you feel freed up and then turn back to the real drawing.
How can this work with writing? Give your self another project alongside your project! Perhaps you are writing away on your novel or memoir, and you're stuck. What is the next sentence, the next action, the next gesture, the next turn of plot? Pivot to your trash file or a clean page and write a list:
a million unique gestures that aren’t scratching his head or rolling her eyes
small injuries
meals you hated yet had to endure
wonderful mornings you wish you could repeat
cruel things you’ve said that you wish you could take back
where you have loved to swim
lost opportunities for kindness that haunt you
dogs in your neighborhood and their owners
songs you’ve made out to
What is a good topic for a list to loosen us up, to take us out of stuck?
…
To free up your writing, to explore new ideas, to jump in with both feet, I’m offering:
shoot me a note quick! I’ve just a few lanes left!
eat:
I made these Roasted Carrots + I made a delicious discovery. Stay with me!
1 ½ pounds medium carrots
2 T olive oil, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and black pepper
1 lemon
2 tablespoons hazelnuts, roasted, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 T white miso
3 T plain Greek yogurt
3 T tahini
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Peel the carrots, then slice them in half lengthwise, and then in to 2-inch pieces, forming imperfect shapes.
On a large, parchment lined sheet pan, toss the carrots with 2 T olive oil and the cumin. Season generously with salt and pepper. Roast until browned in spots and softened, 20 to 25 minutes.
While the carrots cook, prepare the topping: Finely grate 1 t lemon zest onto a cutting board. Add the hazelnuts, parsley, and chop together until minced and combined.
Make the tahini cream: Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze 3 T of juice into a mini food processor or blender. Add the yogurt, tahini, miso, garlic and 2 T water, then blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture onto your serving platter.
On the sheet pan, give the roasted carrots a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle with olive oil; toss to coat and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Arrange the carrots on top of the tahini cream, drizzling any dressing from the sheet pan on top. Sprinkle with the hazelnut topping, sprinkle with salt, if needed, and serve.
I’m here to tell you, it’s delicious.
And, I’m here to tell you that the tahini, yogurt, miso, garlic cream is better than butter when slathered on a baguette! I’ve made an extra ramekin so I can spread liberally because of the cholesterol issue.
I have a favor to ask? Please, can you heart this post? If you’re reading this in email, simply click the link to the post and hit the heart. It helps me find new readers. Thank you!
Stanley, alert and aware:
If you find yourself regularly reading and enjoying my work and you’d like to show some thanks, you can do so with this charming button:
If you aren’t ready to hop on, yet you wish to send a little love my way:
…
Thanks for being here with me.
Tell your people you love them, and take care of your skin!
PS:
In case you missed it, here are a couple recent missives:
And, to stay in the loop:
Loved this post! Thanks for the reminder aboutWinston Churchill and his painting practice—amazing to think about. And I love the idea of a trash canvas (translated to writing). I’ve been curious about Tom Perrotta’s latest, and something in your description made me think of John Irving, though I know his writing is nothing like Irving’s….
Love the watercolor! (have a little travel kit like that and this a reminder to take it with me more!). AND that recipe and tips on getting unstuck.