Creativity During the Cold
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Hello Friends, This cold November morning, I’m staring through the bare winter branches outside my window. The branches are festooned with rows of raindrops, hanging on like bright pale jewels. But what catches my attention is a hummingbird on a wire. It is so tiny, it is barely a dark spot on the slender line. Occasionally, it flies up, then quickly returns to its perch. As I paused in my watching to type these words, the hummingbird departed, a squirrel climbed a fence across the street, and in the distance, a crow flew by. Life is everywhere. Leaves decay, making new soil. Worms and insects burrow beneath the leaves, some of them becoming food for robins and crows. Evergreens remain stalwart, insistent on providing shelter for the birds and animals who do not migrate. Even during times of destruction, life abides. Creativity abides. On the topic of creating when times feel cold and hard, remember that Vegas conference I just attended? I wrote about listening to a keynote given by actor, writer, and director Kevin Smith. ...Kevin Smith then proceeded to give the most foul-mouthed commencement speech ever. It was great. In between laughs, Kevin Smith’s pale, grizzled, middle-aged face told the story of his life. Hard work. Pain. Laughter. Trauma. Self-loathing. Movies. Love. A near death from a massive heart attack. A stint in a mental health facility. And kindness. An ocean of kindness. And it was the kindness that he offered us, rolled out on a mighty wave. “Your voice is your currency,” he said. And, in an echo of the great Martha Graham, he expanded on that to say that our unique perspective is all we have, so that is what we must offer. And then he went on: There are two pathways in life, creativity and destruction. “Destruction is easier,” he said. And isn’t that the truth? But still, we must create. In a world filled with destruction, creativity is vital. Without creativity, things wither and die. So today I ask us all: What are you creating? I made the essay public on my Patreon today, if you’d like to read the rest: The Night I Didn't Meet Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith—like me and so many others I know—has managed to keep going for decades, even when the odds were stacked against him. Like the tiny hummingbird and the foraging crows, Kevin Smith keeps responding to life itself. How about you? Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
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Hello friends, We had one of our rare snow days here in Portland, Oregon. When snow arrives here, it stays for a week at the most. This week’s storm lasted for all of twenty-four hours. That sort of snow is a pleasure to walk in, and a pleasure to watch from the warmth and comfort of our 108 year old home. Others are not so fortunate, I know. Before the storm hit, our household contributed to a hotel fund for some folks who live on the street. And, as the temperatures reached freezing in the...