Putting It Together, Bit by Bit

From a late August email to a writing instructor with whom I had recently taken a course...
I'm sorry to say I haven't been writing this summer. I just didn't have the energy after a lot of other projects around the house, some of which I do find to be very creative, such as making beautiful decorative items for the house from inexpensive remnants of fabrics from a high-end purveyor. Nothing matches exactly - but I notice how my brain seems to love putting together colors and patterns that subtly relate to one another, composed in patchwork fashion. For a while about a year ago, our bedroom had too much blue in it, which made me restless and uncomfortable. I've introduced beautiful peach tones that subtly contrast - ahhh, much better!

One idea I was mulling over - the idea of a collaborative project. I wrote a somewhat ecstatic short story a while ago (simply chockful of yearning), and I keep thinking of it as a series of images, along the lines of the New York Times "audio slide shows" - I love that format. Only I'm not a photographer, cartoonist, or visual artist in that way - but I wonder if there's someone out there who might be. I thought it might make for an interesting workshop experience to try to put together something collaborative - not necessarily my short story, but a collaborative project of some sort.

This idea too may have been inspired by another experience I had this summer. One day after doing battle with weeds in the garden, I developed a nasty rash that I first thought might be a bee or wasp sting. A few days went by and it wasn't getting better, and it took just a couple of minutes of googling to realize that I had Lyme disease.* I called the medical offices at the hospital and was given an appointment later in the week. I really liked the doctor whom I found to be, I felt, unusually empathetic. She had a wonderful intelligent, humanistic, nonjudgmental manner, and was at the same time very lively, energetic, engaged - an unusual spark. A few days later I thought to google her, and discovered that besides being a physician specializing in infectious diseases, she had written an online novel. I attach the link here - it's quite fascinating. I haven't gone through the entire novel, chapter by chapter, but I love the experience of it, and again, the idea of a collaborative, interactive work.

What a remarkable region we're in, that I go to the doctor's and discover that she is an unusual artist. The universe feels very connected...

*Ed. note: All better.