Winter’s Well-Timed Waiting Game

This article was written for the March issue of Moonshine magazine online.

While most of the north is still wrapped in a winter blanket of white, here on the Gulf Coast there are already signs that spring is waiting just round the corner.

Waiting being the key word.

Though my toes ain’t froze and my streets ain’t snowed, I’m still anxious for spring. I note each tiny sign of impending primavera with a little heart’s leap for joy.

The red swamp maples are blooming. Joy!

It’s time to start putting out nesting materials for future pairs of mama and papa birds. Joy!

It’s no longer dark when I serve dinner (we eat on a three-year-old’s schedule, which is early, but I’m still counting this one)! Joy!

And so my mind finds two types of creative input from Mother Nature late this winter season: a.) Treasure the tiny things. Revel in the smallest details, and b.) Enjoy the waiting. The longer you have to hold back, the more energy with which you can spring forth!

These are not easy tasks to accomplish, especially in a world so full of over-inflated words and gestures, big screen TVs and high-definition speculation, loud and louder personalities. But, then, the best accomplishments are never easy.

Though the end of winter is when we long for color and indulgence most, through a little focus and restraint we can learn and grow creatively and re-ignite our artistic passions even before the spring sun begins to heat them up.

A few suggestions to get you going (or stopping, as the case may be):

• Don’t touch the instruments of your preferred medium for a week. If you’re a photographer, no camera. If you’re a painter, no canvas. If you’re a writer, no keyboard. Though most of us have been taught to work on our craft every day, a purposeful break will renew our perspective and appreciation for our work. Keep a journal of ideas you have, or write them down on scraps of paper, but refrain and restrain from action.

Take an extra hint from the animals, though, who have spent their winter break feeding themselves well and stockpiling supplies . . . when you’re done with your break, you’d better have materials ready, because you’ll be as busy making art as the spring animals are making babies!

• Refuse to accept that winter is a colorless season. Each time you go out, look for Roy. ROY G. BIV, that is. At first, brown, white, and green will be the only shades you see, but nature will give you an example of each color, I promise. (The advanced version of this little exercise is to grab a few paint chips at the local home improvement store, and grab one each time you leave the house. Find the exact colors on your paint chips, and you’ll train your eyes to see much more accurately.)

• And, as always: go outside. (Being in a car doesn’t count.) Your body needs the vitamin D from winter’s weak sunshine and your mind needs some space into which it can expand.

So, even if you’re bundled from head to toe and it’s only for five minutes, be in nature purposefully. You may not yet be able to DO anything outside, but you can be there and think there and let your heart beat a little there. You can relish the tension of winter’s waiting and delight in the dream of spring.

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Springing Into Spring

This piece was written for the April edition of Moonshine magazine.  To view the whole magazine, please visit www.moonshine.southerncreativity.com


I recently had the good fortune to travel to Virginia and back over the first weekend of spring. Driving northward from the bountiful blooms of the Florida panhandle to the still-skeletal trees of the Appalachians, it seemed at first as if we were traveling back into winter. On the contrary, though, the longer I spent staring, rapt, out the windows, the more attuned my vision became to the subtler signs of mountain spring.

Where the azaleas, tulips, redbuds, and daffodils had already danced onto the stage of the deep South, singing “Spring is here!” the trees and plants of the mountains seemed, still, to be holding their breath, anxious and waiting in the wings for their cue.

This made me think that spring is the season of held breaths. Starting with that poor, beleaguered groundhog in early February, we’re all waiting for Mother Nature to tell us “It’s all right. You can breathe. I’m going to bring the flowers and the leaves and the warm sun and the soft breezes back this year. I keep my promises.”

And we wait and hope and wait and look for buds and tiny sprigs of peridot green and wait and then one bright morning, the natural world bursts forth in its party ruffles like a line of can-can dancers. The birds strike up the chorus and it’s time to celebrate!

So, artists, photographers, sculptors, crafters, knitters, jewelers, weavers, and writers, it is time for us to join the party. Not just to document the joy, but to take some time to revel – to let our own party ruffles fly out around us as we twirl in the confetti of petals. To strut our fine feathers. To turn our faces to the sun, smile, and say, “Welcome back!”

So get out there and party with the primavera! Take all of your supplies outside on the next sunny day and let loose. See your work in the truest (and prettiest) light: sunlight. Listen to the springsong and feel the warming wind, smell the blossoms on the fruit trees and trace the softest petals with the tip of your finger.

Take it all in and then let it go freely into new and inspired work. And, try to remember to dedicate at least one piece to Mother Nature – she deserves a thank you for always keeping her promises.

www.worldofcolorgallery.com

Warming Up the Muse in Winter

December 15, 2008 - Welcome to our blog! Because I'm a naturalist first and a photographer second, I can't resist the urge to add a few words to the thousand each picture is worth. There's too much wonder going on out there in our world every day to miss out on even a little bit of it! So, I'll be writing new installments of Nature Notes every few days to describe some of the amazing things Ma Nature is doing in my back yard, and I hope you'll write in and share your own knowledge and observations. Just email your comments, feedback, facts and ideas to me at dcb@worldofcolorgallery.com, and I'll add them to the page.
The first piece I'd like to share is about how inspiring nature can be. It originally appeared as an article for Moonshine, the online creativity magazine.

Warming Up the Muse in Winter

Winter in the south is a bigger tease than the most flirtatious southern belle. We southerners are warmed by mother nature’s sweet sun one day only to find that she’s turned a cold shoulder on us the next, buffeting us with icy stares and button-up winds. When you combine that with all of the holiday shopping and hustle, it’s enough to make you double up on the spiked eggnog, but we’ll get to that later. In the meantime, cuddle up in a corner chair and hark unto these tips for warming up the creative despite the frightful weather:

Try Your Hand at a new Handicraft

When we try arts and crafts that are out of our comfort zone, they create entirely new neuron connections within our brains, opening up new pathways of thought. This keeps our brains young and our creative juices flowing like sap rising up a winter maple. (And we’ll get to that one in next issue’s article.) For me, in winter, there’s no better craft to try than one that will keep someone else warm: knitting, crochet, sewing, and/or quilting. Especially where knitting and crochet are concerned, the supplies are cheap and beginners (and children) can make high-quality, satisfying projects. Try making simple 7x9” blanket squares for Warm Up America (http://www.warmupamerica.org/); they’ll knit them together into blankets for the homeless, those who’ve fled abusive relationships, or are in hospices, hospitals, shelters, or nursing homes. With almost the same pattern, you can also make caps for preemie babies in the developing world through Knit One Save One (http://www.savethechildren.org/). Each cap will keep a precious child warm and thus increase his or her likelihood of survival tremendously. And, of course, the possibilities for pouring your creativity and love into these small items are endless.

Take a Winter Walk

Look down: Nature may slow down in winter, but there’s still a lot to see! If you’re luck enough to have snow, start tracking animals. If you start at your birdfeeder, you’ll quickly be able to track and identify birds and squirrels. Then, as you wander farther afield, you may be lucky enough to find the tracks of everything from mice to raccoons to foxes and much more. Following fresh tracks is better than a mystery novel for true suspense. If suspense isn’t your thing, the tracks will reveal a symmetry of design, a pattern of motion, and maybe even a glimpse into the animal’s mind – the beginnings of artistry laid out before you.

Look up: Also, with the leaves on the trees now turning themselves into soil underfoot, bare branches will provide you with a much better view of our feathered, flying friends. Look for songbirds such as cardinals, chickadees, titmice, and sparrows, but also for larger predator birds such as red-tailed and red-winged hawks, who are likely to be found hunting pray from a high vantage point next to an open field. Watching wings in motion is always, well . . . moving.

Look all around: For those of us who probably won’t get snow, we’ll be lucky enough to scan the ground beneath our feet for some of nature’s best handiwork – her seeds, nuts, cones, and acorns – the sheer variety of shapes, colors, and protections for surviving winter will knock you out. And forget not, winter walkers, to get up close and personal with tree bark and standing dry grasses – there are a bevy of beautiful bugs to be found hiding out inside them, waiting for the returning warmth of spring.


Hibernate for a Day

With all of the parties to attend, children’s activities to chauffeur tots to, and errands to be done for the holiday season, sometimes Christmas can feel less like a Merry-thon and more like a marathon. Give yourself (and your family) this one gift: declare a hibernation day. Bears are far bigger animals than we are and they manage to hibernate all winter – surely we can manage one day! Plan far enough in advance so that you don’t have to cancel or miss anything you really want to attend, but then give yourself permission to reject other offers because you’re already booked to hibernate on that day. Then do it! Curl up. All day. Sleep if you can; if you can’t sleep then read, take a long bubble bath, put on inspiring music, stare out a window or into a roaring fire, daydream, drink delicious hot beverages (spiked or unspiked – you’re not driving anywhere!) and have everyone “forage” for simple food from the fridge (rather than making big meals). Tell them that this is your bear spirit’s day of rest and relaxation. By the end of the day you’ll find yourself both totally calmed and also ready to jump back into action.



Hit the Snooze for the Muse

If all else fails, remember this – each of the seasons has a lesson to impart. The wisdom of winter is that we all need rest. So don’t create anything for a while. Take a complete break. Even the most creative spirit needs time to recover, to regain all of the energy it puts out into the world. So use this time to take in, rather than give out. It is fun to receive. Allow others to give to you. Accept kindnesses large and small with gracious thanks rather than rebuffing them with an off-hand “No, I’m fine” or “No, you take it.” The giver will feel gratified and your spirit will be renewed, bathed in the light of love that shines brightest in midwinter’s darkness.

As always, to visit our website full of Nature's Colors, head to www.worldofcolorgallery.com.

Thanks!
World of Color Photography

www.worldofcolorgallery.com