your writing is always beautiful and insightful, i love reading it. i find that often it’s most difficult to put wordless moments to pen or computer (i guess that’s the gift of a great writer like you!). sometimes for me the spirit of the moment, is disarmed with each word i write, but when i read your blog i’m inspired to learn how. thank you for your struggles to share your experiences and thoughts with us. your labors produce phenomenal work!

Writing directly to the computer is also dangerous because it’s one click away from the delete button. With pen and ink, you can turn the page, cross out, or scribble over words, but they’re still there, embedded in the paper. Keep up the good writing, no matter what form it takes.

erich, there’s nothing worse than my own expectations. that’s for sure. I like the piece that is hosting this discussion (Sky is My Salvation), and I like it for the same reason I like everything that I write that is any good (confused?): because I managed to express some truth. that’s what’s rewarding about writing for me… conveying my perceptions, memories, thoughts completely and truthfully. as I’ve been trying to write, I’ve been self-critical of every sentence saying “is that truth?” etc etc…

Lene, I started as a writer in the Natalie Goldberg school (meaning my parents bought me “Wild Mind” when I was about 16) and she says you should always buy the cheapest notebook you can because, like you said, it takes the pressure off. I’ve been enjoying using the blog software to compose much of my writing lately (though I’ve still been journalling with pen and ink some) but you’re right that there’s too much pressure… It’s even worse probably to compose directly in the blog because it’s just one click away from putting it all out there, for better or for worse, in front of my millions and millions of loyal readers. I think I should forget about writing another big essay for a few days at least and do like you said, just jot down in my journal some more of the littlest memories, half-sentences, etc.

In a way, I’ve always known the same to be true about myself. I love writing, but I feel most productive when I’m editing my own stuff. i often get bogged down in editing when I know I should still be putting my ideas out there. I need to refocus on that part of the effort, getting my ideas down in whatever form, and only then start going back and making some sense. I did some of that, between the daily journal I wrote in while on the trip, and some of the brain dumping that I’ve done since I’ve been back, but it obviously hasn’t been enough yet.

again, thanks for the encouragement everybody! happy hump-day!

I was going to suggest writing statements–not necessarily even complete sentences–about the sensual moments of the trip.

Make the footprints so that the story has a place to weave between. I’ve found that when I want to write about an entire trip, it can be overwhelming. That’s when I pull out the smallest journal I’ve got (takes the pressure off) and jot down moments from each day rather than details. No story–maybe a quote or two–but just those things like the way the scent of honeysuckle caught along the ridge of an island or the moment you saw your whole life in the eyes of your wife.

Good luck and happy writing.

i am having the damndest time writing about this trip, and in fact, writing in general. once i forged my way through this piece, i feel like i sapped the last of the creative energy i got out of the trip and all i have left is a bunch of really jumbled thoughts that i can’t figure out how to pull together into any sort of cohesive piece. it’s a really unpleasant feeling.

i think the thing about movement is one of the most important things i began to understand on the recent trip, and i’m only understanding it more now that we’ve been back for over a week. the first night back, i complained to katie that i was feeling restless, something i realized i hadn’t felt at all on the trip. the consciousness of that feeling passed, but it’s the lifestyle here, the constant chaotic movement, that makes concentration and passion nearly impossible.

i’m probably just making excuses.

but really, being still for long periods of time (on a rock lakeside for hours, in a house for decades, in a watershed for a lifetime) is more important than i’ve ever understood. there is a spiritual vaccuum that comes with restlessness, and i feel like i’m close to discovering an important new aspect of that, but all this busy buzzing bullshit is frustrating that.

dave, i wonder how snyder felt about kerouac’s constant ramblings. maybe he wasn’t at the stage of feeling that one should “stay put” when he and jack became friends, heck, snyder went and lived in japan for more than a decade, but there’s something to be learned by the dichotomy of two friends like gary snyder and jack kerouac and everything they represent.

i’m rambling, mostly because it’s better than work on a monday morning.

thanks again for all the thoughts, everybody. i’m going to try to post something decent in the next day or two.

happy monday!

Point 1: ” tendency to stay put”

I took a workshop with Gary Snyder once and his main point was that we should stay put. Not that we should not travel but theat we should not move from place to place because it takes time to fall in love and only people that fall in love with a place will protect it.

Point 2: About the gazing out at the sky. I spend 2 weeks a year out on the west coast in santa cruz mountains. What do I do? Climb the cliffs to a point where I can gaze out at the ocean and sky. A world of peace there.

Thanks again

Dave