Still Standing

My lumber spine is recovery slowly and I am standing more than ever! I feel like singing, “I’m still standing, yeah yeah yeah!” – lyrics from some song by Elton John. I never said I was a big music person, but I do love art and writing. And I love creative living.

I’m standing at the breakfast bar typing this up before I go to the osteopath to be pulled in all sorts of directions which has been helping my back to recover.

It’s been a difficult couple of weeks as I haven’t been able to do as much art but it’s given me plenty of time to lay facing the ceiling and contemplate my novel’s next steps.

As the two weeks have gone by I’ve been able to stand more and I was able to do this portrait on procreate. I am so happy with it because it’s my first procreate drawing. It took my mind off the pain and helped me learn some of the pencil and pen tools in the app. I’m not sure I’m going to be a big user of digital art apps but I did enjoy this process.

My best friend helped me get to the art store so I could get an easel. That adventure resulted in a messy charcoal portrait of this guy. I think I made him into a cross between a zombie and a caricature. I had a lot fun doing this one, even with his creepy eye.

Then as I have been able to sit for slightly longer periods of time, I have been reading Fiona McIntosh’s book, How to Write Your Block Buster. It’s the second time I have come to her for inspiration to get my creative writing heart beat pumping. And it works. She has such a down-to-earth approach to writing that inspires taking even the smallest action on my novel.

I’ve been jotting down the plot for The Living Death of Toddy James and editing the manuscript in 10 minute intervals as that’s about how long I can sit for.

It feels good to be living a creative life even in the smallest of moments of the day.

I feel like my novel is going to start deepening and broadening as I go now and that’s wonderful. Writing stories is a creative activity that fills me up. I need to make more time for this creative expression, and I will. As I heal my back and move through the emotions of my mother’s Alzheimer’s Disease my mind is clearing and the fog is lifting.

I’m so grateful to be writing as well as doing art again. Creative living is rich living.