Tuesday afternoon in the woods. I'm sitting in the cottage watching the yellow leaves fall outside the window. There are SO MANY SQUIRRELS on, around, under, within our house - and, they are madly preparing for winter. It's funny, their sounds go away in summer but, come fall, they are BACK, gathering the nuts, planning, cleaning - I'm not gonna make some parallel between them and myself. I just enjoy them - living with animals, creatures, the woods - it's a good antidote to what can be the hard-edged life of the artist; with its perpetual problem solving, constant processing, self-doubt, ambitions, visions, connection making - it's nice to think about being more animal headed: driven by instinct, the seasons, the weather, play! That sense of play - maybe that's what all animals share. PLAY.
We had a raucous and beautiful gathering of The Secret City on Sunday. The theme was THE UNKNOWN - it was an opening up in many ways, of our community, ideas, curating...things are constantly expanding. I'm working on strategic planning stuff - and, expanding our organization. At the same time, I'm putting together more writing workshops. I really love doing them - have one in NY next month and one in LA the following. In the meantime, this autumn day calls for a nap, I think. Maybe that's how I will resort to animal life today - a nap, while there's still light in the sky. The sound of creatures in the walls and on the roof.
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Wow - what a month it's been since I made this new, sweet little personal website! We kicked off the season of The Secret City, then I led a WRITING LIFE workshop in NYC, then we were out to LA for Secret City LA - we had a little snafu getting home [left the car keys in LA -- ouch] and finally made it back here to Woodstock late Friday night. Took the weekend to get situated: sleep, home-cooked meals, staring out the windows at the beautiful foliage, reading, watching Transparent and, more sleep. Ok! Now it's Monday and the to-do list is HUGE. First things first, I'm advertising my upcoming writing workshops so that's what I'll be up to today - as well as getting the service ready for this Sunday, the theme is THE UNKNOWN! I'm thrilled about it - I've handed all the curating over to other people and can't wait to see what they come up with. Oh, Bobby's birthday is this weekend, too - and we're going to make plans for that. I also want to check in with Jeremy, our SC music director and my dear pal and collaborator, about putting together a few music shows this fall/winter. They'll be benefits for The Secret City - one in LA, one in NYC. I'm excited to sing with a band and make glorious music. I miss that - I miss acting, too - I was thinking about that a lot over the weekend. I love The Secret City and believe in it, wholeheartedly - and, I'd love to do a nice, juicy play with wonderful folks in a great setting. I miss being in rehearsal room with people. Maybe saying this is a sort of intention-setting - do you believe in that? By saying things, you're setting an intention, and setting things in motion? Creating future outcomes? Sometimes I believe that. I also believe that amazing things fall out of the sky and land in our lives and we are richer for them - and, blessed by that element of surprise. We never know what's going to happen, do we? All I can say for sure right now is that I'm going to fix a nice, big, steamy bowl of oatmeal with nuts and berries and maple sugar, then sit in my sweet little kitchen, watch the leaves fall and enjoy. Heaven on earth.
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