*I’ve begun writing a series, On Creating, which will have at least two parts, but we’ll see where this little curiosity leads.*
I was journaling yesterday and, much to my delight, the word sumptuous made its way onto the page. I luxuriated in it, as one must, and I felt a tickle of happiness at the rediscovery of a word I hadn’t used or even thought of in ages.
Then I opened my email inbox and was reminded that my friend Katie had used the word in her weekly newsletter, which I had read just a few days earlier.
And I thought, how magical.
Through her own writing and sharing, another person planted a delicious and delightful word into my subconscious. And the re-discovery of that word ignited a tiny but fervent creative spark in me. I want to use the word sumptuous sometime, somehow. I want to create something sumptuous. I want to feel sumptuous.
When I am stuck in a songwriting rut and feeling uninspired, the surest way for me to get unstuck is to listen to music I’ve never heard before. Almost without fail my creative muscles start stretching toward new ideas, filling in different melodic endings and collecting scraps of lyrics to prompt my own writing. (This week’s “oh wow” moment was Voyager by boygenius.)
Even more interestingly, when I engage with art outside of the type that I tend to make - music and words - I get inspired well outside of my usual comfort zone. I begin to imagine sewing projects, multi-arts collaborative installations, video ideas. I get a glimpse of parts of myself I often forget or disregard because they are not my shiniest, most proficient areas.
We live in a beautiful world where your art makes my art makes your art. We feel inspired, we make something, we share, it enters the ether, it gets digested, it decomposes, it becomes something new again. Creation is a forever cycle. There is nothing new under the sun but there are endless slants of light in which to view the world as it is. And there are endless people showing/telling/singing/dancing their version of the view.
Some art and literature that’s been changing the view for me:
- the art of (M)olly Costello
- Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
- the songs of Carsie Blanton
- Octavia Butler’s books, particularly the Lilith’s Brood trilogy
What have you seen/heard/read lately that has lit a spark in you?
xo
Shannon
Upcoming Shows
March 29 - Sofar Sounds Toronto, 7:30pm - tickets
April 20 - NATURENURTURE (at the Old Camborne Schoolhouse) with Katie Hoogendam, Jakeb Daniel and Whitney O’Hearn. Tickets and more info coming in about a week, this thing is shaping up to be very exciting!
Featured Song - Saint and the Thief
Two friends told me recently that this is their favourite one of my songs, and it has sort of dropped off the performance set list of late. (Unfortunately it is still as politically relevant as ever.) So this one’s for you - you know who you are - lovers of the cinematic, country-tinged cry for equality and body autonomy.
Listen to Saint and the Thief.
"our art makes my art makes your art." YES!!!!! Sumptuous indeed, my dear co-creatrix!