I generally do not make New Year's resolutions.
I look at it like this, I am already hard on myself 365 days a year!
I can choose to diet, save money, make art or spend more time
with people I love on any day or month I choose.
That said, I am not without a tradition friends. What I like to do is write a poem, usually, about
looking forward with a bit of hope to the new calendar year. For 2017
I came up with a blog post that expressed the sentiment I stated
above, which is that you don't only have the beginning of the calendar year
to make changes. You have the power, the ruby slippers, to make fabulousness
happen all the year long! That's 12 months, 365 days to make a change!
So approaching 2018 at the end of this December I was thinking a lot about
what I might write but honestly, I wasn't feeling much inspiration at all.
Not one bit! Quite frankly, it had been quite a while since
I had written a poem, period. I had not even managed a blog
post in months! Let me just say, it weighs on a person when their creative outlet
becomes a bleak, empty, dark hole! You start eating more, crying more,
wearing sweatpants more and one day you realize you've become a lifeless lump!
I know you know what I'm talking about?! Right?! You can't force creativy!
Well, I mean, you can try but generally that does not produce anything but a stink face!
Thankfully the dark hole didn't hang out for too long because one day I'm just going about
my business and it happened! An actual intelligent thought! Ha ha! I mean idea!
Woo Hoo!
I decided to try and write a poem inspired by my friend's and family's
"best moment" photos from 2017.
I have in the past created these slideshow Youtube videos
using photographs and recordings of me reading my poetry.
Normally I would write the poem first and then post a shout out on my facebook feed
inviting friend's to send me their photos that match up with the theme of said written poem.
These videos have been fun collaborations for all of us involved so
I really wanted to do something similar for my first of 2018 poem!
This time around instead of starting with a finished poem and then matching up photos,
I decided to try a different approach. I took to facebook and asked
my lovely tribe to send me photos of their best moments from 2017
or just a memory, something written out that they had felt positive about.
Over two days I received about 30 images, a few explanations of what the photos meant to them
plus a couple of heart felt messages minus anything visual attached.
I made screen shots of those messages and printed them out
along with the pictures so I could hold them, feel them, look at them and
soak up what I was getting from the images I was seeing.
It took me a few attempts but I finally came up with words and a general
sentiment that the photos stirred up in me. My first artistic accomplishment of 2018!
Whapow!
Please take a look at the video here, which is the finished collaboration.
The words to the poem are below. Please feel free to share.
I hope you all have many triumphs throughout the year!
Sending you love and hope!
Beth
I look at it like this, I am already hard on myself 365 days a year!
I can choose to diet, save money, make art or spend more time
with people I love on any day or month I choose.
That said, I am not without a tradition friends. What I like to do is write a poem, usually, about
looking forward with a bit of hope to the new calendar year. For 2017
I came up with a blog post that expressed the sentiment I stated
above, which is that you don't only have the beginning of the calendar year
to make changes. You have the power, the ruby slippers, to make fabulousness
happen all the year long! That's 12 months, 365 days to make a change!
So approaching 2018 at the end of this December I was thinking a lot about
what I might write but honestly, I wasn't feeling much inspiration at all.
Not one bit! Quite frankly, it had been quite a while since
I had written a poem, period. I had not even managed a blog
post in months! Let me just say, it weighs on a person when their creative outlet
becomes a bleak, empty, dark hole! You start eating more, crying more,
wearing sweatpants more and one day you realize you've become a lifeless lump!
I know you know what I'm talking about?! Right?! You can't force creativy!
Well, I mean, you can try but generally that does not produce anything but a stink face!
Thankfully the dark hole didn't hang out for too long because one day I'm just going about
my business and it happened! An actual intelligent thought! Ha ha! I mean idea!
Woo Hoo!
I decided to try and write a poem inspired by my friend's and family's
"best moment" photos from 2017.
I have in the past created these slideshow Youtube videos
using photographs and recordings of me reading my poetry.
Normally I would write the poem first and then post a shout out on my facebook feed
inviting friend's to send me their photos that match up with the theme of said written poem.
These videos have been fun collaborations for all of us involved so
I really wanted to do something similar for my first of 2018 poem!
This time around instead of starting with a finished poem and then matching up photos,
I decided to try a different approach. I took to facebook and asked
my lovely tribe to send me photos of their best moments from 2017
or just a memory, something written out that they had felt positive about.
Over two days I received about 30 images, a few explanations of what the photos meant to them
plus a couple of heart felt messages minus anything visual attached.
I made screen shots of those messages and printed them out
along with the pictures so I could hold them, feel them, look at them and
soak up what I was getting from the images I was seeing.
It took me a few attempts but I finally came up with words and a general
sentiment that the photos stirred up in me. My first artistic accomplishment of 2018!
Whapow!
Please take a look at the video here, which is the finished collaboration.
The words to the poem are below. Please feel free to share.
I hope you all have many triumphs throughout the year!
Sending you love and hope!
Beth
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