Relaxing In The Arms Of Experience

Yesterday and today...I have continued to assemble my workshop on creativity...slated
to be given at the end of August. One of the things that has come to mind...is how we
should have confidence in what our experience of engaging in a given activity...has
taught us...and move away...as quickly as possible from the first feelings you get...
when faced with putting together a program..."how am I going to do this?...it's too
large...too many details to consider...how am I going to face a room full of people
for hours...not minutes...and not make a complete fool of myself?". Although we may
have long experience in a given subject...we still tend to get these initial feelings. So what I know helps me in these situations...is to remind myself...of my close acquaintanship with the subject at hand...i.e. my experience with it...and start in putting together...what I'm going to be delivering up ahead. There may be brave...or very silver tongued people...who give seminars of one kind or another...about subjects they do not have long knowledge of...I wish them well. In my own case my preference...is to tell about what I have long experience of...knowing that my experience will rescue me...from whatever initial doubts I may have about "delivering the goods"...
................Quester.

An Expressed Person

Earlier today sent an email reply to a friend who was asking about starting a blog.
I was happy to give him my take...and encouragement...on this revolution that's going on...with a medium of expression available to every writing man and woman across the world. It's an available free gift...that I like to see people make use of. There are
many benefits that come out of blogging. One of them being...that after you've blogged for a while...you become what I call "an expressed person"...rather than being someone who has things in him or herself...that are for one reason or the other...been blocked from being expressed. After a while...doing your postings...you begin to actually feel "unblocked"...which has got to be good in some way for your health. For me...this has nothing to do with whether...many people are reading your blog or not. What matters is that you're finally expressing yourself...and it's available...even in distant places...for anyone who might find it. I think that...expressing yourself...and having it available across the world...is worth it...in and and of itself...without ever getting yourself addicted to counting numbers...knowing that...at last...you have become...an "expressed person"...................Quester.

Creating A Creativity Work Shop

Earlier today started the preparation of a workshop about creativity...its benefits...
and the creative idioms that would be dealt with in the workshop. I'm scheduled to present it...in Kamloops...towards the end of August...the day after doing a concert
there...where I'll be joined by a friend. As has happened before...I felt completely blank about what its contents would be...only this morning...before I started working on it...but then I reminded myself that I had been creating...all my adult life...and all I needed to do...was to return to the attitude and approaches that had worked for me...i.e. if you've done it over a long period of time...you should be able to collect your thoughts and tell about it. For me...that is the only qualification I'd wish in someone who was telling me about creativity...not that they'd read a lot of books about it...but that they'd actually engaged in it...over a long period of time. Today is only the first day of my creating this workshop about creativity...and there is still a lot of work to bring it into shape...but I think I made a break through with it...and now...all I have to do is to keep working on it. I look forward to delivering it...when the time comes.................Quester.

Sunny Days

We've been in a heat wave the last few days in British Columbia...with heat records
being broken...all over the place. Just occured to me...that as I type this...I'm kind of making a record myself...doing so in my bare feet...something I've never done before
...given the cold that so often...for me anyway...seems to seep up from the floor...on to my feet...at just about any time of the year...in Canada. It's got to be hot for me to walk around bare footed. I've been noticing the last few days...how the heat has brought out a lot of bright colours...in the little clothing that people are wearing...a far cry from the greys...and dark colours of winter...and with the colour red seeming to be the dominant choice. I've noticed also...oleander plants...central to my childhood in Guyana...on balconies around where I live...taking the cue from the heat...and blooming bright pink. In Vancouver...we are fortunate to have many beaches...and people have been flocking to them since the hot spell began. For a few days anyway...the populace will be free from making complaints about the rain. Sunny days are here.......Quester.

Summer Dreams

Yesterday I sang at the Summer Dreams Festival in downtown Vancouver. Last year I
appeared at this festival reading poetry. It was hot for singing but I survived...
without forgetting any words...or stumbling over any chords on the guitar. You have
your own measuring stick for assessing how you performed on a given day. Yesterday
there were compliments after...but I didn't feel I was at the "top of my form".
Anyway...the afternoon went well...chatting with fellow poets...and meeting up with
an old friend...and appreciating the work and planning it takes to put on a festival..
that's mainly about poetry. May it go on.................Quester.

The Fruit Of The Earth Returns

I've always had a special feeling
when I've seen fruit ripening
on the tree or vine...
I suppose watching things come to fruition...
gives us hope...tells us that despite
the long cool pause that winter brings...
that our sustenance has returned.
In addition to all that...
there is a pleasing of the eye...
in the rosyness...goldeness...
or sometimes pupleness of ripening fruit...
as Creation continues to deliver
on beautiful things...long after...
the first flowers of Spring are gone...
.................Quester.

Tiny Tool To Hand

Had two walks yesterday that turned out to be picture taking sessions. My camera is one of those wonders of modern technology...a tiny thing...that...if I'm lucky using it...can bring me back some jewel images...from time to time. I used to walk about with my daily journal in my pocket...a lot of the time these days my little camera replaces it...and sometimes I make a conscious effort to have both with me as I go out. It's the tiny-ness of my picture taker...along with what it can do...that has caused a picture making surge in my life...that I've been surfing on...for the last five or six months now. I think at core I am a picture maker...and finding almost daily ways to exercise the picture maker in me...I know has benefited me. No tripod...or cumbersome camera and camera bag...as I leave home each time...has made picture taking for me...something I can do with ease...as the images call out to me as I roam. It's a reminder that creating...doesn't always have to be an onerous thing...but can simply be an organic part of your life...with its tools to hand...wherever you may find yourself.........................Quester.

A Short Visit

Met with friends from out of town yesterday and we went sight seeing in and around
Vancouver. One sight seen...was these two eagles at the top of an evergreen tree...that
wasn't very green at the top. I've noticed that eagles like such vantage points...with
no leaves in front of them to obstruct their view. After some look around and beach time...the time flew away and we said our goodbyes. It was a short visit...and we came
close to missing the window of opportunity to meet...I am glad we got it before it
vanished......................Quester.

Quiet Time

Today and tonight there are events to go to...but I'm getting the nudge to let the
crowded places be. I tend to listen to "nudges from the deep" as I call them...so today
...and probaly tonight...will find me "on my own recognisance"...living through some
quiet time. Just returned from a walk. On my walks I usually take some pictures...but
today too...my camera never left my pocket. Perhaps the news I've received recently...of illnesses of people I know...and war in the Middle East...have brought
me to a very "sobering" place...hence the inclination to lie low. When I step back and
think of it...I see...that we also need those times in our lives. So here's to a
quiet day...and may tomorrow bring some "happy noises"................Quester.

A Reason For Living

I have often wondered about what was going on in the minds of people I've seen around
town...again and again...engaged in some activity that makes them stick out from the
throngs of people around them. People such as...the street preacher I've previously
written about on this blog...the man who looks a bit like Red Skelton the comedian...
who I've seen on a not highly populated sidewalk...playing his harmonica...and doing
a little shuffle to his music...while people continue to pass by oblivious of his
presence...and the person in this picture...squatting under an umbrella in the sun...on a busy side walk. Who knows what started them on the trails they are on...begging to differ from the rest of human kind around them. Some may call them eccentrics...people suffering from some kind of delusion...sometimes I think...they may just be human beings...who are unconcerned about what other people think...and have found a strong reason for getting up each day...rather than surrendering to the ever present blandishments of inertia...calling them to ceast and desist...from living life as they see it..............Quester.

Singability

Did a rehearsal of some of my songs today. One...recently rediscovered...I found myself
singing over and over again...was a song called..."Fugitive From Expectations". I think
the song is saying something...but what kept me singing it...was its "singability".
Just made that word up...but what I mean...is that some songs...in some ways...sometimes hard to put into words...pleasure the "singing centre" in you...i.e.the part of you that enjoys singing certain notes...in certain rhythms...or for some other reason that has to do with the feeling of enjoyment you get from singing a given song. Sometimes...another song...saying a lot more...you might not enjoy
singing as much. So...as a song writer...you write all kinds of songs...and if you're
lucky...some of them you really enjoy singing. So..."Fugitive"...is yet to be fully
learnt...but I think I'm going to keep singing it...for the next while......Quester.

A Life For All Seasons

Our poet friend passed on...on Saturday...saddening those of us who knew her...and
raising so many questions about life. One of the things a time like this does for me
...is remind of the things in life that are really important...versus the shallowness
and impermanence...of so much else. It's another wake up call...reminding us...of a
way to live a life...for all seasons....................Quester.

One Song At A Time

Earlier today...took quite a few pictures...on my walk back from Commercial Drive.
Can't help notice how tattered some of the flowers look...and we're only into the first
week of July. Also the grass is sere in many places...the lush green of early June long
gone...as the rain has dwindled and the sun has shone...day after day. It underlines
why the freshness of early spring...means so much to me. You really notice the
difference a week or two can make...as you keep taking pictures across the seasons.
I'm not complaining...however...summer has its own special fine energy...and it is oh so fleeting. This afternoon I returned to listening to a tape of my songs...and taking
notes...as I look to select a bunch to work on...for my next recordings. A realization
came to me as I did this. It was that when I go to work on my music...the first thing
I must do...is put aside the "largeness of the task"...although there are many songs yet to be recorded. The thing is to de-intensify...and calmly work on...one at a time.
I should know by now...that if you peck away at things...day after day...they accrue...
and there's no real need for intensity as I "peck away".................Quester.

A Kinder And Gentler Life

Today has been a sobering day. With a friend...visited a fellow poet who is extremely
ill. We both tried to give as much comfort as we could...but eventually left feeling
sad about what was taking place. At these times...a thousand somber thoughts flood
into your mind...and you have to reach for a higher plane...as you process what has
been stirred up. Regardless of visible evidence of the seriousness...of the condition
of the person you're visiting...still wish that person...and their family...the best
under the circumstances they find themselves in. You also come away...having had a
strong reminder...ro yourself...about living a kinder and gentler life............
...........Quester.

They Don't Pay My Rent

Brazil...and now Portugal...the two teams I have been rooting for...have been knocked out of the World Cup...and this morning Maria Sharapova was turfed from the
Wimbledon Tennis Championship. Fortunately...no jumping out of a fourth floor window
for me...I learnt many years ago...to make quick transitions back to sanity...when the side I'm backing loses. I find...that there is a need to back one side...in these tussels...in order for me to sustain my interest. I guess it's some ancient tribal hold over...but I also know that with a side...in sports...is not where my ultimate identity lies. I remember years ago...when one of the early sides I was rooting for...was knocked out of a championship...feeling disappointed...but processing the experience...and in a little while hearing myself say..."well...those rich guys on that team...certainly don't pay my rent!". My transition back to real life...is even swifter than it was in those days...and I can stiil appreciate a brilliant strike from thirty yards out...that finds the back of the net...or a driving forehand on the run...that passes the player on the other side of the net...and I also know...that at it's best...almost any sport can rise to the heights of art...and yes...I still like art for art's sake.................Quester.

Guest Poet

Last night I was one of the two guest readers...at a monthly poetry session...in a large book store...in Vancouver. Despite the beautiful tropical evening outside...there was a good nucleus of an audience. The reading went well...helped by the fact that the audience was a listening one...not distracted by waiters taking orders...or glasses and dishes clinking and clattering. Choosing which poems to read...is always the hardest part for me. For me anyway...I read some of the poems I have copies of...rather than toiling on...trying to find ones that would represent me in a "comprehensive" way. However...frm a substantial stack of poems I arrived at the venue with...I found myself winnowing them down to ones I could live with reading this night. It's a highly arbitrary process...but perhaps...it satisfies the editor in me...always doing some culling. The actual reading of the poems...I don't find difficult...the way I did when I first started reading poems in public. Over the years of doing it...I think...I may have arrived at a way of reading what is before me...so that it communicates something to those listening. Anyway...it was a good night all round...and I headed home feeling...I'd "delivered the packet" I had set out to deliver......................Quester.

Back To My Music

Yesterday...after listening to a tape of my songs yet to be recorded...I made a
conscious effort...to focus back on my music...which has been pushed aside a bit...
since my acquiring a digital camera...and taking and processing pictures almost every
day since. So...yesterday and today...I spent quite a bit of time listening to song
tapes...and sometimes being reminded of songs...I'd almost forgotten I'd written. I
hope to keep songs...to the forefront over the next while...although I hope to take
some pictures in between. Yesterday...I also found a tape I'd been looking for...high
and low...of two instrumentals I'd created several years ago...one called "Heart Beat" ...and the other "Earth Song". I was happy...when today...I was able to turn the two...into digital information...now stored in my computer. "Earth Song"...of the two...is importsnt to me...as it was done as as a chanting improvisation...in which I hit some low notes...I doubt whether I've hit since...or am likely to up ahead...given the "space" I was in that day. The power in this piece...comes out of its improvisation...and trying to do a singing copy of it...simply aouldn't work...hence why it was important to save it as a digital piece...that can be put on a disc. It helped to make an encouraging start...getting back to my music..............Quester.

Day Of The Red Maple Leaf

Went to the Canada Day celebrations...at Granville Island...yesterday. There were
throngs of fellow human beings present...many sporting flags...tucked in their hair...
or caps...or wearing t-shirts...or sporting accessoties...with the red maple leaf. The sun for the nth day in a row was beating down...adding to the festive energy present. The heat finally pushed me homeward...feeling glad that I had mingled cheek by jowl...with fellow Canadians...and glad that my son and daughter are citizens of this country...............Quester.