Let Mother Nature Be Your Guide

Have you ever gazed upon the clouds and identified other image within the cloud formation?   How about peering into the dew-laden blades of grass and seeing diamonds or crystals?    Some of Mother Nature's most common occurrences can easily be used to set your muse in motion.       

Clouds…. who or what do you see in each of the puffy white wonders?  What memories of childhood cloud-gazing are brought to life when you repeat the activity as an adult?

Raindrops….  Have you ever taken a walk through a forest or garden after the rain?  What struck you the most about the ways in which the raindrops mingled with the plant life?  Try spending some time peering into the raindrops that have perched on the grass, leaves and flowers… and then allow your mind to take you on a trip down memory lane to rains and nature walks of days long gone.        

Rainbows… Whether it is the memory of a family viewing of the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and the well known song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or it is a memory of the appearance of a rainbow at a significant time in your personal life, almost everyone has a rainbow story 

  

Lightening, ice, fog ……  all of these evoke such powerful memories for me when I take the time to stop and appreciate the wonder of Mother Nature's beauty and mystery.  How about you?  Are there stories within that are just waiting for the perfect nudge from Mother Nature?  Spend some time over the next two eeks or so communing with Mother Nature's phenomenon and turn those moments into opportunities to write your own stories.                                                                         

                                               

Blackberry Winters, Indian Summers & ???

      
Blackberry Winters, Indian Summers and ???

It's May and everywhere I look the emphasis is on summer's immenent arrival. Everywhere except in the air where store merchandising schedules mean nothing and Mother Nature has the final word. Here in northeast Tennessee not more than ten days ago we had "Blackberry Winter"—the blackberries are in bloom but the temperatures are more winter-like than late spring-like. Just when I thought it was safe to pack away the winter clothes, I woke to find temperatures in the 30's.

As I sat and contemplated this "Blackberry Winter" phase I realized that there are other fleeting seasons named by … well… by whom?   Indian Summer… Harvest Moon… Blackberry Winter… Halcyon Days… I'm certain that some of you can name more such days in nature.

What names would describe certain phases of your life? What name would tell someone who doesn't know you exactly who you are this month of May? Why not spend some time in the days ahead reflecting on various times in your life—give those phases appropriate names much like the Blackberry Winter we've just had here in Tennessee?

 Are you in a place in your writing life that seems to be a major flood? or perhaps a phase that resembles a drought? Has your writing experience opened you up to rainbows and sunshine or dark clouds and storms? Mother Nature provides us with so many examples of the mix of positive and negative forces coming together… So does the practice of writing life stories.