Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

When I worked on a poem, it was the most important thing in the whole world.  Until recently, practically all my poems were generated from my journals.  When I wanted to convert an entry to a poem, the time I spent working on it was the most important thing in the whole world.  I would lose myself in the poem.

Time would disappear.  I would first want to get it (the particular experience I wanted to capture) all down.  That was the function of my journal.

I was not afraid initially of being redundant.  I knew I could go back and eliminate the repetition.  Then I would go back, condense it, shape it, get it to the point I could not do any more with it.

Then I would read it to my wife and listen to her reaction and any suggestions she may have.  And go back to it.  This may happen the next day or whenever I had time although I did not want to lose interest in the poem.

I would again look at, refine it and polish it, see what I could eliminate, what got in the way, see if any phrase needed rearranging, if the timing was wrong.  I did not want to tamper too much with the original.  I would work with the poem until I could not do any more with it again.  I would have my wife hear it again.

I was very attuned to how it sounded out loud.  Did it need emphasizing here or there, did I like the way a word or phrase or line sounded to my ear.  At some point I considered the poem finished.  A lot of this was done by instinct.  Some poems I am never happy with.  And others I simply discard or look at some other time in the future.

Down the road I may venture to read it in public.  That takes a lot of courage.  Many do not make it that far.  Few get to the keyboard.  I have to feel the entry has possibilities.  That is somewhat the process of my poems.

Tags: being redundant, capture the experience, condense the poem, courage to read in public, editing your writing, how a poem sounds out loud, instinct, listen to reaction to poem, listen to suggestions about poem, lose myself in the poem, my journals, poem, poetry, process of writing a poem, read a poem in public, read poem to my wife, rearrange phrases in a poem, refine a poem, repetition, time disappeared, timing in a poem, write a poem, write it all down, writers, writing
Posted in art, balance, God, knowledge&learning, local, marriage, time, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

Editing your own work is always painful.  Having one or two persons who can give you helpful feedback is invaluable.  My wife is such a person and I don’t take her for granted.  I like what Stephen King said in a book he wrote about writing, ‘take out what is not the story.’  It is not easy to do.  And an outsider is in a much better position to tell you that.  I have one test:  if you take something out of your story (poem or whatever) and you do not miss it, it did not belong there.  The beauty of a well written piece is what is left out–like a beautiful piece of music where every note counts.  You do not want to discourage the reader with clutter.  You want every word to count.  Having said that, it is not easy to do.  A good editor is worth their weight in gold.

Tags: beautiful piece of music, clutter in writing, don't take for granted, editing your writing, every note counts, every word counts, good editor worth their weight in gold, helpful feedback, my wife, poem, poetry, reader, Stephen King, take out what is not the story, well written, writers, writing
Posted in art, balance, beauty, God, knowledge&learning, life, marriage, music, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

It was in the late sixties I started keeping a journal.  It was a pivotal point in my life.  Forty years ago I knew my emotions were frozen.  I could not cry.  I did not know how I felt at any moment.  I was deeply depressed.

My journal was a start.  It gave me somewhere to go safely.  It was my only outlet (outside of sports) at the time.  My writings back then were not that good.  I poured out my depressed feelings.

Eventually some of my entries became poems and even got published.  That was the furthest thing from my mind when I started.

At some point years later I made an important shift:  instead of accenting the negative I started writing more and more about the positive in my life.

I never would have got there if I had not written first about all the things that were bothering me.

At some point I started recording the humorous things that happened around me.  It became another way to diffuse the “craziness” I saw.

I found out decades later I liked making people laugh at open mikes.  And I wrote more and more funny poems.

None of this would have not (???) happened if I did not start journalling in the late sixties.  Now my blogs have almost replaced my journal.  Though entries in my journal still trickle in.

Tags: accent the negative, blogging, blogs, could not cry, depressed, emotions frozen, feelings, funny poems, journal entries, journalling, keeping a journal, late 1960's, make people laugh, my journal, open mike, pivotal point in life, poems, poetry, publishing poetry, somewhere safe, sports, write about humorous things, write about the positive, write about what is bothering you, writers, writing
Posted in balance, beauty, God, health, humor, knowledge&learning, life, local, mental health, sports, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

Sometimes people bless you when you least expect them to.  I remember once working at a residential home and taking apart a vacuum cleaner for its passage way was clogged up and thinking nothing of it.

My boss noticed that and commented and praised me for doing that and said in passing another worker is not able to do things like that.

I realized at that point my ability to fix the vacuum cleaner was a gift.  Not everyone can do that.  Sometimes we are so quick to dismiss abilities we have because we know other people can do it better.  Her praise was a gift and blessed me.

Another time I was at my school and showed a teacher some poetry of mine and she rapidly read some of my work and then commented, “I can’t write like that.”  She had multiple degrees and I had none but she blessed me when she said that.

Most of the time people bless you when you least expect it.  We take our own gifts for granted and other people remind us, sometimes, they are really gifts and you have been blessed by them.  Every gift is by grace.  Never forget that.

Tags: abilities are gifts, bless you, blessed by our gifts, boss, college degree, gift is by grace, God, poetry, praise, praise is a gift, residential home, take gifts for granted, teacher, when you least expect it, writing
Posted in God, knowledge&learning, life, relationships, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

I can not tell you exactly why music is so important to me but it is.  On some level, the music I pick every day to listen to is done intuitively.  As a rule, most of it is uptempo and I actually absorb energy from it.  In fact, if I am tired I can no longer (???) can listen to such music:  I have to switch to something laid back and mellow.

I started listening to music seriously over forty years ago.  I knew back then I was not that articulate.  Music expresses the inexpressible so I was able to relate to it.  My favorite group then was Jefferson Airplane.  I came to the conclusion one reason I loved this group so much (I still do today) because their music had, at times, an angry tone and growing up I was not permitted to express anger at all, in any degree, so listening to them was cathartic.

As I grew older, my tastes kept expanding and were very eclectic.  I listened to a broad range of music:  blues, rock and roll, jazz, just about everything.

Although I spent hours everyday listening to music, it was not wasted time:  my mind would roam.  I started keeping journals and writing poetry.  I was gradually becoming more and more creative and that process started with music.

At the same time, I was also becoming more and more articulate.  Music still was important and I continued to listen all those years every day for hours.  I never stopped.  In fact, I am very fortunate my wife shares my love of music.  I am always acting as her personal DJ.

I do not know if any of theses explanations explain my love of music or why I listen but maybe you can identify with some of these reasons or my drive to keep listening.

I am the only one in my family who is obsessed with music.  I can explain it quite plainly:  I want to listen to music almost more than I want to breathe.  I do not think you can be driven more than that.

Tags: absorb energy from music, blues, creative, eclectic tastes in music, expresses the inexpressible, God, jazz, Jefferson Airplane, keeping journals, knowledge, learning, listen to music, love of music, more articulate, music, my wife, personal DJ, poetry, rock, rock&roll, time, writing, writing poetry
Posted in God, knowledge&learning, life, local, love, music, time, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »