to write or not to write....

this is the question.

I attended a writing class tonight with the English in Toulouse group.

It is a wonderful little font of information and connection if you find your self in Toulouse for a bit.

Narelle is a warm gentle soul, inviting and helpful, who orchestrates the gatherings.

If you want to practice speaking English or want to connect with other English speaking people, there are opportunities weekly on Tuesday afternoon and Friday evening. How great is that.

Back to the writing group. 

Six came together, and with a couple of different exercises,
we were writing and sharing our stories.
Such an interesting mix of women, perspectives and imagination.

"Write drunk, edit sober..." Ernest Hemingway

We ordered drinks and discussed the benefit of drinking for budding writers.
I sat next to Ann. She writes a blog about her adventures in Toulouse.
She wrote the funniest blog post about kissing in the workplace which was just what my French husband was experiencing in the first few weeks here.
It was a timely & insightful read.

For me attending tonight was bigger than just going to a writing class.

It was about being brave and having the confidence to go to a place i had not been before,  meet with people i don't know and do an activity that exposes some creative vulnerabilities.

Oprah Winfrey quote by Marloes de Vries

I am not a writer. 

I keep a blog. 

But it is mainly for me and my 3friends who read it 

and now my extended family who are interested in this big adventure.

We were given a selection of maybe 10words and i tried to put them all in the story.
This is what i wrote in 10mins:

The cactus pie was a favourite of her grandmothers. The recipe included chilli, enough to warm your cheeks but not blow your socks off.

Her grandfather always added extra chilli. They lived in a canyon where it never snowed. Now that she was grown with a family of her own she lived in snow three quarters of the year. The trampoline was only used in the summer. She made cactus pie all year long.  In winter it was filled with zucchini and in summer they drank beer with it. 

Her grandparents were gone, but she sent cards to her mother with the children playing in the snow. They never tired of the cold. She felt it bitterly, as she was not from here. With the cat on the windowsill, she drank her tea and watched the children play. She decided ”I will make cactus pie tonight.”  Her husband walks in the door with a bucket of fresh fish. Maybe fish pie instead. 

*

Stepping out of my comfort zone is the whole purpose of this trip.

Stretch, grow, explore, play, find freedom in time and space 

and overcome ordinary challenges that at home would be simple.

When we take risks (even relatively safe ones) we open up to exciting possibilities.

Tonight was a wonderful chance for me to meet some lovely women, 

chat about some interesting things and challenge my creative muscles.

I have missed the connection to women, my matriarchy of a family and great friends. 

Through English In Toulouse i have made a new friend.

This friendship has been a surprising gift.

We have been together only a handful of times and yet it is like we have known each other a lot longer.

Ever had that?

A kindred like in Anne of Green Gables. 

Ann Shirley and Diana Barry who just enjoy each others company. 

Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. 

It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

sparkle when you meet a kindred

& twirl into your own writing group

*

Flower of the sun...

"Bring me the sunflower crazed with the love of life."

-Eugenio Montale

Driving through the country, there were miles of fields of finished sunflowers. 

Some had been cut already. many looked like this. 

They were captivating. We stopped.

It was like landing in another world.

The giant stalks hardened by the summer sun, still holding wilted heads.

Each flower is a world in itself. It is not one flower, 

but a flower head which contains hundreds of tiny flowers. 

 little flowers each contain a seed. 

We broke them open and ate the soft nutty centres, before the birds.

The fields would have been amazing sights in full golden bloom. 

This time it was not to be.

To imagine yellow as far as the eye can see would be something.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. 

But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. "

-Winston Churchhill

Velvety & oh so detailed.

A new golden. 

An autumn hue different from the summer.

This did not disappoint. In its own way it was spectacular. 

Containing a beauty richer for the destiny these flowers fulfilled.

They will become  oil, animal feed, mulch. 

I wish we had thought to run through the field.

Heads bowed with quiet reverence.

"I experience a period of frightening clarity 

in those moments when nature is so beautiful. 

I am no longer sure of myself, 

and the paintings appear as in a dream. "

-Vincent Van Gogh

It was a funny little stop on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

It certainly recharged me and made me smile all day.

We shall not cease from exploration, 

and the end of all our exploring will be

 to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. 

T.S. Elliot

sparkle & twirL *