Saw Random Order Coffee and had to randomly stop. What an amazing pie case. I had no idea. Saw a beautiful yellow and black garden spider. He weaved his way across the window always coming closer and giving me a clear view of his mottled abdomen- and then I ordered a piece of peach blackberry pie. Beautiful morning.
A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.
– Robert Bulwer-Lytton
I’m currently reading Christopher Moore’s book, Fool, and have had the word stuck in my mind. I had decided to perform a random act of kindness and say thank you to someone I despise. I think the ripples from this will take a while to show. Still it was an interesting sensation walking there and making myself say something nice. Something I don’t experience often, maybe I can use the feeling in a book some day. It probably felt like flattery more than a genuine thank you, but I’m okay with that.
This seems so small and silly, but its the first time I tried, and I’m excited.
I was walking to our business restrooms and thought – I’ve never been to the floor above ours. It felt so strange, but I took the stairs up to that floor. I always took if for granted that the floor existed, but I’d never been above ours in over seven years! This floor was completely different and I had never even heard of the businesses. There were pretty well decorated offices – something I’ve never seen in this building. I almost felt like I was trespassing. The best part – I saw a notice from building management outlining a policy that they communicate differently to us. Now, I can go back to them and tell them we want things the way they do it on the higher floor. It’s going to save our work unit tons of time! Not the fun creative inspiration I was hoping to have for my personal work, but a revelation just the same.
Photo by James Bowe
I’m on a quest to be more creative, have more spontaneous ideas and lightning bolt moments. As I’ve focused on my writing this last year, I’ve been craving a way to put myself in a writing trance. I want to at will go to the place where I can close my eyes and punch out a story in a night without analyzing the intersection of character plot and story plot and whatnot. My best stories are the ones written while I’m lying on the floor with my head on the ground after a bottle of wine, half asleep, with the words spilling out and no way to stop them-but how do I get there without bottles of wine and late night insomnia?
I’m currently inspired by Robert Olen Butler’s From Where you Dream and Frans Johansson’s talk at the CLO conference. I’m also remembering how Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain changed the way I see the world, and I really want to read Anthony Alvarado’s D.I.Y. Magic, but its currently sold out.
In an attempt to find something easy and quick to spur my creative juices. I’ve decided to have more random encounters.
Every day I’m going to try to do something I wouldn’t normally do and make that decision on instinct and ’cause I feel like it’ rather than logic. It may be as simple as where I go to lunch, who I talk to, or the route I take home. Not sure what would be more difficult randomness, but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually.
Cameron Finch 