Phyllis Diller and crock pots (or, how I learned to relax at the dump)
Today is my kids' last day of school (a week later than scheduled due to snow days). I'm looking forward to having everyone here, having unscheduled time, and time when we can be relaxed and lazy.
Except...I don't know how to relax anymore. There was a time when I relaxed, I'm sure of it. I remember napping on Sunday afternoons. Napping! Imagine! Now I'm at a point where, a few weeks ago, I indulgently read the Oprah magazine during lunch, and then felt guilty for spending so much time frittering away my day when I could have been working. Then I looked at the clock and realized my lunch had been eleven minutes long. Eleven whole minutes!
The lesson there, I guess, is that you can make eleven minutes seem like indulgent self care if you have the right mind set.
Do you listen to Jennifer Laughran's Literaticast podcast? I love it. It's always a casual and fun conversation and ends up being incredibly inspiring. The most recent episode is an interview with Dan Santat, and he talks about how he manages to make so many books. The short answer is that he works hard for many hours of the day. When people ask me how I got my book deals, I always tell them some version of "I work hard for many hours of the day." Because it's true. And the way book publishing works is that you have to work hard, many hours of the day, throw out some of what you make, and then, if things work out, what you're working on now will be a book in three years. So you have to work hard now for the success of your future self.
But the other thing Dan Santat talks about is that after he won the Caldecott Award for The Adventures of Beekle, his agent made him take two months off. And that it was hard, not working, but eventually he got back to a place where his imagination ran free and he remembered how to relax.
Perhaps you, like me, lead a busy life. In addition to writing, you have a home and a family and a dog who sheds great tumbleweeds of hair every ten minutes. You fantasize about meditating in a meadow, you google "writing retreats near me," and that beautiful journal you bought stares angrily at you from your shelf. It seems impossible to take an artist's date as recommended by Julia Cameron. You only have time to do the work, how can you step back and do anything else?
That's how I feel a lot of the time, at least. But I've discovered a new free artist date just minutes from my home. It's called the swap shop at the dump.
My town dump opened this swap shop a year or two ago. During warm weather, people in my town bring their used-but-still-useful castoffs to a big garage. You drop off what you don't want, and then you browse to see what's there. Everything is free.
There are stories in the objects. Six books in a row about astrology. A Cuisinart pasta maker with dozens of attachments, apparently never used. Skis, lawnmowers, bicycles, daffodils.
One thing I like is the unloading. There's a beauty to the exchange. I won't go unless I have something to drop off. It also makes it feel like a necessary chore, a check box on my to-do list, and in that necessity I can let go and enjoy the stories and inspiration hidden on the shelves.
I let go of a storage bin, I get a B. Kliban cat mug. I drop off an armoire, I get a Cat Stevens LP. I bring my unused humidifier, I get Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints.
This Phyllis Diller book is my favorite find so far. It's so funny, and because of it I've watched a bunch of Phyllis Diller videos, and am inspired by her strength and her moxie.
A little bit of serendipity, a tiny space to think and breathe and maybe even relax, and all for free. Is there a place you can go for a 20-minute retreat? Or 3 minutes? It's so important, as creators, to give our imaginations the space to play. The work we do is so much better if we step away from our desks and do something else for a little while (the work still goes on in the background of your brain anyway). A park, a rock, folding laundry, the dump. Find some place where you have nothing to do but look around and be inspired.
Upcoming Events
Are you in the Atlanta, Georgia area? I'll be at two events on July 20 for the Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip! Come stop by for giveaways and author signings and, I think, Clifford the Big Red Dog (also think good thoughts for whoever has to wear a Clifford costume in Atlanta in July). I'll be at the Switzer Library in the morning and Avid Bookshop in the afternoon. I'd love to see you!
Amazon named Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go to School a best book for June, and one of the best books of the year so far for children. Also check out this amazing review on The Reading Nook: "...it’s a book that joyfully explores what it means to be able to share your day-to-day life with loved ones in areas they normally can’t follow, and how that very exploration can help open minds, and hearts in a multitude of different ways."