Pages

Search This Blog

Monday, September 27, 2010

Inspiration 101.

My books are highly 'personalized:' I date them, time them, underline what I like, highlight passages, write ideas in the margins that spring to mind while I read. Basically, when I am done with a book, you can tell that I have been 'there.' Then I return to them later for inspiration, idea generation, and to refresh my feelings about them.


Sometimes, I stumble upon something that adds a valuable perspective.


This recently happened while I was reading Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro. In her short story 'Nettles,' while describing a golf course, she writes, 'The bushes right at the edge of the grass had dark leaves and an almost formal look, as if they had been a hedge, set out there. But they were in a clump, growing wild. They also looked impenetrable, but close up there were little openings, the narrow paths that animals or people looking for golf balls had made.'


So now, I am getting close to my troubles and looking for an opening.

No comments: