There aren’t many people who would argue that walking isn’t good for you, and that certainly holds true for the poet. What better way to clear the cobwebs from the mind and lubricate joints that are aching from too long sitting at the writing desk than to take a stroll around the block or through the park. Make a conscious effort this week to take a walk, paying close attention to the world around you when you do. Leave pen and paper behind and really, truly use your five senses to take in the environment you encounter. Trust your senses to store your experience to write about when you return home, for nothing triggers memories better than strong sensory associations. No need to limit yourself to walking in your neighborhood, though that can be an adventure if done with an attitude of a foreigner. Consider taking a slightly bigger adventure and try walking a trail in the woods you’ve been thinking about since Autumn and didn’t get around to exploring before winter set in. If you are a fair weather walker, then check the forecast and make a concrete plan to engage with the outdoors on the nicest day this week. Better yet, use April showers as an excuse to don raincoat and goulashes for a child-like stomp in the rain to get in touch with your inner youngster (just let your inner parent keep the inner child from catching cold in the process.) Or perhaps the best way to approach this week’s writing “exercise” is to simply drop what your doing and take that walk right now!
Tag Archives: Blogging
Now Exiting NaNo Land
I am proud to report that I have met the challenge of writing 50,063 words in 30 days and have likewise received a rewarding video clip of all the Office of Letters and Light’s interns and staff congratulating and applauding my efforts. The last couple of days were a little touch- and-go, though, because I was driving back from Albuquerque, New Mexico and hadn’t managed to write a single word while on the road. This translated as a 5,000 word deficit this morning, but luckily I am a pretty fast typist (even faster when I don’t have to worry about spelling and punctuation) and can amass about 820 words in a fifteen minute word sprint. I finished before 4:00 PM today – after stopping for a long lunch with my aunt and doing a little grocery shopping – some eight hours before the deadline. I’m pretty exhausted now, but have some poems to write if I am going to meet the November Poem a Day challenge. I just wanted to brag a little and show off my winner’s badge with a timely blog.
A special thanks for all of your unwavering support during this year’s NaNoWriMo insanity.
Why “Zingara Poet?”
While considering a representative name for my new blog, I researched synonyms for “traveler” and found “zingara.” Great word! I thought, and submitted it as my blog name. Unfortunately, “zingara” was already taken. I was pretty attached to the word by that point and wanted to utilize it somehow. Adding a number would have been easy, but I don’t really like user-names that include numbers and generally think they are tragically un-creative. So, I tacked “poet” onto the end, and while tacking on the word “poet” isn’t terribly more creative than just adding a number, it’s still NOT a number. Plus, I like to think of myself as a “female traveling poet.” It suits my romantic personality and sort of reflects my tendency to take myself too seriously, despite criticism from folks who are less romantic and self-serious. I’d like to add here that while these characteristics sometimes create obstacles to my writing success, I’m pretty much over tying to change my romantic, self-serious characteristics and am resigned to living in harmony with them.
Hope you enjoy my meandering musings in the years to come.