The Holiday Weekend

I love long weekends because I always feel that a holiday—Victoria Day in this case—gives me an excuse to take time off to do things I enjoy …like celebrating David’s birthday and going for walks with John. Today I’ve been answering email, playing in Photoshop and reading.
One of the books Emma gave me for Mother’s Day was From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by David Olen Butler, which Sandra Gulland had mentioned on her blog. Although it’s aimed at writers, Butler’s book appealed to the art part of my nature, too, mainly because he asks us to dreamstorm instead of brainstorm, the idea being that you have to get past your tendency to analyze so you can get to—and then create from—that place where your art really happens. In other words, expressing your creativity is an experience not an intellectual exercise.
This advice was helpful to me because I know I usually over think things. I don’t know whether or not I agree with Butler that it shows in the finished product, but it’s certainly more enjoyable to act from your dreamspace than your brain.