Creative November Challenge Day #1: The Goal

When I first started jotting down ideas for Creative November posts and photographs, I realized I wasn't entirely sure what I meant by "creative".

According to one definition I found, "creative writing" is writing that displays imagination or invention, in contrast to academic or journalistic writing. However, it strikes me the distinction between them isn't so easily drawn in the real world. Good academic and journalistic writing also displays imagination and invention - in the choices writers make to establish the style, focus and tone of the piece, if nothing else. The best of it ignites imaginations and touches hearts in the same way good fiction does.

It seems to me writing creatively has a lot to do with a writer's intention. Is she trying to do something more than recite facts or explain technical details? Does she aspire to write beautiful prose, connect with her senses, or paint pictures in the reader's mind? Does she hope her work will have an emotional, spiritual or psychological impact?

Writing creatively also involves making space for reflection - for figuring out the how and why, as well as the what, of a piece.  Like many people, I create stuff because it helps me connect more deeply with other people, the world around me, and my sense of who I am at some fundamental level.

The distinction between creative and journalistic photography may be much the same, but it strikes me as more difficult to draw at times.

With today's technology, good images are easier than ever to produce. Pretty pictures can be made with basic gear and the bare minimum of imagination and invention - particularly, if the photographer is content to rely on technology and make virtually the same images over and over again.

By contrast, a photographer who approaches her work with intention, taking time to consider the story she's telling, the impact she aspires to make, the experience she and others have in the course of making an image - in addition to the aesthetic qualities of the final work photograph - is engaged in a process that seems more genuinely creative.

Over the next month, I hope to exercise creative muscles in both mediums, though I expect the results will very often tend towards the journalistic - this post being a case in point. Whatever the outcome, my goal is to take the time to be thoughtful about the words I write and the images I make, to reconnect with my senses, to learn new things, and to produce stuff that matters to me, if no one else.

Onward.

Celebrating All Hallow's Eve

Like many people, I'll be rushing home early from work tonight to prepare for the trick-or-treaters who will be ringing our bell from 5:00 on.

Though I haven't any children of my own, I always enjoy Hallowe'en. When my sisters and I were small, the day was magical. Even now, if I close my eyes and think back, I can hear the sound of children screeching with fear and delight as they run from house to house, smell the scent of dry leaves crunching underfoot, and taste the rich hot chocolate offered by an elderly neighbour. The night always felt so safe and so dangerous at the same time. Safe because we were well-loved children living in a close-knit caring community. Dangerous because oft-repeated stories of razor blades in apples and knife-wielding boogie men filled us with fear.

Much as I enjoy Hallowe'en, I've often wished it was more like Mexico's Day of the Dead, when families take time from their normal routines to remember and celebrate loved ones who've passed away. It strikes me the celebration must make death and dying feel more normal and less final somehow - one more transition in the cycle of life with bonds of love remaining to keep the departed close in spirit.

After we've said goodnight to the last of the trick-or-treaters this evening, I plan to pour a glass of wine, light a candle then spend some quiet time remembering family and friends who've gone before me, wishing them well on their journeys and praying we meet again one day - in my dreams, if no place else.

Happy All Hallow's Eve!

Don't forget to check back here tomorrow for the first installment of my Creative November Challenge.

Catching up and planning for my Creative November Challenge

It's hard to believe it's been so long since I last posted. Or maybe not. September and October were busy with work, travel, family time and extra chores on account of husband being laid up with a hernia. And the truth is writing feels hard these days so I avoid it when I can.

First, the catch-up. I managed to finish two races this fall - the Maritime Race Weekend Tidal Trail 15k at the end of September and 9runrun Half Marathon the middle of October. I wasn't happy with my time at either event but I collected some nice bling at least and I'd highly recommend both.

The weather for the Tidal Trail 15k was far hotter and more humid than I expected, and I ran out of water a few kms before the end, so it was a long hard slog to the finish. On the upside, the views along the route were gorgeous and I arrived early enough to snag a good parking spot and chat with folks at the start line, which was great fun.

9runrun in Stittsville, Ontario, was an entirely different sort of race - really well organized with tonnes of community support. Though it's a relatively small event, it still raised something like $160,000 for youth mental health services, and the firefighters, paramedics and police officers volunteering on the course made for some very nice scenery. ;-)  The icing on the cake was the high resolution photos provided free of charge.  Here are two of my favourites:

In the photos, it looks as if I'm enjoying myself but the truth is I went out too fast (a rookie mistake), hit the wall at 16k and finished in a disappointing 2:20. On the upside the medal's pretty. And did a mention the handsome men in uniform?

 

The other very nice thing about doing 9runrun was that I was able to meet up with my former running buddy, Marathon Jane. She also completed the half (in a much faster time) but it was a mere warm-up for another marathon next month and Big Sur Marathon next spring. Way to go, Jane! It was wonderful seeing her - especially since it gave us a chance to chat about another former running buddy, Brent, who was participating in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, the same weekend. I am such an underachiever compared with those two!

In other news, Husband, Jackie and I spent Thanksgiving with long-time friends in Cape Breton. It's become something of a tradition and we had heaps of fun. Activities included hanging out on the beach, hiking, mellowing in a hot tub, playing board games, visiting a local craft brewery to take in a Celtic Colours concert, savouring gorgeous fall foliage, watching the puppies play, and - of course - eating and drinking lots.

Sunday morning, while everyone else was recovering from the effects of too much fun the night before, I headed out for a 10k run. It wasn't one of my better efforts but the scenery made it feel worthwhile.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, I headed to Ottawa for three days. My best friend's mum had just passed away so spending some quality time with her was my top priority, but I also managed visits with my brother-in-law and two dear friends (who Husband and I first met in Papua New Guinea nearly 30 years ago!), and of course ran 9runrun. As I traveled around the city, I was reminded of all the places Husband and I have lived,  worked and studied over the years, the people we'd known and the adventures we'd had. I look forward to a longer visit one day soon soon!

Squeezed in amongst and around all the traveling and racing were Jackie's Blue's spay, Husband's hernia surgery, my baby sister's 40th birthday celebration, time with our nieces, a visit with friends at our country place, and various beach walks with Jackie - so, all in all, a very busy couple of months. Jackie was incredibly patient with having to wear a cone for 10 days, and managed to look adorable in it.

Now that she's fully healed, Husband's on the mend, and my fall races are behind me, I'm making plans to carve out more time for creative activities. Things are too hectic to contemplate registering for NaNoWriMo so I've set a less ambitious challenge for myself - that is, to take a photo and blog every day in November. I may not have much to show for it by month's end but I'm hoping it will help get some creative juices flowing again.

Given how busy I am, even taking on that much of a challenge feels like a lot, so I've decided to give up Facebook for the month too - which won't be much of a hardship, to be honest. For the last while, I've been quite overwhelmed by all the negativity in my newsfeed so it will be good to get away from it for awhile. I will, however, continue posting occasional photos on my Instagram account.

And what about you, dear reader? Did you run any races this fall? How did they go? Are you tackling a November challenge as well? If so, I'd love to hear about it! And I hope you'll check back on Wednesday for the first installment of my Creative November Challenge. (To receive new posts by email, enter your address in the box under "Follow by email" on the right-hand side of this page.) 

Until then, happy running and writing!

Why ain’t it always summer?

It’s been a good few weeks at our house. I took several long weekends and we did our best to make the most of them – heading for the beach whenever the weather cooperated. Unfortunately, it seems fall has decided to arrive early so we had to dress warmly whenever we ventured out this weekend. I’m still hoping for one last warm day on the beach but I’m not counting on it. The upside is that the cooler temperatures are better for running, walking and hiking – and we’ve done lots of all three in the past two weeks.

There were our usual outings to Risser’s Beach to take Jackie for walks and swims...

...but we also spent a very pleasant afternoon hiking along Hirtle's Beach and around Gaff Point...

...and another at the Kejimkujik Seaside Park.

 

Kejimkujik was particularly lovely because we took a yummy picnic lunch and had the whole beach to ourselves for a couple of hours. I could have stayed there forever.

My running’s been going reasonably well too – well enough that I've signed up for a second race this fall – a half marathon at 9RunRun in Stittsville, Ontario, near Ottawa. It should be a fun event, and I’m looking forward to the trip since it will be a chance to spend quality time with close friends who live nearby. Between now and then, I'll tackle a 15k event at Maritime Race Weekend along with my usual training runs. I don’t have firm time goals for either event – though I'd like to run the half marathon in 2:15 or less. To this point, I've completed a couple of 17k training runs, as well as a strong 8k at race pace, so 2:15 should be do-able if my training continues to go well.

As summer draws to a close, I’m reading the Anne of Green Gables series again – which is why I'm humming “Why Ain’t it Always Summer” (from the musical) as I write this. I loved the books the first time I read them as a child in PEI and am enjoying them even more the second time around. In challenging and uncertain times - which these most certainly are - Anne’s joyful optimism is good for the soul.

Assuming Trump doesn’t get us all blown up, I’ll write again soon. Until then, happy running and writing!

P.S. I've resisted the urge to include umpteen photos of Jackie in this post, but you can see plenty of recent photos of her on my Instagram account if you're interested.  

Vacation again!

I haven't posted much lately because life's simply been too busy. However, I recently got an iPhone and, not only does it take great pictures, but it enables me to dictate messages and comments - so, I thought, why not dictate a post as well?

I'm nearing the end of a week's vacation. It's been good to have a few days to hang out on local beaches (including Cherry Hill pictured above) and read a fair bit. I'm just over halfway through Annie Proulx's "Barkskins" -- an awesome read. However, it would have been nice to have another week off since I'm not sure I'll make it through all 700 pages before I head back to the office on Monday.

As I dictate this, I'm admiring the beautiful day lilies overhanging our back deck. Nature really is extraordinary.

It's a shame she did such a poor job creating human beings. The news coming out of the US at the moment makes me to despair for our species. What on earth are we doing leaving men like Trump in charge?

Actually, given the grim news, maybe "Barkskins" is the perfect book to be reading since it brilliantly chronicles the way humans have misused the forests of North America and elsewhere -- not to mention one another. It's a sobering reflection on our history and it doesn't bode especially well for our future.

On a more positive note, husband and I ate fabulously well this week -- lots of barbecue, fresh greens from our garden, and homemade breads and pastries. There's been some running too, which is a good thing since I've signed up to run a 15k race in September. I'm still hoping to tackle a half marathon in the fall as well, but haven't settled on which yet.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I've been rather discouraged about my running lately. However, when I was out for 5k around the lake last week, I was hailed by a woman who told me that she follow my blog and wanted to say hello. Apparently, she's enjoyed reading about my running exploits over the years - in part because she's just a few years younger than me. Suzanne, thanks so much for taking the time to say hi. Knowing there are people like you reading has inspired me to try a little harder to recover my running mojo. Yesterday, I had my first really good run in a long time and it was largely because of your kind and encouraging words. Hope to see you on the road again one day soon!

The other thing I'm hoping will inspire me to train more regularly is our puppy, Jackie. I've started taking her for short runs. She too young to go far but she's already catching on and seems to enjoy our outings. This week Husband and I have taken her for plenty of long walks on the beach, and naturally I've taken dozens of pictures of her. My friends and family are getting tired of seeing her face pop up so often in their newsfeeds but, seriously, how can I resist this face?

Fortunately, she seems to love the beach as much as her mama does.

As I mentioned, I'm headed back to work on Monday and I have to confess I'm not looking forward to it. I've had a fantastic week off, but I still feel quite tired and the autumn promises to be busy. However, I remind myself that I have much to be grateful for -- including my health and a good job -- so there's no reason to complain. I just have to pull up my big girl pants and get at it.

I hope summer's going well wherever you are. With luck, I'll have more runs to write about in the coming months, as well as more photos from my adventures. Until then, happy running and writing!

PS Here are a few more snapshots of Jackie on the beach, taken with a better camera.