A Bit of Spontaneity

I have recently begun going through my old notebook and rereading what I wrote there. I am hoping to work some of this up and I may begin using this blog as a place to share some of what I'm working on.

This first one comes from last summer, when I was working with MCC and the Open Circle program. I am quite interested in Jack Kerouac's method of spontaneous prose and have tried my hand at to varying degrees of success. Essentially (and this is my understanding of it) it is a method of just writing down whatever you see and experience in that moment. Following wherever your mind leads. It is very much like improvising on an instrument. The idea is that you practice so that when something worthy of being recorded happens you will have the tools to do so. I do it mostly as a fun writing exercise, it is often really interesting to see what comes out. Here's a short piece I wrote on a lunch break:

I stopped and sat by a spot in the river where the water curls around some unseen object lodged in the river bed. It disrupts everything for a brief moment then the river continues on its way. Wind periodically blows through the trees, freeing the sun to shine in my eyes. I look down the river bank and wish that I could hike all the way along it. But I know that soon the brush will get thick or the edge too muddy. So I sit. The wind picks up and causes the water to wrinkle, catching the sun in a glittering display. I can just make out a drone of some kind. An unnatural sound. I'm saddened it took me this long to hear it. It's become too much a part of me.

I sat here to think, to clear my head, but it rarely works. I enjoy it while I'm here. The sun, the water, the wind. The smell of dying leaves and dirt. I sometimes feel like I have things figured out, out here. Suddenly everything comes into focus and the answers become clear. But I know that confusion and doubt are waiting for me back there. I guess this place works as a break more than anything. It's nice, peaceful and quite. I don't get any magical answers but I can maybe let my mind rest for a bit. Then I can come at things renewed. With the energy it takes to sort things out. I wonder how fast that current would take me if I just wadded in and let it drift me away?

If you can, everyday go sit by a river for a little while. And always crumble a bit of dirt in your hand while you do.