October is for Creating
The rush of marching band contests lies behind me as I approach the slow crawl to the end of football season. Fall Break is settling as a relaxing whoosh of air that comes at the end of a deep breath- it wraps around me with the promise of rest and recovery.
Despite the shadow of exhaustion lingering over my shoulders, I feel the stirrings of story prickling like hot fire at my fingertips. My storytelling spark lives on and carries with it the desire to fill up the creative well through books, music, and movies.
October is for throwing yourself into creative endeavors.
Though, this October looks a little different for us. While the living room has been decorated with our seasonal knickknacks, there are no jack-o-lanterns at the door and no spooky decorations dotting our lawn. While we are nearly two full weeks into the month, I’ve not sketched a single drawing for “Inktober” and there are no sweet treats cooling on my kitchen counters just yet.
I haven’t had the time, nor the energy.
Stacks of books clutter various corners of my home, their stories begging to be devoured in the crisp hours after sunset. Meanwhile, a grocery list for spooky treats and autumn comfort foods sits incomplete at my right. Behind this very tab that I write on lies the blank slate where I will build the bones for my NaNo project: The Dead Wood (a working title, for now).
And between all of the high hopes that I have for this season, there are the fevered and flippant last minute plans my teenagers throw at me- their eternal chauffeur. A season I’ve always prized for it’s slowness has become something I am learning to endure.
The fact is that this October hasn’t been what I intended.
Yet I cling to the hope that I can salvage the remaining weeks and mold them into something that resembles normal. A piece of paper now rests atop the grocery list; my familiar scrawl etched in black ink along the snow white page reads:
Halloween movie marathonAutumn themed TBR ranging from spooky to haunting (Wake The Bones, Belladonna, Nettle & Bone, and Spells For Forgetting are at the top of my list)Try new crockpot recipes from PinterestThe eldest wildling’s birthday- last minute gifts, menu, and weekend plansFinish Autumn playlistGet supplies for s’moresOrder new Autumn candles
Luckily the spell of October is woven so deeply within my soul that all of the unexpected things that have come up haven’t caused it to lose its shine. If we were still in the throes of summer, I might have caved to the pressure and anxiety of everything.
But this is Autumn, and Autumn pulses with magic that is a balm to the bruises that I incur from bumbling my way through the busy. While I could steep and chafe against everything, I allow myself the space to pause and cherish these busy moments while I have them.
Instead of lingering over how nothing has gone as planned these past few weeks, I am choosing to look at the positive: my family is happy and I have a story that haunts me. What could be more ‘October’ than that?
My head is a melting pot of dialogue and prose, glimpses of scene, and questions that require me to dig deeper into the plot of my book. That spark of story grows by the day and takes shape within my dream-filled sleep. I hope to be fully devoured by the blaze of this story come November, when I can stitch together its muscle and sinew.
For now, I leave you with the briefest of synopses for The Dead Wood…
Until next time, dear readers.