Self Portraits

I’ve been on a self portrait kick the last year or so. It started when I was on a panel for the Spirit & Place Festival about identity and naming. I’d been asked to read a piece I’d written that examined some of these themes as so I read the first draft of an essay I recently published in Harpur Palate. The essay is entitled: Self Portrait of a Woman Losing Her Name.

Since then I’ve be writing self portraits as all kinds of things: goldenrod, my mother’s hands, a collector and and orb weaver spider. I think I always start with what I admire or find interesting or provoking about the object or thing I’m identifying and then I think about how I inhabit that space. It’s a weird kind of prompt, but I’m enjoying it.

I’ve also given myself another, short daily writing prompt in the wake of the recent election. Last week was a terrible week on a lot of fronts and when I’m feeling all the feelings, I always turn to writing, so this the prompt I shared on Instagram and have been posting one every day:

Awhile back one of my students introduced me to the idea of “glimmers” when they wrote a poem about them for my class. I loved the idea and ever since I’ve been looking for glimmers every day. This week was hard. Even before the election. I have cried. A lot. I have also been so lucky in the love I’ve received from my my family and friends and colleagues and fellow creatives. And because I am a creative and find comfort in ritual and am desperately trying to find reasons each day to find joy and peace and beauty, while also acknowledging that things are completely fucked, I am going to give myself a writing prompt.

Here’s to the glimmers. May you find yours as well.

Here’s a glimmer & shadow I’ve posted. Head over to Instagram to see others.