I want to pick up where I left off last week before I move on. A few weeks back, when I sketched out the future trajectory of this writing project, I wrote that I saw Odell and Robin Wall Kimmerer as connected to each other with respect to the power of attention. Elaborating that connection is going to take some time, as the insights in Kimmerer are somewhat diffuse, and I didn’t take particularly good notes as I was reading it. Nevertheless, I think it is important, so I will certainly be taking my time to process Kimmerer’s insights. And of course, it should be noted that Odell explicitly refers to Kimmerer as an inspiration, so I’m confident that teasing this connection out will be fruitful. And I will certainly be coming back to Odell more than just today—I had forgotten how important How to Do Nothing was for me actually, and I think it will be well worth revisiting to summarize chapter by chapter so that I always have the material on hand.
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As often happens, when I get excited about a new interest or project, I tend to dive straight into the deep end. Last week’s post about my new podcast project is no exception. I got really into the idea of the whole thing. I was so pleased with the unfolding of a small little kernel of something into a potentially viable pursuit. It started some time ago with a short passage in one book that I then connected to another, which led to the first version of something I wanted to create. That idea then bumped up against the reality of “oh, someone already did this" and also “shit, I don’t really know how to draw.” But, I knew from my creativity gurus that sometimes you just need to wait, but your idea on the back burner, and wait for serendipity to strike with inspiration for the next step (i.e., let the Rock Tumbler turn). And it worked! Soon enough, my desire for something realizable, the hook that I baited and threw out into the lake bobbed and there it was.
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