Just start. Take that first – hard – step.
“I haven’t written since before Christmas,” I say to H. “If we stay at home, I’ll just keep working. I really want to write something – anything – today. Besides, we both need fresh air and some good coffee.”
So we stroll up the hill to the Village, past daffodil and crocus buds, to the little French pâtisserie where I spent so many Sundays over the summer and autumn, scribbling away while people-watching.
I open the A4 spiral notebook at a white page full of possibilities and take a deep breath. That’s not enough. I take a gulp of cappuccino. The coffee glides down my throat and injects some clarity into my fogged-up brain. Across the table from me, H. is engrossed in a large, hard-bound volume about Gabriele D’Annunzio. Without taking his eyes off the book, he reaches for his latte and takes a sip. I know I’ve dragged him away from his work, so we can’t go home until I have written something – anything.
One… Two… I pick up my Faber Castell and slowly unscrew the chrome cap. The pearwood barrel feels smooth in my fingers. I haven’t used my fountain pen for nearly two months. Well, I haven’t used it for anything important, that is – for anything creative.
I get a pang of anxiety as I hold the pen suspended above the page. I don’t know what to write. I suddenly think I can’t write. Was there ever a time when I could? I make a conscious effort to lower my hand, and the nib lands on the paper. An instant of thrill and anticipation. Like the moment when a sapphire needle lands on a spinning glossy black record and you wait for the music to begin. Two months of not writing. Weeks of trying to breathe whilst caught up in a whirlwind of work deadlines, teaching, translating, home-hunting, life changes, etc.
Swirls of shiny black ink start waving along the faint lines, slowly gaining momentum. I am suddenly a cauldron bubbling with emotions. Excitement, fear, longing, passion, joy and the overwhelming realisation of just how much I have missed writing.
My thoughts are shapeless forms floating, whizzing and sagging inside my head. They need a pen to sort them and give them a clear identity and purpose. My feelings are like a garden overgrown with weeds. They, too, need a pen to groom them into a sharper definition. I am an overworked bundle of uncontrolled emotions. I need to be written down, so that I can read myself and so see myself clearly. I can’t see because everything is inside me. So I slowly let it all pour out of me through the tip of the nib, and watch myself take shape in the glossy ink loops and curls that run across the white page where I begin to see myself.
I look up and meet H.’s eyes, full of gently amused kindness. He’s been watching me for a while. “Your face…” He looks for the right words, although I already know what he’s going to say.
“Is my face giving a theatrical performance?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says, smiling. “All those contrasting expressions.”
Scribe Doll
Scribe Doll 
Rejoice! At least your creative work has been waiting for a much shorter time than mine. (Mine has been waiting for nearly a year now, though I have blogged a lot). Recently, though, I was able to get back on course and pick up where I left off. That was a welcome relief too, like hearing a sudden, mysterious crack of ice and a burbling, warm, flowing sound slowly start where before there was a frozen river. May we all have such renaissances (and yours sounds extra interesting, with the mysterious “H.” along!).
Ha! :–)
Lovely to have your comments again. Thank you!
Truly lovely!
Thank you!
At last!! Has a Mr H. inspired you?))) Anyway, I’m very glad to have Scribe Doll’s Musings back in my e-mail! Love your truly poetic English!
Thank you. And how lovely to hear from you again!
Ah, you are back ! Have missed your musings each week. Even when you are writing about not writing , you bring the page to life.
You’re very kind – thank you!
Welcome back to the spontaneity of the third draft:-))
“Third draft”? I don’t get it.
But thank you for the welcome!
Irish humor:-) doesn’t always play well elsewhere…..
Anyway I did enjoy yer piece….keep on writing
Thank you.
Not sugar and spice, but glossy ink loops and curls that run across the white page 🙂 And a mystery man. Lovely to have your words pouring out again.
Thank you! It felt so good to write again, this afternoon.
this was good, scribedoll. Keep it up! I miss writing too when life gets busy. I’m sure I pull the funniets of faces when scribbling my thoughts!
ofglassandbooks
Thank you for reading and commenting. Happy writing!
Thanks, my pleasure!
Hooray you are back! Spring has sprung at last. I can relax and enjoy your resurrection!
Thank you!