The Creative Life is Like Spinning a Web

Last week was a rollercoaster ride. This week's metaphor: a spider web, an image that eased into my consciousness this week thanks to the writing and photography of kthread. A spider web: beautiful, delicate, precarious, with savagery inside it, yes, but savagery born of a survival instinct, not of malice.

The beauty of this week lay in how it made me aware of the vibrant web of creative people I've come to know in this town: I ran into Ana, whom I met only recently, when she invited me to speak at her "creativity soiree"; then Kimberly, my friend who introduced me to yoga and The Artist's Way (two essential tools for my creative survival); then Laura, my wonderful solo performance teacher, and her friend, David, a filmmaker (keep your eyes peeled for a screening of his very interesting-sounding doc on Jewish basketball, "The First Basket"); then Johnny, crazy Johnny Boucher from high school, and I say "crazy" with great affection...

...and, I rejoined Twitter this week, ready to re-engage on my terms with that virtual community; and on Twitter, and through email, friends sent me creative morsels, from photos of Letty's recent trip to her Texan home (which is full of the wonderful public art of Stanley Marsh); to Katie's tip about a new local gallery, Civilian Art Projects, home to exhibits of rock posters and ziploc art; to Aaron's link to a wonderful article about making space in your life to create.

I feel so enriched by the web of people who surround me, and energized by their creativity. And as far as the "savagery" I refer to above - it was my own savagery, in an argument with a friend, and his, which we're on our way to mending...and while I wish very much I could erase the experience, I also see how it reminds me of the precariousness of our relationships, and the patience they require -- like the patience of a spider spinning its web.

Have a wonderful weekend.