How the words come out

CHERRIL DOTY

“The pen is the tongue of the mind.”

-- MIGUEL CERVANTES

Frequently, questions come up when people find out you’re a

writer:

What do you write about? Where do you get ideas?

Everything. Everywhere. And I read. And I listen. And I watch. And

I smell, and I taste, and I touch.

How long does it take you to write a column?

About as long as I’ve got to give to it.

How do you know how to say it?

Often, I don’t. I just put one word in front of the other. One

detail lines up right after the first and on it goes.

There is no dearth of subjects that interest me as a writer. Yet,

each of us who write has our own fallback or default position for

resource in writing. Mine seems to be nature in all its many

manifestations and the joy I find in these. I enjoy a relationship

with the natural world around me that enriches me in ways nothing

else does. My senses fill up and words just seem to burst forth when

I’ve been out and about in the wilderness or even just for a walk on

our streets. I think this is because the details come clear to me as

I walk.

That said, I must add that I come up with column ideas the same

way that you would. The ideas come from all around me. In the

details.

Walking along the boardwalk, my attention is drawn to the young

homeless woman gathering recyclables in a much-used green trash bag.

I wonder what brought her to this, how she survives, what resources

she has. It’s all about details. My thoughts turn to where does she

shower, clean up, and how difficult it must be to feel safe. We as a

nation have a long way to go to resolve poverty, homelessness and

mental health issues. Like Sisyphus and his rock, we keep falling

back, overwhelmed by the weight of it all.

The white-haired woman with sparkling blue eyes who passes out

leaflets for peace at Main Beach -- what do we know of her? The

details make of her a story to write someday.

A coaching client pulls herself up out of her doldrums and strikes

out to create a new life. Her path is filled with the stuff of

columns as she surmounts odds and focuses in on her dreams. Wonderful

good fortune seems to come her way as she takes action on her own

behalf and I am moved to write of her triumphs. The details are often

shared by us all.

It’s in the details. It’s in the broad white, crinkly-paper petals

of the Matilija poppy, opening wide so that the golden rays of the

sun can reach its golden pom-pom center. It’s in the eyes of the

homeless woman. It’s in the blood red center of the Mariposa lily.

It’s in the swaths of white painted clouds in the oh-so-clear blue

sky. It’s in the pattern laid down in the sand by gull feet or the

soft smoothness of the petal of a brilliant red and yellow rose. It’s

in the story that lies behind what we see, hear, taste, touch and

smell.

It’s in the creak of the boardwalk beneath my feet as the wind off

the sea caresses my face and the briny smell pierces my nostrils.

It’s in the whir of a swift-flying ruby-throated hummingbird winging

just past my ears, then bursting upward to alight in the tall palm.

Bursting upward ... Everything seems to push toward the sky on

these wonderful spring days here in Laguna. The spiky lavender

flowers of agapanthus burst like fireworks from their long naked

green stems. Burgeoning buds are everywhere in myriad colors and

shapes as the plants go through their seasonal transmutations. The

red-tailed hawk and the ebony crow explode upward in an attempt to

elude the harassment of pesky mockingbirds on their tails.

This is what writing is like for me. As with life, it is all in

the details, in the small things that make up a moment, an hour, a

day. It is about noticing and acknowledging the plethora of input

around us. It is about having and using all of our senses in order to

learn and know gratitude. These are the things that linger in my

mind, that guide my fingers across the keys

Now I’ve given this column as long as I’ve got. I’ve put one word

in front of the other. I’ve taken a number of small and subordinate

particulars -- details -- and strung them into a whole. Now I’ve

writ, I’ll move on.

* CHERRIL DOTY is a creative living coach, writer, artist, and

walker who lives and works in Laguna Beach. To schedule a coaching

session or to comment, contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or

by phone at (949) 251-3993.