Meta Lab

ZOELAB DAY 48

We survived the hurricane. It didn’t really hit us directly, it was a spin off storm that hit us. That’s what Part Two of that poem was about (in case it wasn’t clear). My desk and all my books had to be moved, and are still in disarray so I have became a bit disoriented, ungrounded. We had no internet, no cell service for a few days as well.

So, now what?

Well, I’ve been working on the back end of the creative organization of this site. It takes time, and I hope it will be done by the end of the month. Also, I’ve been working on bring new readers here. I am discovering, when you put yourself out there, in whatever capacity, when you don’t get a positive response or any response at all, it is far more pleasant and encouraging, to think of the lack of response not as rejection, but that you just haven’t found your people yet. Don’t worry, I tell myself. They’re out there. If you build it, they will come. The truth is, with the exception of a few friends and family who have written to me, I have no idea who is reading this. It is a wildly risky feeling.

That being said, I did receive some encouraging and heartwarming comments recently that I would like to share. I am going to start creating comment pages in response to particular posts. Because this blog is independent, I don’t have the automatic comment buttons that blogs created from blog sites have. Everything I build I build from scratch. Well, virtual scratch. Also, I don’t want to send out group emails or lean on advertising, so the only way to spread the word is individual by individual. It is time-consuming, but it is also deeply rewarding, as I am opening connections with people, and hoping to engage in dialogues about the creative process, parenting, inspiration, happiness, or anything else that feels mutually important.

I feel deeply heartened, as well, because a dear friend of mine sent me his novel, which I have started to read with great enthusiasm. I was so honored and felt, maybe, in some tiny way, that what I am doing here had given him the en(courage)ment to send it to me. Another reader had written about risking failure, and his participation in a music contest. Another reader wrote how the post about empowerment affected her posture that day. These comments will be added soon. And I welcome more comments, and more readers. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I do believe it takes a community to make an artist.