WordJazz, part #1
Glimpses of a strange journey from cuneiform to asemic writing ... plus adventure update
Blame it on
and at Imaginative Storm who lured me into one of their twice-weekly, prompted writing sessions …… or maybe go back further to my first real job when the company owners sponsored my taking an adult ed course called “Applied Imagination” based on the work by Alex Osborn who coined “brainstorming.” It was the first step along a slippery slope from accounting into a world I never even dreamed of …
… or somewhere amidst those two events, maybe blame the dawning of the New Age and my intrigue with automatic writing.
Put them altogether and I am once again smitten with the processes of creativity, especially as it applies to writing, particularly the kind of writing that seems to come from the inner galaxies. Perhaps, it’s because the kid from Kansas I once was had never heard the word creativity and definitely never thought about it as something that applied to her. Even after decades away from Kansas when I began teaching creativity workshops, I always emphasized that “everyone is creative” (and thoroughly believed it then and now although the little voice in my head would always say “except you … you’re the exception.)
(BTW, not-so-sad to say: I drowned that little voice in the cow pond remembered from childhood.)
Anyway, back to today’s point … there really is one.
I have fallen in love with Allegra and Navé’s sessions which somehow reeled me back into creativity and some of the materials I created way back when and have, for unknown reasons, carted them around through too many moves and they are now stored in my teensy, converted shower “attic.”
When an invitation to submit a proposal for a writer’s conference came my way, I put 2 and Z together and came up with WordJazz.
What??? brakes squeal. What the …?
That’s right, I am now the proud owner of the URL WordJazz.fun although don’t bother clicking on it … this is like a gender-reveal party … the baby isn’t born but the excitement is rising. However, here’s the genetic code:
(Multi-sensory engagement + freedom from expectations) x writing bursts =s writing ONLY YOU can do. Some may call it creative writing. I named it WordJazz.
What I’ve discovered in the milliseconds I’ve been researching this idea is that there is a long (well, short-long) history of people trying to breed a more creative version of a skill that was born primarily in service of accounting. It’s a squiggly tale … from inventories of wheat to asemic writing (done without meaning … intentionally.) See example from Emily Dickinson below … from Heather Neilson).
Emily! What were you trying to say?
Here’s a list of terms I’ve come across for this effort to communicate and report back from that other side of the brain … or perhaps even outside our own brain altogether.
Automatic writing … Psychographic … Channeling … Free writing … Morning pages … Spontaneous writing … Subconscious writing … Asymmetrical writing … Writing therapy … Asemic writing (without words or meaning).
And now … WordJazz … my process for creating greater writing fluency and flexibility while trying to find our authentic voice. And what, pray tell, is this process? … it’s evolving; I feel it coming together. Beyond the formula stated above, the details are here and there … screaming to be tested. So, more later … perhaps even this time next week.
Meanwhile …
Mexico Adventure Update:
First the song … but you have to substitute “flippin and floppin” for “slippin and sliding” … and definitely don’t miss the tongue action 10 seconds in. Click here or on image.
Next, an early morning poetic brings resolution …
I will go back to Mexico. There’s already a trip scheduled for this fall. However, it will be to see friends, visit a place I love and … perhaps … explore places still unexplored. It won’t be for an invented adventure, a project to be accomplished, or an attempt to justify self-worth. Life is an adventure; my life is my adventure.
If this post speaks to you, I would appreciate your support in the form of a like, comment, restack, and/or subscription. You can even …
(If you come to Santa Barbara, I’ll buy the coffee.)
That piece by Emily is outstanding, thanks!
A new adventure is general a good thing, and I hope it goes well.
Nice poem