Melancholy: an important color of writing

by Kayce Stevens Hughlett

“But with writers, there’s nothing wrong with melancholy.

It’s an important color in writing.”

Paul McCartney

I wrote a list of summer last night at writers group, notable only in what I omitted—reading, writing, napping, yoga, and morning walks. It’s a good life. Summer days, days spent lingering with the cat on the couch or by myself in the hammock, yet one more thing omitted, the hammock. Still…

I’m tired, fried, frittered, and tuckered out.  My nights are filled with sojourner dreams, necessitating days that teeter between herbal tea and caffeine infusions. It seems as if I should feel enlivened with all the sunshine and fresh fruit and yoga and meditation. Oops. Another omission from my summer list. I’ve left out meditating and Netflix and working on my memoir. It seems as though I left out the doing, but isn’t that okay? Isn’t that what summer is all about? Minimal doing? Soaking up the light? Savoring? And…

My writing feels slow and sluggish like the lazing turtles lined up on a log at Greenlake. Digging deep with a trowel into my past—another summer—the summer of runaways and police visits, of Bumbershoot and Harborview, the summer of Finding Nemo that turned into finding buried secrets, the secrets that today I struggle to uncover and synthesize. No wonder I’m tired. No wonder my dreams are filled with never-ending treasure hunts and whacked out characters and hopes that slip through the fingers of my resting hands. It’s easier to stick with blueberries and beers, sunsets and Rosé, convertible rides and the slow watering of red geraniums. But…

The cawing crows know the truth that lies beneath and speak it aloud with their foul-mouthed calls. The wasps that gnaw on my back porch whisper about more hidden details waiting to be uncovered. The butterflies dance in circles of hope, and blue skies blaze with the reminder that darkness doesn’t always prevail. How many summers has it been since the one of secrets? How many lists since then and now? The guessing makes me tired. 

What's on your list this summer?  

What longs to be seen, healed, expressed, or uncovered in your world? 

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write your own list of summer.  

I'm writing a new book! It's a travel memoir that covers the road from Oklahoma good girl to risk-taking globetrotter.   In the meantime, I hope you'll take a peek at BLUE: a novel and As I Lay Pondering: daily invitations to live a transformed life. 

Live it LIVE with my SoulStrolling partner, Sharon Richards and me this summer. Check out our mini-retreats here. LAST ONE AUGUST 23, 2017

Comments

[Emma]

nice