Meghan | Meghan Genge - Part 54Meghan Genge

Musings, Quotes

Do a Lot of Work

September 4, 2011

“…the most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work.” – Ira Glass

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo. via Penny.

I love this. I used to think that if I just wanted something enough, like magic it would appear. (I blame ‘The Secret.’) Now I know that the magic happens when you combine equal amounts of wanting and working. That is the only way.

Now I know.

P.S. I am guest blogging over at Jamie’s new collaborative site: Creative Dream Journals. Come and meet a wonderful group of creative women.

sacred, totems

Deer Medicine

August 8, 2011

“…be confident enough to say, ‘This is what I believe in. This is what I like. This is my soul, exposed.” – Geraldine James Creative Walls

I am lucky enough to have a commute that consists of a 10 minute walk in the country. Up until this week I always took the same route because I thought it was quicker. Well, the crazy train threatened to stop at my station this week and I was desperate not to fall into old patterns of woe and angst so I decided to shake things up. Four mornings ago I turned right instead of left and walked a different way through the woods.

On day one I noticed a lone deer standing underneath a tree. I noticed, I whispered hello, but I kept on going: earphones in, walk determined, and focus clearly pointed ahead. Heavy things were weighing on my mind and I was afraid to be late for work.

On day two as I turned down the last path through a bit of woods, I startled a deer. It ran across the path in front of me and away through the trees. I looked up from the path and watched it go, and then hurried on to work.

Yesterday – the day before the crazy train was due to arrive – feeling a bit disconnected and nervous, I sat still in the morning and asked for some help to get through the next couple of days. Then I put a podcast on my ipod and walked to work. I have no idea why, but for some reason about half way there, I stopped in my tracks. It was like I had been halted. Looking up I realized that not 5 feet away from me stood two deer – a male and a female – standing and staring right back at me. The next thing I heard was the voice on the ipod say, “NOW do I have your attention?” I laughed out loud, but the deer didn’t move. They just stood there and watched me right back until I finally went on my way.

I was filled up with the knowledge that I was not alone and that everything was going to be okay – whatever happened. Ted Andrews says that the original meaning of deer is ‘wild animal.’ He also says that: “When deer show up there is an opportunity to express gentle love that will open new doors to adventure for you.” Crazy train averted.

Lessons, it seems, are repeated until you get them.

The photograph is ‘Three Deer Glade” by Mark Simms. Winner of the UK Wildlife Photography Competition 2010. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/photo/uk-wildlife-photography010.html

fear, Musings, Wild Woman

What comes of dabbling

July 26, 2011

“This is what comes from dabbling. You can’t practice witchcraft while you look down your nose at it.” – Aunt Jet, Practical Magic (the movie)

conservatory-1 When I was a teen-ager I decided I wanted to do yoga. Typically, rather than go to a class I read a book about it. The book I chose told me all about the diet and the philosophy and it freaked me out. Be a vegetarian? Meditate? At 16? You might as well have asked me to go to Mars. What would people think?

When I discovered new age and esoteric bookstores at the age of 17, I would spend hours in them, thumbing through books and wondering what it was that compelled me so. I’d spend so long in them that the smell would cling to my skin afterwards. I was too nervous to pay attention to that call. What would people think?

There is a great scene in the movie Practical Magic where Sandra Bullock’s character Sally has caused huge problems by using magic. Stockard Channing’s character scolds her with the line I have quoted above. But the only reason that Sally looks down her nose at magic is because she is desperate to fit in – she worries what people will think if she admits who she is. There is a bit of universal truth in there. You can’t properly practice anything if you are worried about what people will think. You can’t embrace your true self if you are also desperate to fit in. If you are dabbling in something, on some level you have decided not to admit that that is who you are.

On my shelves there are multiple dozens of books with a scrap of paper in them that mark the place where the book got uncomfortable. The bookmarks show where I stopped growing and stuck with dabbling. They show the place where it got dirty or scary or wild or raw or sacred or in some other way too much. So that is where I am going next. It makes perfect sense to me that some of my pathmarkers are bookmarks, because words have always been how I find my way.

(picture of the Practical Magic green house borrowed from hookedonhouses)

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