On the Road Again

Claire’s home from her road trip, a working trip. I head off on my own road trip tomorrow, but work is not the reason I’m disappearing for a week. I’ll be helping one of my daughters move to the east coast. 2 days in the car, then a few in my daughter’s new city, then back in the car and home again. The first part of the trip I’ll be traveling with a cat. Usually, time in the car is creative time as I let the mind wander and play. Here’s hoping the cat is a daydreamer too and will kick back and enjoy the ride, and I can let the imagination run full throttle when I’m not behind the wheel

I’ve been rereading Freud on writers and daydreaming. His essay is always a good reminder of how important it is for a writer to play, even if it means you have to work at playing. Kelly Easton has lectured at Hamline on incorporating chaos into your writing, and many of the other faculty members have shared their own methods of nurturing spontaneity while writing. Imagination needs attention. Use it or lose it.

So, I’ll be passing the time on the various turnpikes daydreaming, letting the imagination play. In case Franklin the cat is a complainer, I’ll be prepared to copy cat Lisa’s method for getting through a stressful situation and bring a notebook and do some actual writing. Probably, in that case, stories about vampire cats.

MQ