What I’m planning for 2020

Another year and this time, another decade. I remember what an odd feeling it was when the millenium turned. It seemed like it should feel like so much more than normal, but in the end, it was just another new year. Each new year feels like it should be such a big thing but the feeling always fails to make the impact. At least that’s how it feels to me.

But this year something is different. Well, the turning of the year is still just another day, but overall, my life has taken such a drastic turn that it can only be likened to a rebirth. I’m new again, but I have no idea what that means yet. Each time I come across an opportunity, I have to examine it thoroughly, as I have no idea if it suits the new me or not.

Going to Iceland to attend an artist’s residency for a month. I always responded positively to this kind of opportunity in the past but I never had the free time or felt I could leave my family for so long to do it. This time, I really wanted to try, but I needed a resumé and a proposal for what I would do during that month. There was a risk that they could turn me down. I have few published works, and mostly non-fiction, but I settled in to figure out what I could say about myself and managed to come up with a few decent details. I had some education in several arts disciplines, an internship in theatre at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and I received a grant a few years ago for my writing, so my resumé at least wasn’t empty. But what would I do for my proposal? I have probably over committed myself, but here’s what I said I wanted to do:

“First, I plan to spend part of my time researching local folklore and culture. I will bring with me a number of Canadian folklore stories to share, and I will contemplate and compare the two traditions, both coming out of a northern climate. I plan to write some short fiction inspired by folklore. My fiction focuses on the literature of the fantastic. While such stories may seem juvenile to some, they have a deep rooted connection to the fears and obsessions that we all grapple with. Such stories help us to process these concerns and make ourselves ready to deal with any adversities we may experience. This has the potential to be incorporated into a multi-disciplinary work should other participants be interested in working on such a creation.”

“Also, this year, after the death of my husband, I worked hard to ease myself back into my writing. The pain of loss made creativity challenging for the first part of the year. I spent several trips away from home in natural surroundings to inspire and focus myself, and it has been working. While I plan to attend several writing conferences and workshops over the next year, I wanted to work on fostering creativity, something which is common to all artists, whether they work with paint, movement, music or words. I want to be inspired by others who work in their own fields, away from writing folk, to nurture my own creativity and also to be inspired by learning about another culture and seeing other landscapes. I plan to document my creative journey in my blog and to write a non-fiction article about how to foster creativity based on my experience at the retreat. It is my hope that this will lead me to create a non-fiction book on the topic of fostering creativity after I finish my time at the retreat.”

There’s a lot of work in those words, I think. If I can do even half of that, I will be happy. I’m glad to report that my proposal was accepted, and I will be attending Nes Artist Residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland, a four or five hour drive north west of Reykjavik. The images of the area look spectacular, and I hope this will also be inspiring. On a side note, while searching for details for this post I found this statement on a website for the town: “For those intrigued by folklore and fairytales, you might want to go on a hunt to find the sculpture of Jón Árnason one of the greatest collectors of folk narrative in Europe.” I guess I picked a good topic to focus on. I’d better go find a copy of his books.

It is my hope that this experience will suit me so well that I will be encouraged to do more of these, and maybe even stay longer. Its an affordable way to travel, and a great way to make friends with people from around the world as well as to learn about life in a different part of the world.