Ordering Seeds, Defying the Daily News

The Farmer’s Almanac predicts a very cold winter, and we’re not quite halfway in. Vermont’s COVID medical team says the peak of the Omicron variant is still to come. My grandsons have taken high-stakes tests recently — educators say part of the cost of all the remote classroom time is that they won’t score as well as kids have in the past.

I’m sure there have been plenty of writers in the past who’ve mined their depression for material. But for me, the work of framing a story, spilling forth dialogue, braiding together the emotions and exhilaration, has to come from an energetic spirit. I can’t lie down in the mud bath of the daily news forecasts.

So here are three ideas to hold onto, as we swing from the hard work of 2021 into what might in fact be better days in 2022:

First, from entrepreneur and management guru Seth Godin in his blog today: If you’re feeling creative, do the errands tomorrow. Or as the housekeeping books used to tell us — nobody ever really regrets leaving dust under the bed (despite those cute TV ads with lovely couples cleaning together). Also important: If you’re not feeling creative, do something that lights the candle inside, like putting on music, watching a favorite video, holding a baby, taking a brisk walk. The mind lives in the brain. The brain lives in the body. Turn on the holiday lights inside.