I don’t usually write on Mondays, so I am not feeling that guilty for spending the morning painting and the afternoon sewing signatures.
This is a dream that has been on the back burner for years. Fifteen years, at least. So it is both exhilarating and terrifying to be following through. I have so many plans.
And weirdly, I think that actually doing this instead of dreaming about it, will free me up to relax more, read more, be more generous in general.
Eh, could just be the medication kicking in.
Either way, this is me: warts and all – and I can accept the world, too – warts and all, because this is real life and this is what we get and it is … wonderful, really.
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Thank you Ren. Your opening here has been a spark for me. Both one older project, now re-excited for me. And it is also – I don’t know. I don’t know exactly what to do with it – but yes, there’s the discovery yet to be fully fleshed! And I’m glad for the labor yet-to-be.
I struggle sometimes how to express my appreciation for all you share and write. But today I know what to wish for you… Happiness.
Neil. I hope you know that these comments you leave me are a major reason I dare to do this. You and I both know how lonely it can feel to throw words out there – throw anything out there really – and wait for the “ping” – to know you hit someone. You hit me, too. And I fully embrace your wish for my happiness! I wish the same for you. And hope you stay re-excited in terms of your projects! I look forward to learning more about them.
Wow, Ren ~ that is beautiful.
-David
Thank you, David. I’m excited/terrified. But this really is satisfying on its own when I stay in the moment with it.
haha – yes, I have gotten external proofreaders!
I always look forward to your posts showing up in my email. Creating your own book like this, including binding it, is an extraordinary project. I’d like to try that.
Thank you so much for the kind words!!
I really enjoy bookbinding and was so lucky to have worked with someone a while back who happened to be an expert and an expert teacher.
But there are also tons of tutorials on youtube that are really good. Do give it a go! I find it really satisfying.
My husband did a bookbinding course some years ago, and he is generally the one that is more tactile, more concrete, with his writing. So it feels like it would be somehow intruding if I then tried it as well. Perhaps I should try collaborating with him – although the one book we were both authors of was quite trying for us both, and that was a technical work. 🙂
Oh, yeah, that sounds complex. I dated an artist once and it was a nightmare of competitive behavior on both our parts – glad my husband is an engineer – he just steps in to tell me easier ways to do the technical bits and offer me nifty tools.
Yeah, it’s tricky at times. On the one hand having the same (academic) background means there are (likely to be) shared values, quicker understanding of challenges, shared technical language. But it’s also too easy to directly compare, and if you work at the same place it can be really awkward. It was a relief when he changed jobs. Now he’s an editor, so he helps me with papers, applications, etc.