I realise this is my--and our--last post of 2024. It's been a challenging year and the Unknown that we're stepping into looks more 'interesting' (as in 'May you live in interesting times') than hopeful.
After wrapping up the year's projects, I took a few days offline for a retreat with my old 'mentors' in the arts; revisting books (on paper) that were my guides and companions in the pre-social media days.
In particular, I revisited these four old friends.
Actually, I challenged myself that if I couldn't find two relevant lessons in a book, it would go to the library donation shelf...
(spoiler: they all stayed)
1. Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit
Along with Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, this book has fed me for years. And yes, I still do my Morning Pages!
Twyla Lesson 1:
'Find the spine' I need to apply this not just to what I write but everything I do. Too often I get lost in the middle of a project or practice because I've forgotten (or never figured out) why I'm working on it.
Twyla Lesson 2:
"Never have a favorite weapon" – a quote from Miyamoto Musashi. I know she's talking about practice and techniques, but I need to apply this one literally too!
2. Stephen Hough's Rough Ideas
A distinguished pianist and composer who's performed in Singapore several times, Hough’s notes and reflections are funny and relevant and always spark fascinating questions.
Stephen Hough Lesson 1:
'Is there too much music?'
He asks us to consider if we use music as disposable noise to cover embarrassing silences in our lives.
For me the question is; do I swallow too many words? Do I read to escape the discomfort of being around people instead of trying to see and understand them? Yes, I know I do.
Also, his warning that 'the constant nibblings on snacks spoils your appetite for the main dish' applies to my reading and scrolling as much as to synthetic elevator music. This question was partly what made me decide to try an abstenance fast from casual reading on social media etc for ten days.
Stephen Hough Lesson 2:
Don’t always set deadlines (something I always tend to do--I 'need' my deadlines and quotas because I'm afraid that without them I'll just scramble happily down rabbit holes—which is exactly what Stephen Hough suggests we do occasionally;
'Allow time to experiment, explore dead ends, and make mistakes'
Okay, I will try...
3. Stewart Gordon's Mastering The Art of Performance: A Primer for Musicians
This is an old book but still feels relevant. Sometimes I miss the adrenalin charge, energy and camaraderie of live stage performances, but as writers, our 'performances' on paper last well beyond the moment of creation--and they are 'performances' presented to readers.
Stewart Gordon Lesson 1:
Everything in life is preparation for the next performance--you are either preparing well or preparing badly.
This is even more true of writing!
Stewart Gordon Lesson 2:
To avoid getting stuck (or to get unstuck) take windows of time--from 5 minutes to an hour--to observe your thoughts and reflect on your current project.
And yes, I'm going to to try to remember to do that!
4. Jonathan Burrows' A Choreographer's Handbook
The final book was a gold mine for the untrained wannabe playwright I was when I found it. It showed me how to move beyond dialogue between talking heads to using the space between bodies to create their stories.
Jonathan Burrows Lesson 1:
"the audience wants to see something they haven't seen before, but they want to recognize it when they do."
This is so exactly what mystery genre readers (well me, at least) look for too, isn't it? And if it sounds impossible, his example of a newborn baby reminds me what to aim for when gestating every newborn book!
Jonathan Burrows Lesson 2:
It's the connections between dancers that make the magic. It reminds me every character is dancing their own storyline and I need to recognise their connection points--even if only with their past or future selves.
But there's also the larger question of why am I trying to write instead of freaking out at what's happening in the world today?
Because think about what happened in our world in 2024?
In Myanmar, almost 20,000 people died this year. Foreign domestic helpers I've spoken to here haven't been home for years, because their families tell them it's 'not safe' to come home.
We might feel the Arab-Israeli conflict has been going on forever (since 1948) but this year almost 30,000 people died--many of them men, women, children who've died without ever knowing what it's like not to live under threat of war.
In Ukraine, over 72,000 people died this year. And there's Burkina Faso, the JNIM-ISGS conflict, civil war in Sudan...
How can we live, oblivious, in a world where all this is going on?
But going mad would only add to the chaos, so do what you can to stay sane.
We may not be able to right every wrong, but we can start small. History suggests that's how most great things started!
Can you maybe start by making something in your own life a little better this year?
I'm afraid of 'just going with the flow' because knowing myself I'll likely end up mindlessly eating ice cream while scrolling media.
So... it's time for dreams, plans and schedules again...
I got these from the Jovial.Co at Bras Basah Complex.
No reason why propelling myself closer to the self I want to be shouldn't come with pretty stationery!
In 2025 I'll use these to schedule in regular reading time.
And I've always wished I'd not lost my school-learned Chinese and could read Chinese. So I'm going to try reading Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem this year (with the help of the Pleco dictionary app)!
I might not make it, but the books are here and I'm going to try!
And finally, I'd like to end with a kopitiam motto.
In Chinese the phrases on these cups says 'Know how you like to drink...' and 'Then drink that way,'
May we all keep hoping, striving and smiling whatever these 'interesting times' throw our way!
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