Writing today
Today has been a really good day. Nothing eventful has happened, nothing but me filling up my own space and head in the most pleasant ways. This is the most I’ve written in a very long time in terms of consistency (I write every day) and meaningful content. In contrast to my journal entries from 2, 3 years ago, these poems are real, they sit somewhere deep inside me and I’ve really enjoyed writing them. Additionally, I’ve been inspired by a lot more lately than in the past (I’m also in a different space, in different relationships, and I’m older). The biggest thing, though, is I’m not forcing myself to write. I have had the time—somehow, someway—to sit and ponder, which all writers need. All that time to myself opens me up to the poetry of watering my plants, or folding my clothes, or any Nina Simone song.
All that time to myself opens me up to the poetry of watering my plants, or folding my clothes, or any Nina Simone song.
The biggest thing I did today, though, was take the advice of one of my favorite writers, thinkers, and women Ntozake Shange. In this interview when asked how she approaches writing (5:11), Ntozake laughed and told the interviewer: “I go to the shower and I put on perfume and powder, and I put my makeup on, and I put on my nice negligee—like I’m going somewhere—and I know I look beautiful, and I’m approaching this thing. I make myself very elegant to approach this new task and it makes me feel better.”
So this morning I woke up later than usual. I brought my phone into the bathroom with me, put on a gogo playlist, and took a long, hot shower. Afterwards I came back to my room where the heater was on full blast and lotioned every part of my body with my lavender Dr. Teal’s lotion. I lit my Tahitian candle and I brought out my vanilla oils to scent my own skin. I put on a t-shirt and panties, then smoked a bowl. After that, I changed my music to a Nina Simone playlist and opened my laptop. From all that came my most recent poem, and today’s Poem of the Day, “how it feels to be free.“
I go to the shower and I put on perfume and powder, and I put my makeup on, and I put on my nice negligee—like I’m going somewhere—and I know I look beautiful, and I’m approaching this thing. I make myself very elegant to approach this new task and it makes me feel better. Ntozake Shange
I was inspired by countless Black women today starting with Nina and Ntozake. But as I wrote I thought about myself and a previous relationship, I thought about “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf, and about a tweet I saw, and my friends and mother (always).
It feels really good to connect to my favorite thing (writing), through my favorite people (Black women). Thanks again for joining me on this journey.