setting words loose
Do you ever read the words of someone and feel so instantly inspired to pause- even mid-chapter (reassured that it will still be there when you return)- in order to rush to your computer or notebook to pen something of your own?
I've only just finished Ruth Ozeki's book, A Tale for the Time Being, and just begun Samantha Garner's The Quiet is Loud (both occurrences last night), and between the two, I felt my connection with words reignited in a welcome flurry of delight.
Feeling connected to words doesn't need to mean I must only write something poetic or important. Only that I must respond to the itch- the urge. I only have to put one word after another and try to enjoy the process of doing so.
Lately, I've been 'setting words loose" without expectations. Letting them flow down the page of my art journal in free-written flash poems or surprisingly needed notes-to-self. In improvised songs to my calico tabby cat that make me laugh aloud at the combination of their ridiculousness and her bemused, yet tolerant expression.
Words and I have a tender, affectionate history. They were a way out. A dear friend that knew what I knew and understood it all. They kept me company in a way, and they saved me more than once. They were a way to breathe and ask and shout and name and grieve and make peace with myself and the contradictions that swirled around me in a seemingly never-ending loop.
Words are good company, but that doesn't mean they can't be harsh and pointed sometimes. But, I love the way they come one at a time with punctuation and paragraphs for room to breathe and think and decide. How we can choose when to pause, stop altogether, or pick up where we left off.
You know, I think I feel better- more myself- when I'm regularly connecting to words. When I'm reading and listening and writing my own. When I'm setting words loose.
♡ Kimberly Kuniko
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Words, Art + Photography by
© Kimberly 國子Taylor-Pestell
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