Solitude & Community on the Road & on the Page

Out on the road, especially during the early years of COVID, solitude was an unexpected gift. I learned the names of birds and plants, named a few companions. Jaxon was an ornery, scarlet paper wasp with translucent coral wings, Bart, a horny toad with mad camo skills. I got reacquainted with and even christened a few of my own inner parts (the little girl, the old crow, the one called fear) and learned their rhythms, too. Writing’s a similar practice—a solitary learning of cadences within and around us.

At a refueling outpost a handful of miles from the Yuma, Arizona, US / Los Algodones, Mexican border, I emptied my loo after weeks without people. In the heat, made dusky by the sun’s westward dip behind clouds like blankets, it was hard to tell where the desert ended and my skin started. After a shower, Ruby the van (i.e., the camp she’d take me to) was in my sights. “Holly?” OK, sweet thing, you may be more tired than you thought. Next came, “Ruby!” I turned. To my shock and then delight, two friends from Santa Barbara grinned back. I texted coordinates to my site at Mittry Lake, a windy oasis of palm trees and waterfowl at the end of a Colorado River offshoot that ran through fields of crops and grazing cattle. A trio now, we sat on a creaking dock and watched the courtship of sky and lake, each performing mutual displays of crescendoing color, and then built a fire and talked till dawn.

Like solo road life, a writing life can be peppered with community. For me, it’s a must. From large gatherings to intimate reunions to new impromptu connections in the oddest of places, people add brilliance as I roam. So, too, with writing. Circles, meetups, critique groups, and the works of minds and hearts I fall in love with brighten my practice and encourage ever new displays.

Mittry Lake, Yuma Arizona, USA, winter 2021

Tomorrow’s Zoom gathering is the first of a monthly event I’m excited to host. I’ll give a brief prompt, we’ll get right to creating side by side (cameras on or off is your choice), and then we’ll share (if you want).

PS. You don’t have to be a “writer” to join in. (I’ll say a little more about that tomorrow.) In fact, you don’t even have to write. Sketch, paint, knit, doodle. Create. Bask in the light of others.

All are welcome. I hope to see you there!

Zoom Link

Click on this Zoom link to join.

Time: Dec 16, 2023 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88106490341?pwd=JjTL0poB1SbaAeCD8aRpSZLVsMuJjp.1

Meeting ID: 881 0649 0341

Passcode: 725859

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Two friends on a dock and the sky and water in their crescendoing courtship ritual