Departure
[View from a flight home from Tokyo in 2005.]
I have been posting a lot of these bird's-eye views from airplanes lately – have I just been fixated on my next journey or does it mean something else?
Either way, I'm about to have a rather large chunk of time to ponder that and any other questions rattling around in my brain. Five hours from Los Angeles to New York followed by eleven hours from New York to Amman – yes, I'd say that's plenty of time to over-analyze my choice of blog imagery for the past week.
Believe it or not, I am looking forward to the time. Time in an airplane means one simple thing: Time to myself. No phones, no internet, no errands, no laundry. Just me in a tiny space where I've been known to spend hours at a time just staring out the window. How often do I do that in my normal day-to-day routines? That would be never.
I have a few posts scheduled to go up this week while I am away, but I won't be blogging, emailing or twittering while I am in Jordan. I know there is a certain allure to documenting my experiences in real time, but I also know that any minute I spend with my attention on an iPhone or laptop is attention taken away from whatever I'll be seeing and experiencing in Jordan. It takes effort to stop, pull away from what is directly in front me and type whatever I might feel compelled to type, and in that break, time is lost. What could have been a naturally flowing experience is instead broken up in smaller bits – episodes interrupted by blocks of time spent with my head buried in a wireless device – head down, eyes on a screen, attention diverted away from what is going on around me.
This week, I will be in Jordan, and when I say I will be in Jordan, I mean I will be in Jordan. And although the technological wonders of our day could enable me to stay connected to the rest of the world with the same intensity and frequency that I have when I'm home, I'm planning on leaving all that behind, and saving my stories for when I return. It was an interesting thought experiment to visualize what it might look and feel like to be standing in front of Petra – fulfilling a dream I've had for years – only to take my full attention away from it to shout out to the online world that I'm standing in front of Petra. When I really looked at that, it became clear to me that my intention needs to be about being there, plain and simple.
I suppose a more succinct way of saying all this is that I am looking forward to stepping away from my computer and my phone, and enjoying a journey I've dreamed about for many years. Petra awaits, or should I say, I await Petra, and whatever messages this journey has in store for me.
Packing
[My luggage: Eagle Creek Upright 22 - incredibly lightweight!]
I've had a few people ask how I manage to avoid checking any bags during most of my travels. Since I am now in the process of packing for Jordan, I can share some of my tips as I put them into practice.
I am packing for a one week trip across the globe and I have everything tucked in one suitcase small enough for the overhead bin. My only other bag is a small tote bag, which will be my second allowable "personal item" on the plane. Here's how I do it:
1. I am a geeky, practical traveler. If I can get away with bringing only one pair of shoes – the shoes I wear on the plane – I'll do it. I happen to need one pair of nicer shoes for dinners on this trip, and I've chosen simple black flats. They are thin, flat and pack easily. Everyone in my group will see me wear each of the three pairs of pants I am bringing twice, and they'll see me wear the same long black skirt more than once I'm sure. I have packed a variety of totally boring, plain layers – essentially a stack of tee shirts, mostly gray and black, and a couple of sweaters. On a trip like this, the word fashionable does not enter my mind. The word of the day is always practical, practical, practical. No extra jewelry – I only take what I wear – no extra anything. I have enough outfits for each day and not much beyond that.
2. Toiletries and other personal items are packed to be as flat as possible. One plastic ziploc for liquids, not jammed tight, but able to lay flat, one flat zipper pouch with my pill box, band-aids, immodium, etc. One flat zipper pouch with minimal makeup, a few ponytail holders & barrettes and my toothbrush. One flat pouch filled with tampons & whatnot because – pardon my divulging TMI here – my body tends to go haywire when I careen it out of its routine this dramatically. Because all of these smaller bags & pouches lie fairly flat, they fit nicely into my suitcase on top of all my clothes. Eagle Creek and Tepper Jackson both have great travel accessories.
3. I also save things like socks and tank tops for the tiny pockets of space that always open up after I've packed my clothes. There are little "holes" all over, and these smaller items enable me to use every bit of available space in my suitcase.
4. In my second allowable – albeit smaller – carry-on bag, I'll have my camera, pens, wallet, journal, book and glasses.
5. My plan of action in case I go crazy at the markets in Amman is twofold: my suitcase expands, and if I have to check it coming home because I've purchased so many fabulous treasures, then that's fine (but in the meantime, I'll savor not having to wait for my bag after we land in Amman). I'm also taking a second, larger tote bag – which packs totally flat in my suitcase – to carry whatever I can carry on the plane (I got this one from Papaya.) Between the extra space in my suitcase and the large tote bag, I should be able to go at least a little bit crazy at the markets even if it means I'll have to check a bag on the way home.
6. After having shared all of this, I have to say I'm not totally rigid. On my trip to New Zealand last year, my friends requested a number of items from the states that couldn't easily be found down there. I managed to get a bottle of tequila, three bottles of red wine, three bottles of hot sauce, shaving cream and toothpaste across the Pacific intact thanks to bubble wrap and socks. I then brought three bottles of wine back home with me and again, nothing was broken.
In a nutshell, I let go of having a wide variety of choices for myself when I travel. I bring things that can be mixed and matched and leave all the extras behind – no extra purses, shoes, jewelry or outfits. I'm totally OK being a great big dork, especially when I travel. Geeky, practical, plain – that's my motto when I'm getting on a plane.
Class dismissed.
Sparklette #29
See what I'm wearing? That was no orange shirt – that was an orange jumpsuit. And that zipper went all the way down to my waist, so I could slip in and out of it in a flash.
That jumpsuit? I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I have vivid memories of looking in a full-length mirror, admiring my fourth grade disco-hipster sensibility and thinking, "How cool am I?"
Five Things
1. I met Jose Figueroa when I visited Havana in 2006. You can now pre-order Jose Figueroa: A Cuban Self-Portrait, a book of his work and a "unique glance for Cubans inside and abroad". Figueroa studied with Alberto Korda, who took this photo. I saw an enlarged print of this image at Figueroa's studio and it gave me goosebumps.
2. The Richard Miller Exhibit at the Craig Krull Gallery in Los Angeles looks fascinating – I will definitely be checking it out.
3. I'm now a Creative Column Contributor over at the MMCA Marketplace!
4. Ana Ottman is helping women entrepreneurs build their confidence muscles!
5. Revision: Plotting Along is a great piece on diving into writing revisions from Keli Gwyn.
Sparklette #28
This is a word heard fairly regularly around our household, our funny way of expressing surprise at the itsy bitsy things that go wrong. Some examples:
This morning my husband dropped a small piece of his hard-boiled egg in his lap and immediately exclaimed, "HEY! That's not what I was trying to do!"
One time I was holding a stack of papers and one slipped out of my grasp onto the ground. As it wafted to the floor I said, "HEY! Come back here!"
Whoever happens to be near us when this happens thinks this is the funniest thing ever…it never fails to elicit a good chuckle.
100 Books Project: Silverlake
[Book #50 left in Silverlake, a hipster enclave of east Los Angeles, February 22, 2010]
On a play date with Ms. Maganda Christine Castro and Creative Thursday maven Marisa Haedike, I deposited Book #50 at the entrance of a cool spice shop in Silverlake, Los Angeles. This was within walking distance of one of my favorite spots in Silverlake – Reform School – where I got a fabulous bright blue refurbished rotary phone.
Our play date began earlier that day at the French General, where we took our time perusing the amazing array of beads, fabrics and vintage goodies. The entire day was ooh-la-la all the way around!
Sparklette #27
I'll be on two planes this Sunday, where I'll go through my tried and true air travel rituals:
* No checked baggage
* Window seat
* In-flight magazine crossword puzzle (I've been known to search through my neighbors' issues until I find a nice, blank puzzle.)
* Ginger ale
* Journal
Perspective
[View of Auckland, New Zealand last April]
My tendency with new projects and ideas is to dive head first into the deep end, not realizing until I burst up to the surface flailing and sputtering that perhaps a wiser move would have been to step carefully into the water at a depth where I could comfortably stand. Aside from a few hiccups here and there, this method of Pursuing Goals and Dreams has still worked pretty well, and over time I've learned how to better manage this tendency well enough to avoid the deep wells of struggle and frustration I've experienced in the past. But I still catch myself thinking too big, reaching too far and losing sight of what my real priorities are when a new endeavor takes hold. For whatever reason, thinking small is not my forte, and while this has led to some extraordinary experiences, it has also pushed me into a space of feeling like if what I do isn't BIG it won't be ENOUGH, and that is not what I'd call the healthiest of motivations.
After growing a wee bit too comfortable in the space of my studio at home, I have decided to see what it feels like to radically alter the way I work, and I'll be sub-letting another artist's studio this summer. It is a dream space with plenty of room to get messy and work on panels as big as I want, a space where I can get back to my painting and mixed media, something I haven't pursued in months. I re-arranged my current studio last fall, and while this new floor plan gives me a cozy, open space to write, it doesn't make it especially inviting to get messy and work on big pieces. More importantly, working at home, while lovely in many ways, has made me a little too complacent. Everything has been humming along just fine, but the time has come for me to dig a little deeper and shake things up a bit.
Where I've immediately tried too hard has to do with another crazy dream of mine, which is to open a creative space for classes, workshops and other events, encompassing everything from painting to theater to entrepreneurial workshops. A watering hole for creativity, inspiration and community. I've had this vision for years, and my first thought for this studio space was to start that dream and begin the process of bringing that vision to life. I've been putting out feelers, having small discussions, sharing ideas and possibilities with my family and brainstorming about all the ways this could work. And, of course, always seeing this as something BIG – a spot on the map of Southern California creative havens.
But then my perspective shifted, and I reminded myself of what this space needs to be more than anything else – a space to do my own work. While the idea of classes, workshops and gallery shows is a lovely one, and will likely be a part of what I do in this space, if I let that particular idea grow too quickly, I'll find myself an event planner rather than a studio artist, and that is not my goal. So, as always, I started running towards the deep end of the pool, mere steps away from diving on in, but then stopped myself, knowing this entire process will be a lot more pleasant, fulfilling and successful if I steer clear of trying to figure out exactly what this will be before I've even moved in.
I don't know what it will be, I don't know if any of my zany ideas will work, but I do know I am ready to spread my artistic wings out wider than ever before, and anything else I do in this studio must be in support of that, not the other way around. I might get in there and decide not to do anything except my own work for the first month; I might try a few events and hate the experience; the people I want involved might not be interested; this city might have enough creative outlets and offerings. Right now anything is possible, and what I want more than anything is to let the best of all these possibilities reveal themselves and evolve as organically as possible. Every dream I've pursued has come to life through a balance between my shaping what I want it to look like and the dream itself guiding me in directions I could have never otherwise imagined. It isn't about pushing so much as it is about finding the most naturally flowing current, and seeing where it takes me.
So instead of deciding today what this journey is going to look like, and keeping these dreams, ideas and developments close to my chest – saving them for a Big Announcement about a Shiny New Project – I'll simply put it out there that this summer I'm renting a studio, and I'm looking forward to seeing what I do there.
Follow Up to Sparklette #26
I just realized that after I explained how my husband likes to give his “one-word” commentaries, I then proceeded to list said commentaries, none of which had only one word, but two or three words.
Only an idiot who would wonder out loud if Minneapolis was in Wisconsin would do something as ditzy as that.
Sparklette #26
It is a pet peeve of mine to get to a movie late, because if I arrive late I miss my favorite part: The previews.
My husband says he can't stand watching previews, yet after every one of them, he loves to give his one-word commentaries:
"Looks stupid."
"Chick flick."
"Definitely seeing it."
"WTF?"
