In the Sandbox #23
Stargazing into autumn 2022. Or winter. It snowed this morning.
Greetings, StoryShed friends and subscribers!
As the weather gets cooler, I get … curious-iser.
Not curious as in “strange,” but like leaves turning from green to gold and red, changing from incurious behavior (like oversleeping and not asking why I’m doing that—“Do I have sleep apnea?” “Am I getting enough sleep? “Why am I not getting enough sleep?”—stuff like that) to a more open, “asking questions” way of being.
Or maybe it’s all the tension in the world.
C’mon, gang, admit it. It’s scary out there.
If you read history (as I do, for my enjoyment) it does seem to repeat itself. For a break last week, I watched The Day The Earth Stood Still and wildly enjoyed it.
So longtime followers here might be asking: “Hey Mikie, this seems more like your Nightwalking thingee than your Stargazing thingee. What gives?”
That’s exactly why I started this Substack, that’s what!
It’s like there’s a built-in contention within your own personality states of being—followed by a sort of “tidal motion of the soul,” if you will (maybe we’ll do more Stargazing on the topic of human “soul” and whether it has tides, but I’m hard-pressed to believe consciousness is just a one-trick pony). I started this long-running word game (early teenage years) as a poet. I don’t claim that territory now but maybe I should. Yet another Stargazing question. Maybe you have your own. That’s why we’re here, friends.
No reason why we can’t have fun while we’re doing all that!
Stargazing has re-entered and I’m, well—as the mystics say—“processing it.” I noticed subscriber and fellow Substack traveller Mark Dykeman (Curious Realizer) asked “What’s in your creative limbo?”
I didn’t answer his question on his Substack because I’m not a big fan of trotting out projects in process or that were “left on the trail for dead” (or resurrected later on, as so often happens) since I didn’t feel I had anything to add to Mark’s query. Processing creative ideas (or the lack thereof) is however an interesting question, but promoting things unrealized is less so. At least for me. Ain’t gonna go there. If it doesn’t help you, it doesn’t help me.
But I will say this: If you are a creative person (and you can be multiple things: poet/painter, actor/songwriter, writer/sculptor, engineer/graphic artist, dancer/filmmaker—I’ll stop now before adding triplets, ad infinitum) you can obviously look for validation before enjoying the fruits of your own curiosity. Which is where I think you’ll find your best immediate satisfaction.
Writing, for one, is lonely work. Dancers might be joined by fellow dancers. Singers might be joined by other vocalists (that sounds amazingly fun), but generally artistic pursuits are lonely. You learn to deal with it. What I worry about is the “echo chamber effect” of creative work, where you’re basically playing to certain people.
And that’s sad, I think.
But hey, let’s admit it—we’re all complex. No apologies. No shame. No regret.
So how do we build on where we are now? How do we use our curiosity and not just ruminate or wallow idly in it?
Welcome new subscribers to “In the Sandbox,” a Friday community huddle around each aspect of my admittedly oddball trilogy of Daytalking, Nightwalking, and Stargazing.
That’s the driver of this here ol’ StoryShed Substack.
“In the Sandbox” is about exploring thoughts and feelings around these aspects and to share ideas with each other.
But another goal is to move beyond passivity.
By actively writing and reflecting on your personal history (fears, hopes, and dreams), we’re better able to grapple with our present and approach the future maybe more confidently. Or more confidently than you were yesterday.
Interacting with the rest of our Substack community brings in possibly new and untried ideas and encourages further reflection, support, and forward action. Or not if you’re as idle and listless as I tend to be. Maybe it’s age. I dunno.
So you’re warmly invited to chime in.
This week, no polls, no nagging—but I’m missing playful Sandbox moments, like brainstorming or naming conventions or odd object descriptions, so look for that in a forthcoming Daytalking post or two.
For this week, I’m just curious.
As I hope you are.
Blocking out terrible current world events in your personal equation for the future, if “everything was okay,” what is one burning question the answer to which you’d feel gratification and maybe the itch of your further curiosity?
Let’s hear it in the comments!
*Insert insane weird high school cheerleader dance moves here* I’d put in a gif—buh I don’t care. They’re going the way of the dinosaur.
*Blessings again and again to Jo Petroni for her lovely artwork here. She’s amazing and proud to call her a friend. Check her out.