Greetings. Hope your first week in the new year went splendidly. I haven’t gotten much accomplished but I have been having fun.
No doubt there are downsides to being so hyper-connected to the Internet and our phones. For instance, we often don’t spend time in the moment. We’re distracted. And it’s been said we’re losing the art of conversation.
But I think that in a way this connectivity has driven creativity. Whether you’re creating a meme or snappy Tweet or shopping at Etsy or writing a blog or uploading a song or video to a sharing site, we’re a little more creative or more connected to creativity because of the Internet.
On a personal level, I know I didn’t start messing around with a camera until I needed pictures for my blog. So in this case, being connected drove me to create. Like many previous Christmases, this year I shopped at Etsy and was able to see the creations of artists all over the nation without leaving my desk. The artisans here may not have gotten their initial impulse to create from the Internet but probably by virtue of the virtual marketplace, they are encouraged to keep at it and maybe even expand. Similarly I would venture to guess that some artists are encouraged to create just because the Internet gives them an audience.
What do you think?
This year in publishing one of the trends was the popularity of coloring books. Here’s an opportunity for you to color and read poetry from Tweetspeak, “the best in poetry & poetic things. ” This year the site will feature the occasional fun Coloring Page Poem, which you can download, print out, and color. The first is “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats.
On Facebook, I am connected to some pages where calls for submissions are posted. That’s where I found the WordPress blog of 17numa, “Prose-fusion poetry dedicated to the Renaissance Revolution of the Phoenix Generation.” Take a few minutes to explore the site. If you go to the LINKS page, I bet you’ll discover some new literary places.
I am in the market for a new printer. My HP stopped feeding the paper. If you have a suggestion for a reliable printer, lemme know.
And as always, if you have something creative you’d like to share in this space, hit me up at weighedwords at gmail.com
Peace, love, and solace
Leave a Reply