writing Archives - Writing From The Kitchen

Grace to All – Happy Fall!

October 15, 2019October 15, 2019by Erika K Rothwell7 Comments

Autumn has arrived in my kitchen. Can you see the shadows and the reflections?

The birth phase of care-free Spring and the youthful energy of young-adult Summer have led me to the nostalgic and “time doesn’t stand still”, Autumn.

The death of winter has not yet come. Dreams are alive, just fading into colorful prismatic displays on the trees in the hills, mesmerizing me into a fantastical trance where I once again accomplish nothing, or so I think.

Negativity surrounds me, yet hope lightens my load as I write from the kitchen.

Evening’s sun rays light up my decor. Chosen colors of blue, white, and orange encourage me to share inspiration from a simple photo taken as I attempted to fend off sadness.

Who writes from their kitchen? I do. Somehow, the spirit of life brightens the space where my heart lives. My memoir speaks from the kitchen. The memoir that I have not yet written, and may never write.

There are pieces of me, in segments of 300 words or less, scattered, fragmented, and disjointed in my documents folder. All of which could be completed and shared with the world.

I keep writing, searching for that perfect view. I don’t stop. I keep living and writing more. It doesn’t feel right. So I just keep writing. However, I just may have captured my thoughts, raw and unfiltered, once again. The perfect piece to describe how I feel, today.

Happy Fall and Grace to all!

Love y’all

Erika

©Erika K Rothwell

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JOy, Positivity, writing

Birds Fly in the Rain

May 21, 2019May 22, 2019by Erika K Rothwell3 Comments

Birds fly in the rain. Their joy is contagious. Outside my window, one enjoys a meal at a bird feeder as he rests for a moment. Another perches on the wrought iron fence as his coat deflects the torrential downpour. They sing in the rain and we can too.

It is from here, I share with you the positivity I attempt to glean from this wet weather day. “Free writing, in the rain, how delightful! My thoughts pour over me, my feelings flow, and the words sing.”

We can view what comes our way from any perspective our attitude directs. Grateful for the lessons of life that wash over us, appreciating that they came into our life for a reason, shifts our mood. We may even feel purified by a unexpected deluge.

Surrender to a melancholy state of mind is not always the answer. And gloom can be brightened if we look for joy. Appreciation often points the way.

Light still shines in the rain, as the dance and song of the birds enlighten my day. I delight in observing them, knowing everything is growing, while they move the seeds from one place to another and propagate the earth’s bounty as the sky nourishes the movement.

Our work still needs to be done in the rain. The storms that come our way are only as insurmountable as we make them. The rain can drench us if we absorb it or it can cleanse and teach us how to grow.

Today I’m getting my feet wet and learning how to fly in the rain.

*I have added in photo description, but also want to credit June Jurcak for the beautiful image, photographed from her greeting card.

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Creativity, self-acceptance

Embrace You

May 8, 2019May 9, 2019by Erika K Rothwell6 Comments

“Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else.” C.S. Lewis

The curse of a creative style. Or is it? This is my style. I accept me, so I need to learn within my style, not force myself into an uncomfortable position, where all I can think about is an escape.

I love what I do. I do what I love. And my wide-angle approach, allows me to see where I want to focus my energy for the day. I feel refreshed, ready to take action because I choose to work within my style.

This is what I refer to as fine tuning a creative living. Find your style. Embrace it. Use it as the support system and foundation to create authentically. Create from where you are, from who you are and from why you are.

Self-defeatist behavior will not support you. It will bury you in negativity, sucking your last breath of enthusiasm for life, and your creativity will die along with it.

Revive your soul, listen to your heart, use your mind and embrace your unique style.

©Erika K Rothwell

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Creativity, inspiration, motivation

Writers Create – Air Plants Breathe

April 30, 2019April 30, 2019by Erika K Rothwell6 Comments

I was where you are once, staring at a blank piece of paper or an empty screen. If I were to be completely transparent, I would admit to still being there at times. So I want you to know what I have discovered while examining the life of a tiny air plant.

Fascination with the botanical world incites my inspiration and motivates my writing this morning. My air plant needed water today. Following instructions given to me, I completely immersed it in water for its bi-monthly drink of water.

This amazing little plant uses air to thrive, not soil, as so many other plants do. I feel this plant. Often, I attempt to put down roots in projects that focus my efforts. Yet whims and fancies pull my attention in other directions, forcing me to recognize my obvious need for air and authenticity more than soil. This airy approach to life satisfies my soul and allows me to thrive. However, a deep ingestion of life-giving water and refreshment is needed to ground my flittering thought process.

Taking the form of deep reflection, my time is spent turning inward, absorbing the results of a meditative process as it nourishes my dreams. The very dreams that propel projects forward in a style that I have come to accept in myself.

While I am not advocating this fragmented approach to production, I am supportive of you finding your own creative style and learning to work within your set of needs. Your story is most likely quite different than me, so it goes to say the structure of your day will look slightly different as well.

The desire for connection eventually culminates in creative action. To spend our days in the sweet spot of inspiration while only drafting artistic expression remains a stagnant dream that will eventually dry up. It is not enough to get a creative job done. We must share our gifts with others.

So if you are like me, find your sweet spot and hydrate. But at the point of saturation, take a step forward and breathe the air, put your pen to paper and simply write.

Connect and Create.

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creative, inspiration, Nature

Jewels of Nature

April 17, 2019April 24, 2019by Erika K Rothwell2 Comments

I love jewels. Not jewels of luxurious and wealthy means, rather the magnificence presented in tiny morsels each morning in simplistic excellence and elegance. Nature’s jewels exist for me as they appear in a raindrop, a perfectly shaped bud of a flower, a molded stone discovered in a riverbed or an iridescent shell plucked from the seashore.

Adorning myself with the inspiration of nature on a daily basis brings me closer to answers I seek. My thoughts arrange themselves in a pattern of words, formed by simply gazing deeply into the heart of each stunning treasure, by connecting to each unique design of powerful creation.

And so, each day I wake and explore a kingdom of unimaginable and glorious riches as I behold diamonds glistening on the surface of the water and emerald blades of grass clothed with fringes of iridescent baubles on their surface.

Wrapped luxuriantly in the chiffon of wispy clouds, as the spotlight of dawn showcases the earth’s museum of artistic treasures, I am grateful to visit without an admission fee once again.

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