There are days I wake up in the creative condition. This is what I have come to call it internally — the creative condition — because it feels like a condition of being, just like you might describe someone as “ill” or “pregnant.” Mood has no bearing. Then there are days I find myself stuck in a thought quagmire, words coming out awkwardly, at bent angles, in unbecoming arrangements, my ideas decelerating to a point of stasis, or just rattling around in the click-click-click of an engine that won’t start. Even worse: the writing comes out blunt-fingered and boring, and I’ve wasted a good idea on bad prose. (I find it very difficult to undress an idea after it’s been clothed in the wrong language.) I don’t know what to call this headspace. The uncreative condition? The creative quagmire? (I guess people call this “writer’s block,” but it’s not that — not really. There is no shortage of concepts, but rather some dangling wire between the nebula of an idea and the pencil nib.)
But whereas the creative condition comes and goes as it pleases, controlled by the marionette strings of unseen muses, I can forcibly climb my way out of the quagmire in one of two ways: 1) stay away from the page for a good long while (preferably by getting outside and doing nothing that looks anything like writing or pre-writing) or 2) get inside a book written by someone more skilled than I am. One is a kind of emptying out, and the other is a kind of filling up. In both cases, it feels like I’ve given myself a long, long leash to wander far from the parochiality of my own writing. A liberating and necessarily humbling journey.
I write on this theme a lot, but: it is important to forget myself, and routinely. Drain the ego, stamp out whatever posturing I’ve been playing at. Who cares what I wrote yesterday? Who even remembers that awkward thing I said at the back-to-school event? No one; not the Eastern pines and the September fog keeping me good company this morning. And certainly not Jo March or Emma M. Lion or Anne Elliot or any of the other heroines I visit with when I need a good reprove. There is something spectacular about thinking that I am only one of millions of women who have read and loved those ladies, too. They have seemed so personally important to me, and yet they belong to everyone. I strangely like that reminder of my smallness. I guess I think: there are other people who have sought them out and cherished them for their own reasons; I am just one of many women bungling her way through things in the company of good books. (Jo March would approve.)
In either case — the “get outside” imperative or the “get inside a book” imperative — the point is to dissolve whatever is leaden, be it regret, be it pride, be it embarrassment, and come to the page fresh, tender-hearted, and free of heavy pockets.
Let it go.
Sunday Shopping.
+Nancy Meyers’ daughter, Annie Meyers-Shyer, is releasing a gorgeous book on interior design and teamed up with Target on a limited collection of decor items that just launched this morning! I love this ikat throw pillow and this rattan vase! Throw them in to your order with those $38 taffeta pants (at time of writing, the polka dot colorway has been restocked in most sizes) that you all have been loving! A great look for less for the Donnis.
+Love a fashion-y twists on a utility basic — like this embellished-collar J. Crew coat (the flannel lining is SO good, too) and these barrel leg trousers (run TTS; use code JS15), which I styled on Friday with my favorite fall hat: the Magpie Birding Club (ofc) and my new waterproof boat shoes! My kids were deeply impressed and enthusiastic because they are actually Crocs! I’ve never owned a pair but I totally get the hype now. Comfort level 10/10 and the boat shoe style feels a bit more to my taste than their classic model.
+Back to hats for a second: did a fun roundup of my favorite ballcaps for fall. These are a mainstay in my everyday style rolodex. I lean on them when I’m makeup free / have two-day-old hair for carpool, etc, and I’m also finding them handy for disguising my bangs (currently way overgrown – finally getting a cut next Friday). I simply love the cool / laidback / youthful / mildly irreverent / American vibe a ballcap offers.
+I just ordered a bundle of Jeni’s to send someone as a thank you gift and may have convinced myself I needed my own order. I must try this new Bridgerton “Queen Charlotte Sponge Cake” (!) and the pumpkin with brown sugar blondies just feels right, too. Jeni’s used to charge $13 shipping but now it’s free! Build your own bundle here. These make great gifts, too!
+Speaking of pumpkin, how charming is this marigold/pumpkin-hued fleece?! I love a pop of bright color in the fall. Pair with these deeply on-trend sneakers in the coffee color! More sizes here.
+These dark-rinse straight legs are somehow still on sale! Have been a major topseller among magpies!
+Oh my goodness, LOVE this new necklace from Lizzie Fortunato’s fall collection.
+Two seasonal home finds I love: this fawn-print rug and this splatter bowl.
LIZZIE FORTUNATO TASSEL NECKLACE // BODEN SHORT SLEEVED SWEATER // PISTOLA BARREL LEG UTILITY PANTS (USE CODE JS15) // J. CREW EMBELLISHED COLLAR BARN COAT // MAGPIE BIRDING CLUB HAT // DARK RINSE STRAIGHT LEG JEANS // WATERPROOF BOAT SHOES // JENI’S NEW FALL FLAVORS // THIS OAK HOUSE X TARGET THROW PILLOW // THIS OAK HOUSE X TARGET VASE // VARLEY FLEECE // SALOMON SNEAKERS RUGGABLE FAWN RUG // SPLATTER SERVING BOWL
ALL MY FAVORITE FALL FASHION-Y BASEBALL CAPS HERE
HORSE SWEATER HERE
FULL ROUNDUP OF MY FAVORITE KNITWEAR FINDS FOR FALL HERE
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