As a writer I never leave home without a pair of headphones, a pen/pencil, a charged phone & a journal. I love listening to the sounds of the city. All the bustling back & forth, your ears that pick up incohesiveness of multiple conversations being merged together, and the flow of crowds as you watch from a comfortable distance. When I am not in the middle of a crowd, people watching is pretty interesting & can teach you a few things about human behavior.
So why the pair of headphones? Well it helps me to focus. It helps me zero in, completely, on one sound. This one sounds I can either pay closer attention to or it becomes such a strong point of focus that all sound becomes irrelevant & its almost like watching the world as a silent motion picture; except it’s live.
Pen or Pencil, nothing has to be permanent when it comes to writing. Words & meanings can change. I am never without a pen or a journal, on the off chance that a new idea may come to me. A charged phone can also come in handy, although I try to resist using it. Why? I want to resist editing my work as I am writing. I would rather all my thoughts, and the feelings I wish to convey, flood the page, before I go looking over it with editing eyes.
3 reasons why people are the best source for inspiration: Free, Highly Complex & they have Impact.
Whether the music is on or off, once I am in the zone I begin to create space for myself & allow the feelings that I may be sitting with to come up. Most of the time, depending on where I am & what I am listening to, it hold some influence over the mood & flow of what I want to convey. The feeling is the ocean & I choose to float with & against its currents. As a writer I have been reflecting on what it is I want to say. What is my message? Where does my story truly begin, where did it end & where does it continue to live? How does it fit in the small & vast world we find ourselves in?
people gazing affords me the opportunity to renew my hope for humanity. when the act of kindness is offered without having been asked. when the act of love lives in the smallest gesture of human and nature interaction.
Jari G. Planning 