Daddy's Christmas Angel

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Does the Endless Winter Harm an Author's Creativity?

©Mary Montague Sikes
This is an endless winter. I don't ever recall a winter as continuously bitter cold. I don't remember week after week of snow or the possibility of snow. So far, we have been fortunate in my little Virginia town. Not much in the way of deep snow, and we've been able to get around in it.

Still the dreary, sunless days have taken a toll on the writer in me. I can understand why people sometimes complain about life in states where drizzle lingers day after day and where the sun seldom shines.

I love sunsets on warm, sandy beaches, and heat rising from the waters of the Caribbean. Those scenes inspire me. Photographs bring back memories I cherish long after the scenes vanish from sight.

For many years, we've had brief spells of lingering cold, snow storms that leave their mark for a day or two, then melt from sight. We were spoiled. We forgot about the darkness of winter.

For now, I plan to retreat to my painting studio and create my own patches of sunshine on canvas and paper. It's easier for me to find beauty and solace with paint than to find them through words. Even paintings of the Red Rocks in Sedona, Arizona can brighten the dark winter days.

Does dreary weather harm your writing inspiration?
Bell Rock Sedona - Mixed Media ©Mary Montague Sikes

4 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I don't think it affects it either way. I'm usually in my office writing in the evening, so it wouldn't matter what it's doing outside.
However, the snow and ice outside right now is getting tiring.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I grew up in Oregon, so the rain doesn't bother me. I do get stir crazy when trapped in the house for several days. (Like this week!) It does distract me, because all I want to do is go out and take pictures of the snow.

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Alex, working at night you won't notice. However, something about this dreadful weather takes away my usual spark to get going. I don't know why.

Diane, we had a terrible drive home from the Fitness Center last night, normally a 30-minute trip that took an hour. The snow was so heavy, it was very hard to find the road. However, it rained later in the night, so most of the snow is gone now and it's sort of ugly outside! No photos for me today.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Monti .. the last two years we really had our dose of snow .. the wet hasn't been bothering me so much, and it is relatively warm .. but I feel for the battering the country is taking - particularly the animals ... our flooding is terrible ..

I just hope we can settle back into normal weather - this is not normal .. well the rain on the ground isn't ...

I'm having a sort out .. cheers Hilary