"The Residency" by David Yezzi + Scrambled Eggs with Red Pepper Puree

We creative types need to stick together, don't we? There's nothing better that knowing you are part of a community of like-minded people who get inspired and excited by the same things that drive you. When I started blogging in 2008, I was unaware of the community I was entering, and that I would actually make genuine friendships from it. I thought about all this because of two things: a poem and a magazine article. Though unrelated, the poem happened to be placed in the middle of an article about loneliness in the age of social media. The poem is about a writer's residency, and the experience of communing with other artists in a somewhat isolated environment, in this case, in the woods, in a cabin with a writing table.

"Why I Am Not a Painter" by Frank O'Hara + Sardine and White Bean Salad

 

Some artists board themselves up in a room for weeks until the canvas or the typewriter inspires them. Others obsessively carry notebooks so that ideas can be captured the moment it strikes. Some go on retreats in the woods or by the sea, cut off from their digital lives for weeks at a time. Others look for it in their daily lives, in small doses that fit between work and school and errands.

The creative process has always been somewhat of a mystery, mostly because it affects each of us differently, and it can take years to fully understand how your own creativity ebbs and flows. One day, Frank O'Hara decided to write a poem about this very topic. "Why I Am Not a Painter" invites us in as if we are a friend sitting across from him at the dinner table, having a conversation.

"Things I'm Not Good At" by Jeff Moss + Broccoli Soup with Roasted Lemon + Contest Winners

I know I'm not the only one who doesn't like ironing. So let's have it. When it comes to domestic tasks, what do you really, really dislike? My shortlist consists of ironing, taking out the trash, and changing the sheets. Luckily I married a man who happens to have the very skills I lack. I'm really happy about this, by the way, because like any partnership, the things he generally dislikes, like laundry and dusting, I don't really mind. This poem by Jeff Moss captures the give and take, hinting at the mischievous note we've all played at one time or another, because if you don't like doing something, you must not have been blessed with the skills necessary to do it, right?