Some Creativity Boosters...

...plus books, food, poetry, and life in the North.

Hello! Hej!

I have been ‘a writer’ for most of my life. Sometimes intentionally creative, like writing poetry and flash fiction. Other times, being unintentionally creative, such as carefully crafting student reports in my role as a teacher.

Since I started writing poetry almost daily four years ago, I’ve explored different ways to express my thoughts and ideas, including collaboration with other creatives.

By trying new things and finding new ways of thinking and writing, my creativity grows!

There’s more detail in my story, How To Boost Your Creativity.

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What I’ve been reading…

I have read a whole pile of books the past month and there have been two standouts.

• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

I have written some thoughts on Sapiens here. It’s one of those books you read that changes life as you see it, experience it, and contemplate it. If you haven’t read it before, add it to your list. If you have read it, let me know your biggest ‘takeaways’ in the comments or a reply email.
Bernadine Evaristo’s Booker prize-winning novel, of 2019, Girl, Woman, Other, is a must-read. It follows the lives of 12 female characters as they negotiate their lives. It is creative, clever, surprising, and explores themes including feminism, gender, politics, patriarchy, relationships, and sexuality. Most of the characters are black, sharing their experiences of life, the issues and prejudices they face. An important book during this time on our planet.

Let me know if you’ve read it. Also, check out my list of May reads in A Sumptuous Spring Reading Bonanza.

What I’ve been cooking…

If you happen to know me personally, then you’ll know I love to cook. If you don’t know me, it’s true! It’s another way for me to be creative.
In February, I started my own sourdough culture and I am pleased to say it’s alive and well in June! I’ve experimented using spent grain flour, which is the grain leftover after brewing beer (a chocolate stout!). I dried it out in the oven, milled it to flour, then added it to a sourdough bread recipe with positive results! It was tasty! But by far the best thing I made was a Chocolate Cinnamon Sourdough Twist! (No spent grain flour in this) It was so amazing I had to freeze half of it so I didn’t eat it all that day!

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What I’ve been writing…

I’ve had quite a bit of downtime the past few months - forced. Firstly because of the Coronavirus (my workplace closed). Secondly, because I had surgery (it all went well, got an infection which was a bit awful but on the rebound now!)
I wrote a poem called Whisper Your Story and another one called Scattered Thoughts. I also wrote one called Drifting…

watery-grey waves wash away
stress, time, memories, decisions
as my blue boat drifts on the lost sea. (cont…)

I love writing poetry that gives a sensory experience and this one seemed to resonate with many people. Let me know what you think!

What is happening in my neck of the woods…

Summer has arrived! Apparently there is no official start day to summer here as there is in my homeland of Australia. Instead, it is calculated by how many nights in a row the temperature is over 10 degrees. Seems kind of strange to me but it’s happened and now we are in glorious summer! The trees have leaves, the birds have babies, flowers are blooming.

And I have started back at work!

[Pommern, the wonderful museum ship I get to work on!]

Finland is slowly easing restrictions. Unfortunately, we have Sweden very close by and they had a very different response to the Coronavirus situation. I aired my concerns in this story:

Sharing a border with Sweden right now is making me nervous…

The borders to Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will open as of July 1, but not to Sweden, our closest neighbour. I guess Sweden’s decision to take a more relaxed approach to the Coronavirus means other countries want to avoid the spread so are not welcoming them with open borders.

On a positive note, the days are long! (The photo at the top was taken well after midnight!) Midsummer, a traditional celebration for the longest day of the year, is coming up soon. I’ll be boating soon. Soaking up the sun, enjoying outdoor life, as well as the possibility of seeing a few people in bigger groups. Seems quite a novel idea after so many months of isolation.

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So that’s Northern Notes for now. I hope that wherever you are in the world, you’re looking after yourself - mentally, physically, spiritually.

Bye for now! Hejdå!

Lisa x