Coffee breaks have become strange. I work from home. When I can, I take a coffee to the front porch on certain afternoons.

Well, the neighbor’s black cat keeps visiting my yard. Even though he was born in May, he owns the street. No one ever told him he couldn’t. So, he is the king at 16 weeks.

Let me back up a minute. I said he visits “my” yard. To clarify, my yard is now his territory. I'm merely a subject in his kingdom. Ha.

Over the summer, Spicy (yes, my daughter named him) would come over with his siblings, and I’d play with them. Pretty soon, the kittens were running over when they heard our car enter the street.

Now, Spicy joins me for these coffee breaks. He yawns, places a paw on my shoe, and closes his eyes into slits. He must really have a hectic 9 to 5!

Spicy's dog brother, Oso, gazes from their window and barks with disapproval at our friendship.

Animals know they need to rest and recharge before their next bout of activity. By observing them, we can learn a lot.

My brain recharges during these breaks while looking for answers to questions I have. For example, I intend to turn writing snippets (poems? mini-essays?) into a larger collection yet don’t know what the final product will be.

This happens with creators quite a bit, and it’s a normal part of the creative process.

The creative process can happen from a constellation of events, questions, reading, and rest.

I offer the following as part of the path this current project is taking.

• The writing snippets were written as my dad was dying years ago. Despite the positive response to these pieces, I was too heartbroken at the time to work further on the project.
• Recently, a friend asked about the pieces because I shared a new one on a related topic.
• During my restful coffee break with Spicy, I pondered the writing.
• By asking myself questions, my brain began to form answers.
• Because my brain was primed with rest and questions, the book frank: sonnets by the poet Diane Seuss inspired a structural idea.
• The project has reawakened.

Input is magic.

Letting an idea rest is magic.

You can do the hard things.

Cheers,

Deb Ager