Each change of season requires a shift and we have just begun autumn. I’m orienting myself, first by noticing associations with this time of year, and second, by noticing how I relate to them. Though the questions are impersonal, the answers aren’t. I’m sharing them for fun, and if it’s fun, join me!
Food: What are five foods you love to eat in autumn? Persimmons from California, stewed apples, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, Indian food.
Gratitude: What five things are you grateful for this autumn? My friendships, collaboration, releasing two EPs, our apartment, having enough time to make art.
Ripeness: What three things are ripe in your life right now? The Slowest Curve–just needs artwork finalized and to be manufactured. My generativity–I’m old enough to know what I want to do and old enough to do it. My teaching–I’ve gotten to a place where I know what to ask and have fun asking for it.
Harvest: What three things are you ready to complete? The work with Kristine, the EPs, last year’s thank you cards.
Fruitfulness: What three things do you want to bring to fruition this season? The EPs, but also I want to start owning performance. Whatever that means. Also, I want to make our apartment really cute. And write loads.
Routine: What five things could you regularly practice to support your fruition? Sunday morning dancing. Practicing meditation and embodiment most mornings. Being present while doing dishes. Writing most days–though I don’t know exactly the bare minimum for me with that.
Feasting: How will you share? Continuing this blog. Organizing an internet presence for music. Playing more shows. The EP release party with Jessica.
Maturity: What have you grown into? What have you grown out of? I’ve grown into loving the northwest. I’ve grown out of wanting to always be in control. Now I just mostly want to be in control.
Knowledge: I finally learned that my voice is, like, legit the way it is. Though I still want to learn to do more things with it.
School: If you could take five classes right now, from the school of your dreams, what would you study? raga, western art composition, pop arrangement, feminine mythology, jazz piano.
Melancholy: We’re all just passing through here. Melancholy has a bad rep, but it holds our depths. So. What do you miss? And what are a few things about this time will you one day miss? I miss being as athletic as I was in my early 20s. And one day, I’ll miss the process of making these recordings. I’ll miss my hair being mostly brown. I’ll miss calling Grandma.
Food: What are five foods you love to eat in autumn? Pretty much anything my mom makes!
Gratitude: What five things are you grateful for this autumn? Life in Seattle, my new guitar, hope for the future, opportunities abounding and health-insurance.
Ripeness: What three things are ripe in your life right now? I’m actually still feeling pretty green…
Harvest: What three things are you ready to complete? Getting over myself. Once I do that, I’m hoping the severe nerves before performing will stop being so intense.
Fruitfulness: What three things do you want to bring to fruition this season? I want to be “in” my songs. To know myself and them inside and out and have that be evident. Not worrying about remembering lyrics or if I can hit that next note or if my rhythm is off. Just totally immersed in the song and the moment.
Routine: What five things could you regularly practice to support your fruition? Play, play, play.
Feasting: How will you share? Shows!
And in-home performances. I sometimes find singing for a handful of people I know can be a lot scarier than a room full of people I don’t know at all.
Maturity: What have you grown into? What have you grown out of? I started believing it was ok to pursue music. I’m growing into who I really am – who I’ve always been: an artist. I grew out of doubting the inherent worth of art.
Knowledge: You can’t make people care. Just because it’s important to you, doesn’t meant it’s important to other people.
School: If you could take five classes right now, from the school of your dreams, what would you study? Well, the school of my dreams has Brandi Carlile and Ruth Moody as guitar/vocal instructors and Deb Talan as a writing tutor. I’d take every class available.
Melancholy: We’re all just passing through here. Melancholy has a bad rep, but it holds our depths. So. What do you miss? And what are a few things about this time will you one day miss?
I miss sleeping at the end of the hall in my parents’ house. My window cracked on a cool summer night. Silence. The blue of the moon on the white curtains. Knowing my entire family was well and healthy and sleeping soundly just down the hall from me. The warmth of my little dog sleeping, curled in behind my legs.
As for what I’ll miss these days, when I’m old, I’ll miss being able to take the stairs two at a time when I feel like it.
Dear Kate,
After visiting your childhood home with you and eating come of your mom’s home cooked food, I understand this response more clearly. I’m lucky to have such a friend–thank you for sharing!
Love Adena
What a beauty it is to read these thoughts and desires from the people I care the most about. Also, some of the things they mention are not things I think they should be concerned about at all. Funny how we look different in each other’s eyes.
Food: What are five foods you love to eat in autumn? Oatmeal, cornbread, anything cinnamon and choosing hot coffee over cold. That’s 4 but everyone knows I can’t count.
Gratitude: What five things are you grateful for this autumn? My fans and backers who have helped me do something I thought was impossible! The women in my life who are so amazing and talented. My extremely good health. Releasing my EP. Playing so many live shows.
Ripeness: What three things are ripe in your life right now? I gotta say my EP, Spiritual Cowgirl – it’s almost spoiled, that’s how ripe it is. My guitar playing. My energy.
Harvest: What three things are you ready to complete? Spiritual Cowgirl. My latest vision board, I am ready to reap what’s on it. I am also ready to quit that damn day job.
Fruitfulness: What three things do you want to bring to fruition this season? My band. Recognition. The EP. Greater songs. More music.
Routine: What five things could you regularly practice to support your fruition? Yoga, every day. Play guitar and sing every day. Meditation, when I am ready. Write, both my regular diary and my visualization diary. Talk with my angels.
Feasting: How will you share? Keep being active on social media and blogging. Playing lots of shows. Releasing my EP. Practice music with my friends. Send my EP to media, radio, publishers and labels. Anyone who will listen.
Maturity: What have you grown into? What have you grown out of? I’ve grown out of constantly obsessing about where the next paycheck is going to come from. I have grown into myself, like I remember myself as a little girl. A little hot head with a heart of gold. My true nature. And I have grown to love myself.
Knowledge: You are the only one who can make the right choice for you. Everyone else can give pointers, but only you truly know you. So make choices by listening to your heart.
School: If you could take five classes right now, from the school of your dreams, what would you study? I don’t really want to go back to school!… but okay: Nordic mythology (and I’d marry Thor). I’d take intensive piano lessons. I’d study Vedic Astrology and martial arts.
Melancholy: We’re all just passing through here. Melancholy has a bad rep, but it holds our depths. So. What do you miss? And what are a few things about this time will you one day miss? I miss my little niece. I do miss the crisp autumn air at the playground where I would hang out as a kid. I will miss the memories I have made with Kate Lynne, Rachel and Adena, the amazing shows we have played together and wonderful dreams we share. One day we will all look back and say “this is where it all started”.
Dear Jessica,
Thank you so much for playing this game with me! I love reading this response–it’s so textural. Also, I have a little melancholy for you in particular. We’ve both been so busy with the exact things that we want to be busy with that there has been a sever shortage of clinging. This must be remedied!!!
Love Adena
Wow – food for thought! Love the post and your musing on fall, harvest, knowledge…life in general. Found you on A-List. I too am an Creativity blogger. Nice site, nice post.
Thank you so much Jane!
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Food: What are five foods you love to eat in autumn? Pumpkin anything, fresh Haas avocados (as opposed to those that have been in cold storage for months), pecan pie, tamales.
Gratitude: What five things are you grateful for this autumn? My health, my retirement so that I can do the work I am passionate about, the beach in Ventura, my beautiful garden, my beautiful niece and children and grandchildren, a new friend, a draft of a new book manuscript.
Ripeness: My book, Digging Deep; parts of my daily practice, Pilates.
Harvest: What three things are you ready to complete? Promotion for my first book, 2010 tax returns, worrying about money.
Fruitfulness: What three things do you want to bring to fruition this season? My next two books, a sensible diet, greater comfort with retirement, especially eliminating my drive to achieve and compete, less planning.
Routine: What five things could you regularly practice to support your fruition? More meditation, more walking on the beach, doing something spontaneous every day, talking to a loved one every day, cooking new dishes.
Feasting: How will you share? Helping my niece with whatever help she needs, helping my daughter with her baby grandsons, publishing my books, writing my blogs.
Maturity: What have you grown into? What have you grown out of? I have grown into being satisfied with where I am, physically and emotionally; feeling more confident as a writer. I have grown out of being sad when loved ones don’t pay as much attention to me as I would like; wanting to travel all the time.
Knowledge: I learned a lot about how to and how not to promote a book.
School: Mythology (male and female), advanced art appreciation, painting, quantum physics and Spanish.
Melancholy: I miss Boston and Paris. I miss living near my niece. One day I will miss my good health, someone needing me, not needing to be taken care of.
Dear Boyd,
Thank you for your heart felt sharing. Beautiful! And Boston and Paris are very missable cities.
Love Adena
Hey Adena this was a really interesting post. Your questions made me think “Hey I hadn’t asked this question to myself before” at times. Thanks for the thought triggers
Food: What are five foods you love to eat in autumn? Anything really. I love food (an honest blanket statement)
Gratitude: What five things are you grateful for this autumn? the cool weather and rain (I grew up in it). when you are walking outside in rain at dark, I love how car headlights reflect as jagged lines on the wet street. I am also greatful for having finished my car payments, and the fact that my best friend from Turkey moved to US.
Ripeness: What three things are ripe in your life right now? I and my wife are expecting a baby boy in January. I feel ready and excited to take this step into fatherhood. My recording skills feel more ripe than before too. My network is growing but there is still a lot of room to grow there.
Harvest: What three things are you ready to complete? some stuff at work, the design and implementation of my son’s room, and my EP
Fruitfulness: What three things do you want to bring to fruition this season? I wish to get back to writing fiction a little bit. I want to do some fun coding for digital arts stuff. And write a few new songs
Routine: What five things could you regularly practice to support your fruition? stick to efficiency and prioritization at work (so it doesn’t spill over to my own time), regularly play (at studio and live), remain physically active and energetic (biking to work everyday plus lifting some weights) in order to stay healthy. watch what you eat, and just be a good person.
Feasting: How will you share? I really don’t know. EP and my digital arts stuff will find their way to the web. I will continue to play live at least once a month. I will help as many other people as possible.
Maturity: What have you grown into? What have you grown out of? I’ve grown into enjoying social interaction whether it be random chit chat or deeper sharing with friends. I am growing out of taking on too much work.
Knowledge: I learned that even though I love designing and observing complex systems and solutions in hardware or software or processes, I am really starting to find “people” to be much more interesting than any system. And I learned that the most unexpected people you run into in most unexpected places, can end up adding tremendous amount of value to your life.
School: If you could take five classes right now, from the school of your dreams, what would you study? philosophy, psychology, sociology, political science, marketing.
Melancholy: We’re all just passing through here. Melancholy has a bad rep, but it holds our depths. So. What do you miss? And what are a few things about this time will you one day miss?
I am not a very melancholic person and I just enjoy what every new year brings. Hence there isn’t much that I miss from past. Overall my life has mostly gone in a better direction.
I miss being in school where life was financed by the parents and you had these 3 month long summer holidays. I miss the “complete reset” that those summer holidays provided.
I will work hard not to lose what I have now so that I won’t have to miss much, and I am looking forward to new things that will become available to me in the coming decades.
Dear Bilgem,
Thank you so much for sharing! I think this is my favorite comments section to date because it feels so intimate. What really strikes me about your share is how different we all are–I love that you have a hard time relating to the melancholy! Delightful!
Also, you’re going to keep me posted about those monthly shows, right?
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