I’ve been picking at the threads…
I didn’t realize there were so many.
- A Threads Project
byamygrace
Although I knew the summer semester began at the top of May with incoming assignments, essays, lectures, readings, responses, etc. I wasn’t sure how soon they would kick in before the June residency. Turns out, it started right away.
As I have adjusted to tackling deadlines, readings, lectures, etc., I have identified some things I plan to take with me on my MFA journey.
Changes I am making:
Time Blocking
Rather than freaking out about the reading list, assignments, word count goals and meetings coming in fast, I am taking a day or two to process new information and then carefully break it down into reasonable chunks to tackle each week.
This doesn’t mean I am not already neck-deep in work, but it does mean I can tread water and still see the horizon ahead.
Within blocking out the time to tackle each new chunk, I am also prioritizing my mind, body and soul.
Prioritizing Mind, Body & Soul
Meals, exercise, alcohol-free weekdays, sleep, quality time with my daughter and partner, meditation, therapy, unplugged moments to exhale, etc., are all being prioritized in advance to protect not only my ability to output work and study but also to honour the open journey I need to protect and maintain.
End Each Semester with an Exhale moment.
Spending a few sessions at a Nordic-inspired spa recently was intensely rejuvenating. From that experience, I identified that I would like to build into each semester's end a session at a hydrothermal spa to celebrate the work done and to empty the mind, body, and soul to prepare myself for another new semester ahead.
* These next twenty-four months have much in store for me, and I cannot imagine how life will have shifted, changed, and evolved by May 2026, when I approach graduation day.
What I do know for sure is that I want to have said that I sunk into every aspect of this journey and left nothing on the table.
****This is my dedication to my practice, my craft and the beloved act of braving the wilderness of one word at a time.
They arrived!
Not all, but many books from the required and suggested reading lists for my master's program have arrived.
It’s time to get down to business!
My Goal:
To read every book suggested, mentioned or referred to in passing within my master’s journey.
Why?
When else will I have this excuse to trip over myself reading book after book?
How?
I will prioritize the required reading books and follow them with whatever seems more pressing. I aim to highlight and take notes as I go (which I am apt to do with books I own / study) and input those highlighted quotes/sections into a chart for reference.
When a quote or passage deems itself a lifeline, I will write it down to keep it in a visible space in my office to be reminded of.
If you need me, I’ll be reading.
In the late spring of 2023,
I began to stumble upon the growing desire to dig deeper into my craft of documenting and writing. As with anything, there is a point where you realize you can continue as you have been or dig in deeper and search for a type of growth that will genuinely grow and challenge you.
With the encouragement of a handful of close and trusted colleagues, friends and family, I began asking what it might take for someone like me to seek a place in a master's program. I expected the doors to be firmly closed and locked in place. Yet, it was in this process that I discovered something else.
I discovered that the more I asked questions, the more doors opened. The more I tip-toed near the edge of possibility, the more the call from the unknown beckoned me to jump.
So jump I did. I spent the summer and early autumn preparing and finishing my application for this master's program. It was a labour of love over the project I am going forward with and, most importantly, a labour of love for myself.
I am worthy of a higher education, worthy of taking myself seriously, and most certainly deserving within my craft.
creativity | ˌkrēāˈtivədē | noun the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work: firms are keen to encourage creativity.
Creativity, alongside its necessary partner' curiosity,' has been the foundation of how I have developed and honed my craft over the years.
Because of this passionate love and pursuit of creativity, I have found myself in various creative industry mediums (radio, scriptwriting, playwriting, comedy writing, film, articles, and web multimedia). It continues to be the heartbeat behind all that I do.
Creative Writer
A Creative writer approaches each writing piece or project with the concept that they discover the authenticity and strength of the material as they go along. They bring not only what they understand about the subject but also all the elements of life around them to fully develop a narrative and paint a picture for the readers of what they desire to communicate.
Creative writing is less about proving a point and more about showcasing an idea, belief or feeling through the art of words.
Creative Producer
A producer can be many things depending on the project they are working on, but in this case, my approach in creative producing has been and always will be as a vision advocate. Every project has its own unique tone, voice, narrative and hook. Taking the time to come alongside a story/project and help shape it and walk it into its fullness is an act of being able to honour it through all its needed changes while also intuitively knowing what is non-negotiable in its creation.
Creative Producing is, in its entirety, a position of intuitive discernment and advocacy for the overall project.
To All that Holds this Earth,
Sorting the burdens that weigh heavy within my mind.
Sanding down the wounds that tear at my heart.
Sifting through the depths of my weary soul.
May you shed light on the ways I have manipulated words to fit my own agenda.
May you soften the ways I can make pathways
Between “them” and “me"“.
May you remind me of the healing words I have recieved.
May you enforce protection within me against the wreckage words I have inherited.
Give me the courage to listen.
Courage to pause.
Courage to listen again.
Courage to inhale.
And then, and only then,
Give me the courage to speak.
And when my words are tempted to demean, diminish or demand,
Check my pen.
And when my emotions are tempted to explode,
Check my heart.
Steady my hands.
Steady my mind.
Steady my heart.
Steady all that propels me.
& keep me centred on all that bridges.
All that connects
And certainly
All that heals.
Earlier this year I found myself saying phrases like:
“Don’t get me wrong, if it sounds like I want _____ , I don’t actually want that.”
“I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 foot pole. I would need a lot of space from it in order to do it.”
On both accounts, I am already eating my words.
Living a life open to creative work is difficult as it is comical.
More often than not, the moment of revelation and ‘next right thing’, is right at the edge of resistance.
It’s that moment you look over the edge of a giant cliff you’ve never scaled down before and despite the beauty of the view below you laugh and say things like:
“Not in a million years!”
“As if!”
“Why would I want to do that?”
And then as you take one last look you start to ask more questions.
“Well… how would I do that anyway?”
“Why would I do it…if I did….why?”
And when the answers start coming easy and clear…that is when you know you just might need to eat your words on all accounts, pick up ‘desire’ and ‘courage’ and do the real heavy work of scaling down the edge of creative insanity.
****
Reader,
I am merely at the point of preparing my gear to scale down this tall mountain of work… but when the starting gun goes…I will be beyond tickled and frigthened to show you just the edge of what it is I said I would NEVER do…that suddenly I am going to do.
Until then,
Onwards,
Welcoming a new desk to my office right as a new challenge / invitation was presenting itself was pleasant timing. A late birthday gift after years of straining my back over a desk that wasn't made for hours and hours of writing and work.
September feels like a new year for the work life and with that comes new intentions, determination and focus.
What I am carrying with me this ‘new work year’:
Walk through open doors.
Celebrate what has been accomplished already.
Attend and stay open to possible ‘work’ events.
Embrace the new direction.
Enjoy your own creative mind.
res·o·nance| ˈrezənəns | noun
1 the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating: the resonance of his voice. • the ability to evoke or suggest images, memories, and emotions: the concepts lose their emotional resonance.
2 Physics the reinforcement or prolongation of sound by reflection from a surface or by the synchronous vibration of a neighboring object.
3 the condition in which an electric circuit or device produces the largest possible response to an applied oscillating signal, especially when its inductive and its capacitative reactances are balanced.
I have been holding back.
All it takes is one quick scroll on Youtube, Instagram or Twitter to realize the number of voices on any one thing is endless. The number of vlogs, podcasts, blogs, essays, articles, series, tik-toks, memes, commentaries, and message boards on any topic is overwhelming at best.
I have found it alarming, overwhelming and, quite frankly, scared to be a voice that isn't adding anything but more noise to the cacophony.
To become part of the machine that doesn't make room for grace, compassion and courage.
Yet, now it's time to think differently. To think with a longer-lasting perspective.
Resonance.
To develop and evoke quality, depth and fullness in creation that echoes through life and work.
To practice the art of resonance is:
To fully express the fullness of thought and meaning behind a concept.
To seek collaborative hands to be the champions and refining behind the work.
To take in more than one angle of perspective on any one thing and be refined by all that surrounds a topic.
Onwards,
Amy Grace
res·o·nance| ˈrezənəns | noun
1 the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating: the resonance of his voice. • the ability to evoke or suggest images, memories, and emotions: the concepts lose their emotional resonance.
Over the past few years, I have been doing my best to maintain and invest in my own creative business.
As much as I would like to say I am on top of all that I own, use and have fallen into using, it’s simply not true.
The truth is, I am often either emergency replacing an item (aka my laptops) and rushing to update, set up and use than genuinely taking my time and learning what these items are capable of.
I also know that personality does play a part in this. I know a few creative-based individuals who obsess over a new tool/software and would spend all of their free time figuring them out until they have mastered them. Admittedly, that is not me. I need reasons for using something, a personal or professional project, to wrap my head around using something. Although this is how I genuinely learn best, it also does naturally, at times, leave gaps.
This year, I decided to change that and am working on learning in-depth each of my tools and software.
To stay accountable to this goal, I will be updating over time what I have learned.
Equipment
Blue Yeti Mic - Used for podcast recordings & various radio docs.
Zoom h4n Pro Audio Recorder - A recent birthday gift to support my audio documentaries
Canon EOS RP - For creative and documentary captures.
MacBook Pro 14 Inch - 2021 - For every single thing I do.
Software
Final Cut Pro - For editing any footage that I use.
Final Draft 12 - For screenwriting.
Celtx - For Audio script writing
Grammarly Editor - To catch everything I am too busy to catch. ****A Ukraine business.******
Audacity - For exporting and editing audio clips.
& with all of this said, I recognize that it is a huge privilege to have these items at my disposal, and I am determined to end 2022 with a greater grasp on how I can use them to their highest potential.
Wrapping up a year, it’s easy to get caught up in the next thing.
I’ll be the first to say I love planning and jumping into the new
but,
before the jump,
let’s pause and take a moment to celebrate the wins of 2021.
Completing the ‘Owning It’ series alongside Natalie Dobbin and Claire Fraser was a high. Both Claire and I worked hard under our Brilliansea umbrella to create space for showcasing the skills of various women. in Owning It, we were able to share that with a broadcaster. I am so proud of our work under Brilliansea and the Owning It series.
The radio doc ‘Speak to Me!’ for CBC radio produced by Natalie Dobbin was indeed a piece of my heart in audio format. It was a learning experience to understand how to take an idea and format it for radio, but it was a fulfilling experience that left me inspired and ready to produce and create more.
The radio series ‘What We Carry with Us’ with Natalie Dobbin and Megan Piercey Monafu. A labour of love and a way to showcase a varying take on documenting the memories and people we love.
Along with these projects I have:
Finished production on a podcast for WIFT-AT.
Finished a pilot episode first draft on a drama.
Started a children’s book with a good friend and illustrator.
In collaboration with another actor and writer on a television series.
The wins are so important to remember.
It allows us to recognize that growth has occurred, and
the reminder that it will happen again.
You are never done growing.
It’s taken almost a full year to give birth to a specific first draft of a project.
I have taken my time processing the reasons behind wanting to craft this story, and it’s taken me a lot of time to process each turn and twist.
I’ve worked to lay the cards on the table and see what I have to work with.
Sharing this project with a select few has allowed me to see where I need to fill in plot holes and various clarifications. I liked to cover this project up, saying it was the roughest of rough ideas.
But the honest truth is it’s taken full shape, and it’s time to take it into its next draft.
A little group of words to push me into a new season with a new draft.
Onwards,
and may the cards fall where they may.
Somehow, somewhere, at some point we are apt to find ourselves believing that in order to do what we feel intrinsically called to do (especially those called into creative industries) we must sell our whole selves to an industry in order to be taken seriously.
To be a writer, one must be churning out manuscripts, scripts, poems and plays like machines.
To be an actor one must be in every topical show, series, performance that the current society is raving about on twitter.
To be a visual artist, one must have a booming social media account full of Lucious images that gain a million likes within seconds of posting.
Somehow we have found that this means ‘success’ and that this is what we need to do in order to be validated in our work, our life and our ultimate existence on this earth.
It’s all a lie.
All of it.
If you write, you are a writer.
If you act, you are an actor.
If you make visual art, you are a visual artist.
How much or how little is irrelevant.
How many people know your name is a selfish and silly game the creative industries and society have taught us to believe equals our self worth.
What matters?
How much of yourself is in the work you do?
How are you showing up for your work, not just in the moments you do it, but also the moments you don’t?
How do you cultivate and create space for those that consume, collaborate and support the work?
How do you honour your own rhythm and pacing?
How are you living not just within the work, but outside the work?
Everything informs everything.
Martin Short is known to have this idea that he is only the sum of his total whole self. If he has nine sections of his life, and one aspect of his life isn’t doing the hottest at any given moment then the rest of those parts, no matter how seemingly important or unimportant are all part of the balance to remind oneself, being successful at one part of life, but terrible at the other parts does not mean success. But to find ways to honour varying aspects of oneself, is to approach life and work as a whole person.
Creatives like to think they are the best or the worst depending on the day.
I’d like to see more of us believe that we are just like each other.
Human beings answering a calling as best they can while working to be there for their friends, family, side projects, personal growth and everything inbetween.
We are more than our awards, subscribers, honourable mentions, our nominations and our successes, or lack thereof.
We are people.
Living.
Breathing.
Thinking.
Reflecting.
Working.
people.
As the Autumn has progressed I am finding the pulse of truth become known to me.
It’s not a new concept by any means.
But it is a practice. A consistency. Meditation in the form of trust and gut.
It’s showing up to serve the work to move it forward.
Moving a project forward can feel invigorating.
It can feel like one is wonder woman and literally saving the day.
It can also feel like monotony.
The dirty work.
The scrubbing the floor just to have millions of feet walk all over it again.
And there it is. That pulse. It is steady and true.
Although one may feel that there is nothing to show for what one did to ‘move it forward’ today. There is an accumulation of days that can bring ‘it’ to the light.
It is something that only tenacity, grace and a bit of a stubborn nature can produce.
May we not discredit our work, no matter how big or how small.
How much the paycheck is or isn’t.
How many likes we receive or don’t.
How loud the applause or how quiet.
May we be more focused on serving the work before us and moving it forward to its next right place, even just a smidge more.
Eventually, we’ll look behind us and realize we climbed a mountain and despite the results and how many people saw,
we did it.
Thanks to Screen Nova Scotia, I was able to attend Media Xchanges Storytelling for Screenwriters workshop series with John Yorke.
An honour to be allowed to learn and dig deeper into my storytelling skillset. Something I have been seeking the next right opportunity to grow professionally. This turned out to be exactly what I needed.
What I’ve learned so far…
I learned to think more in-depth into the structural dynamics of the typical story/screenplay. Many screenwriters and writers, in general, have structures they apply to their work or writing. Three acts, five acts, beat sheets. All commonly used methods of mapping out a story. In this course, we explored not just a five-act structure but the deeper meanings and intentions behind why a structure can boost a story.
We saw this practically through examples and by applying it ourselves to commonly known work and creating our interpretation of a plot in group work. I was amazed by the joy and camaraderie I felt in the group work.
It was apparent everyone was happy to use their creative skill sets, bounce off ideas and work together. Seeing that collaboration is something I need to find and seek out more often. It's easy as a writer/creator to stay insular, but these moments of collaboration remind you why you do what you do.
To connect, share and find meaning. It's what drives storytellers.
How I am processing it & what I hope to work on in the next month…
John Yorke's Roadmap to Change structure technique was a mind-shift for me. You can know things intuitively, but having the words for them is also essential. That is something that I hope to hone in on and practice more in my craft over the next month and beyond. I believe I have a knack and skill set for a story, but I have lacked the vernacular to discuss the weak points, the strong points and the overall elements of a story.
Gaining this skill set is a massive part of what I have needed and am excited to be growing in.
Until our next session in two weeks, I’ll be putting this knowledge to use.
Since March 19th, I have been getting up Monday - Thursday mornings at 6 am.
I pull on my robe, grab my phone & headphones, turn on a podcast and listen as I let the hot water boil for my coffee or tea.
I light a candle, sit down with my warm drink, switch from podcast to music and write.
So far, during these write mornings over the past three weeks, I have edited and arranged 21 pages of a project I am passionate about & drafted up half of a short film.
Some mornings it comes easy.
Falling out of my fingers like a waterfall.
Other mornings
I stare at the window beside my desk and seek the light that comes brighter every minute.
I have learned that there are some moments in these sessions that I should listen to my antsy body.
One of those times, I made myself sit through the two hours with cramps distracting me.
I should have taken my laptop, tea and settled on the couch. I should not have worried about the potential of being found out by my four-year-old and just embrace what needed to happen that morning.
Another time, up at all hours with a fevered child, I told my spirit that today was not the day to wake up at 6 am and force it.
Sometimes, you have to appreciate what your body, mind and soul are saying.
The skipping is about protecting creativity, not abandoning it.
Find something equally challenging and exciting for you & show up for it.
Aren Morris
Fine Arts Specialist, Facilitator, Writer, Mom & Wife
Aren can be found working with schools to create space for students to explore fine arts, facilitating the 'Creating Space' retreats, while also embracing her role as a wife of fifteen years and mother to two young boys.
Aren is wholehearted about channelling creativity in all that she does as an arts specialist, writer, and especially as a mother where she takes great care and energy in helping to create an atmosphere for her children to grow and discover who they are.
She also happens to carry a fantastic ability to ground herself in the present moment and find words and concepts to share that bring awareness, creative ideas and insight to the surface of all that she does and to everyone she interacts with.
MORE AREN
WEBSITES
https://sites.google.com/gnspes.ca/fineartspecialists-halifaxwest/
https://www.facebook.com/creatingspaceretreats/
Characters.
They are my catnip in the story world.
One of my goals this year is to better delve into the world of character development. It seems like a natural part of the writing world, but it is also one of those intricate parts that have no end. Only they, the characters, can reveal to you who they are and what motivates them. Just like people, this takes longer than a short chat. One needs time and a refreshing beverage between them.
In the real world, people are in constant motion.
They have their ways, and they're why's. I find that as I watch them at a distance, I can see the glimmer of childhood pain that sits there behind their own eyes. See the way they tug at their collar with a self-conscious tick. A small gesture becomes something that informs the world on a subconscious level who they are.
Characters are reflections of who we are.
They should be more than just two dimensional. What makes a character succeed outside of one single scene and into multiple scenes is how multi-faceted they are. When we treat our characters as if they are real and vulnerable people, we create not just better plots, but a platform for real and raw human quality work.
Currently, I am practicing taking my characters and working on holding them with a new reverence and understanding. I am asking them the tough questions and working to hear them differently. New. Characters, just like people, have so much they aren't telling you.
Depending on who you are, you might need to pour another cup and listen awhile longer.
Rebecca Thomas
Poet & Activist
Rebecca can be found focusing on trying to improve the lives of others by using her words in forms such as poetry, children’s books, advising, strategy development, and diversity inclusion practices, while also staying present in her own identity as a Mi’kmaq person.
Rebecca gives incredible insight on taking account of ones own bias, privilege and world view and is able to marry that eye opening insight with an incredible amount of wisdom in how to harness it for growth and connection with others.
She also happens to maintain a rooted presence that allows for tenderness and grace to be present as she carefully discerns her words and the words of others.
More Rebecca
Twitter
@beccaleat
Artists In Residence