WTF (Whimsy Tips Fate)

Not infrequently the world feels brutal: the betrayal, the diagnosis, the rejection email, the car making the sound of an elderly walrus trapped in a tuba. We can’t always solve these things.

Sometimes when my biochemistry and mindfulness are in concert, I shift my attention to something non-essentially holy. My bathing cap with a swan on it, chickens with hot-pink combs, and googly eyes on an orange called Kevin.

My adult mind says: “Pointless.”

Correct. Thank goodness.

Not everything that saves us needs to be productive. A dandelion is not keeping track of its expenses. A child in a cape is not optimizing her brand (hopefully). A crow stealing a fry from a parking lot is not adding to his trophy case. Yet all of them are participating in the strange pageant of being here, adding to life’s backdrop of found amusement.

To me, whimsy restores scale. It reminds me that I am not my most recent mistake, my inbox, or the ominous thing I read before bed and then carried into my dreams like bag of emotional trail mix (that has mostly raisins and tiny rocks).

We are also the person who notices a heart-shaped leaf, is captivated when a circular wind makes a plastic bag dance, sees a shopping cart parked alone in a field and imagines it has left a difficult relationship.

Whimsy doesn’t deny or fix reality. It puts a paper hat on it and invites it to sit down for tea.

Attention is a form of devotion. Play is a form of courage. Creativity comes from the union of both.
Whimsy is the little trapdoor beneath the steely seriousness of things. When we step through it, we return to it softer, more able to bear its sorrows without becoming one of them.

“Whimsy Tips Fate” means that a playful shift of attention can nudge the direction of your day away from the expected or the dreaded.

It doesn’t mean whimsy controls fate like a remote control. It means that when you do something creatively unplanned, you create a slight tilt. And in that opening can roll a new conversation, idea, friendship, or possibility.

Roll and rock,

Jill

Join me in the Whimsy of Art and Writing.

August 11 Sneaking Through the Backdoor of Poetry and Prose: beam yourself here
Prompts that begin with lists, mind-mapping, and images make writing poetry easier and the Muse more cooperative. In this low-pressure, three week class, we will transcribe the poems and prose lurking under our scattered minds and which have been waiting to be discovered.

August 13 Celebration of Color (and Words) - Free to paid subscribers (link in the paid chat and will be emailed again soon) Others can join us too
Thank you to those in regular attendance, it has made these workshops into a supportive, non-competitive, and inspiring community. Your on-going commitment to your art and writing shows. There is always room for one more curious soul.