Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing: “Since then, I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”
The above quote is just one of the reasons I consider this book an essential part of my writing library. Bradbury talks about the alternative path to two extremes; writing for market recognition and writing for literary recognition. Good stuff.
This morning, I did not take antibiotics or pain killers (other than Tylenol) for the first time in what seems like forever. I’m not going to run any marathons any time soon, but I can walk around the house and yard without falling over and I spent the morning at my desk writing and watching bluebirds around the bird feeder.
If bluebirds know the key to happiness, it apparently involves a lot of scampering around and being curious and finding sunny spots on chilly days and investigating roof gutters, because you never know what might be in there. Which sounds an awful lot like what Ray Bradbury advises for creative people.
I peeked into a gutter of memory this week and found something very interesting. It’s the seed of a story. Finding something like that and pursuing it makes me as happy as a busy bluebird on a spring day. If that’s the bluebird of happiness, I’ll take it with a side of Bradbury’s Zen.
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