I’ve been reading the Tiffany Aching Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, finishing one book and immediately trading it for the next. Such joy to immerse myself in the world of a master wordsmith.
Sir Terry uses a perfect, invented word, noonlight, in the first book of the series The Wee Free Men. I love this word. I agree with him, it should be a real word. As far as I am concerned, it’s in a book so that makes it a real word. He made it so.
Since finishing this book, the phrase “standing in the noonlight” has been stuck in my mind. I can tell it has a particular meaning for me, and when something sticks, I need to explore it.
I know I have to be blazingly honest with myself when I write and draw. I have to see what I am thinking and believing, and feel everything I need to feel. Together, the seeing-thinking-believing-feeling allow me to create with my heart open.
I have to stand in the noonlight to create in this way. Brilliant, blazing light that shows all, both what I want to see and what I would rather keep hidden. There is no hiding in noonlight because there are no shadows. Standing in brilliant, heart-open honesty, and creating from this place despite the sometimes-hurt, leads me to my best writing and my best drawing.
There is relief in seeing all of me. No hiding means I can drop the effort it takes to pretend something is other than it is. When I see all of me, the power of choice becomes mine, and choice is power. Choice allows me to create something new, if I want to.
The truth is I am not always ready to handle the effort and potential pain of making a new choice and changing myself.
But, witnessing something I don’t like in myself puts a crack in it. A crack is enough. That’s all I need to eventually, when I am ready, get into that something and choose to change.
Writing and drawing in the noonlight helps me widen the crack. I can turn my thoughts and feelings into words and images, then turn the words and images just the right way so blazing brilliance shines in. Here I am. Here is what I think and believe. Here is what I feel. Here in this light, I grasp my power to choose and create new.
Writing and drawing are my noonlight. I am not always aware of what is running under the surface of me. Creating in word and image shows me what I am not seeing and not feeling. Standing in the noonlight wakes me up to everything I am.
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Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors. https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/
The drawing at the top of this post is from The Joy Diary Sketchbook I completed for the Brooklyn Art Library’s 2018 Sketchbook Project. I had such fun, I am doing it again, this time with two of my artist-writer friends. Who knows what magic will show up this time when we stand in the noonlight? https://www.brooklynartlibrary.com/