Season of Calm

We've just been out and bought a yucca plant to fill a gap on the living room windowsill that isn't taken up with the cats and their cushions. It's sitting in a bright new orange pot which works beautifully with the heritage green and orange colour scheme in this room.

I like yuccas. I've just realised that yucca is the state flower of New Mexico, which is interesting as I was revisiting memories of a road trip through Arizona, New Mexico and part of Texas only yesterday. I'm drawn to the desert landscapes of southwest America. I've decided I need more red rocks in my life. My computer desktop image is a photo I took at the Grand Canyon. It calms me. At work I have a photo of the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps I should switch to red rocks there, too, in order to induce some extra calm in that environment.

I'm seeing tomorrow as the start of something new, so perhaps today is also a significant day, standing on the threshold. What am I starting? What is changing? It would be good to think it's the start of a long, hot summer. Maybe it will be, but I can't do much to influence that, other than not touching my rain stick for the next few months. Calm does seem to be the theme of the day. A new worker starts in our team tomorrow, someone I directly manage, and I think this can only help me get myself and various stresses into perspective. If I can't be calm for my benefit, I can for another. Giving her a positive introduction and induction becomes my priority.

Tomorrow I also start a 9-week writing course with the trAce Online Writing School. It's called 'Season of Inspiration' and that sounds good in itself. If I achieve my new aura of calmness that's not to say I can't also be inspired and passionate in my writing life. The great thing is that I begin this course already fired up and inspired. I've been writing more poetry than I have for a very long time, so although the course isn't about writing to any set genre, I think I've rediscovered my preferred form.

I've worked with the tutors - Sharon Rundle and Helen Whitehead - before and I'm looking forward to the experiences that will be shared in the next few weeks. I know how good freewriting and journalling feels and I don't do enough of it. I'm seeking to discipline my writing habits, and then, if the mood takes me, I can enjoy the pleasures of breaking out!