Running Out of Steam

You’ve been there, I’m sure. I have been there for a while. In the doldrums. The Horse Latitudes. A period when little seems to be happening, so you just sit back and wait for the horse to come back so you can climb back on.

How’s that for mixed metaphors!

For the past six months or so I have been playing a waiting game on a proposal for a project that I was really fired up about. But over the last while have simply been blowing air on the few coals of enthusiasm that I could muster while I awaited The Word. (I know. More metaphor.)

But I am hoping to hear the final outcome of the proposal in the next week or so, and then will have a better idea of where to go from here.

Meanwhile? I have been learning to paint with watercolours. Presenting virtually to schools and libraries in three provinces during Canadian Children’s Book Week. Following the progress of SHELTER as it made its way into the world. Writing a few pieces of memoir poetry. Teaching writing, and most recently – and thanks to a group in Alison’s Acheson’s Unschool For Writers – digging back into a few picture book stories that have been languishing for a while.

But now it’s summer. Camping calls. Hanging out with my grandson. Enjoying our lovely environment here on Vancouver Island.

And on August 26 I leave for a two-week holiday in Sicily. Sun. Sea. History. And good food. That’s what I am going in search of. And as long as I don’t get hung up on delayed or cancelled flights or lost luggage, I plan to make the very best of every minute.

I hope your summer is interesting and satisfying. However you spend it. And that if your writing has been languishing in recent months, here’s hoping a spark soon alights your interest and energy and you can get back to it.

Lipari, Sicily. Photo. A
Lipari, Sicity. Ph. Italy Tourism

It’s been a while

COVID – and life – seems to have upended all my routines and messed with my goals in recent months. But I have managed to plod on, word by word, line by line, and have especially enjoyed the magic of dipping in and out of picture book stories – older ones languishing in my files, and a few new ones. And I even have a few out on submission now.

But the past week or so I have been preoccupied with the intracies of iMovie and Zoom’s recording function as I struggle to put together a couple of videos and book trailers to help promote my forthcoming book.

All the technology is there. But my tolerance for and patience with it is diminishing. Even a recent update on this platform has got me frustrated and confused. Which could explain my recent blog silence.

But I will keep at it. And soon, I hope, be able to post a clip or two of a conversation with another writer whose latest book releases on the same day as mine, and a trailer for mine. Meanwhile, stay tuned for that, as well as details as events and activities around the Oct. release and book launch for SHELTER: HOMELESSNESS IN OUR COMMUNITY.

And perhaps, if I’m lucky, I might even some good news about one of those pieces drifting out there in the publishing ether.

Research #4 – Those ‘aha’ moments


Most days I start work by scanning 10 to 30 links thrown up by three different Google Alerts that I’ve established. All have to do one way or another with the children’s nonfiction book on homelessness that I’m working on.

Some days it’s depressing work. So many communities struggling in so many ways with so many issues related to the problem. Growing numbers of unsheltered and unhoused people. More and more evidence of the impact of addictions and compromised mental health. So many individuals and neighbourhoods opposing efforts to create more shelter beds, more services and supports.

The scope of my research covers all of N. America. So every day there are a lot of links to follow, articles to read, and determinations to be made about if/how what I’ve just learned relates to my book.

And if it does, how to archive it and track it so I can find it when I need it.

Some days it can be hard going.

khloe-kares-homeless3

Photo: Readers Digest

But I’d estimate that for every five ‘bad news’ stories, there is at least one good one. One of the  most heartening elements of  my research is just how many individuals and organizations are coming up with innovative and effective ways of supporting homeless people. Like this one. Nine-year-old year-old Californian Khloe Thompson was so affected by the homeless women she encountered in her neighbourhood, that she set up a charity called Khloe Kares. So far she has raised over $10,000, some of which has gone towards making homemade bags which she fills with toiletries and other sundries to distribute in her community.

Another bonus to this kind of scattershot research is that it also throws up information that might not directly relate to my subject, but is compelling enough to take note of, and get back to.

Today a CBC news post alerted me for the first time to Metis road allowance settlement. When Metis people were deprived of their homes through the ‘scrip’ program, many settled in the ten-foot road allowance proscribed by the Northern Land Survey, alongside roads and railways lines. 

This led me to check into the subject further through the Indigenous Peoples of Canada website. 

At first glimpse, I was not sure how and if I could use this information, fascinating – and chilling – as it is. But then I thought of the connection of our modern-day tent cities to the shantytowns of the Depression, and how actions of – or inaction by – governments and bureaucracies often lead people to find their own solutions and create their own communities.

Back to work

 

In just over a month I turn 65. I am moving into Elderhood as graciously as I can. And perhaps not in the normal way of doing things, I am going back to work.

Not at the library, this time.

Last summer when I was planning my move to Nanaimo, I started looking around for a community of like-minded people. Having been a member of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, which nicely mirrored and supported my values in both my everyday and spiritual life, I was hoping to find the same in my new neighbourhood.

shelter1I did. I was thrilled to discover the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo (FUFON), where I was welcomed in so warmly to its inclusive, open congregation.

And where, very early on, I discovered important work being done.

The Unitarian Shelter has been providing a non-judgemental welcome, a warm bed, hot meals, and companionship to Nanaimo’s homeless for eight seasons. This ‘low-barrier’ shelter, supported by the Fellowship’s congregation, the community, and with federal and provincial funding and a grant from the City of Nanaimo, will open its doors again in October offering a safe, warm and dry overnight environment for men and women from Nanaimo’s streets.

someoneAnd I’m thrilled to begin serving as the shelter’s Executive Director on August 1.

I won’t be making beds, preparing meals, overseeing the laundry, or cleaning the washrooms – other than on an occasional volunteer basis. That is best left to the Shelter Coordinator and his dedicated team of staff and volunteers. I’ll be ‘in the back’, helping build and maintain relationships with the FUFON congregation, funders, donors and volunteers and looking for new ways to spread the word about the shelter, generate funds, and build awareness of homelessness in our communities.

I am so proud to be doing this work.

And so very sad that in these times, it still has to be done.

“Do not avert your eyes.
It is important that you see this. It is important that you feel this.” 
Kamand Kojouri