The sky over the harbour is notable in its absences. I search for swallows knowing it is way too early, rightly so. The world still turns at its own pace, and the migratory patterns plot timelines which ease my worry. This is not a time for their darting wings. Instead, a cluster of oystercatchers, perhaps recent arrivals from more Northerly shores, migrants from the Faeroes or Iceland, call out in a cascade of chirps as they claim the shoreline as theirs. A lone white egret hears their territorial signalling and in a ribbon of flight, scribbles an exit down the harbour, barely noticed; the sky now all ghosts and memory of presences.
Like so much of winter, its soundscape is pared back too. Calls and cries from the species built for this version of winter. They are the sounds of the hardy and the durable; the sounds of resilience and perseverance. I listen and note the presence of these qualities, and the sky’s spaciousness too. Winter holds so many invites. We may see absence at first, but there is also its contrasting companions; presence and arrival.
The bare bones of the trees presence their holding structure; the necessary scaffold to give rise to their fruiting.
The decaying leaves now disappearing into the loam. They will arrive in a new form, but give the composting time: the wait is a constituent of the arrival.
In our creative work absence is the pause between the notes of a song; the space for the breath. It it is a gap in a photograph which invites us into intrigue, or the figure just going out of view in a painting. The absence is the edit too; the pared back sky of the page, leaving only the calls of the necessary. It is the absences that make the presences more visible, and more precious too.
And in our lives? Well, that’s the question to ponder and bring to the page this week.
What do I notice about the qualities of absence? What arrivals and presences is it inviting you into?
I recommend you set a timer for five minutes, writing into the absences of the page, to see what presences may be made visible.
Reminder for paid Wild Edge members:
Coming up this week on The Wild Edge
Monthly Writing Sanctuary
Sunday 11th Jan. 6-7pm Irish/ UK time. This is an hour of guided journalling. The Sanctuary offer space for quiet reflection with inspiring creative prompts. The theme for this month is ‘dreaming’.
Owl Hours.
Thursday 16th January. 8-9pm Irish/ Uk time.
This is an hour for accountability, focus and momentum of your creative projects.
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You will find zoom links on our noticeboard here
Upcoming writing…
Keep an eye out for ‘The Library of Interesting Things’ and a new series on the ‘why’ of creativity.
Thank you all.
Until soon,
Clare. x
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