Update on the progress of “A Picture on the Wall"

CSS Acadia at Maritime Museum of Atlantic
-Photo by Cal Shook

To date there are 27 people, who end up in about 16 different locations just before the Mont Blanc explodes around 9:05am in Halifax Harbour.  Since I shared the Landry, Burke, and Myatt Family Chart in last month's blog, I’ve written about the three families who occupy 38 Union Street.  Just prior to the explosion, a young family, the Gibson’s move into the vacant upstairs apartment.  Brothers Joe (my grandfather) and Dan Landry, owners of the home, are thrilled that Joe Gibson wanted to rent the apartment..  On moving day, family members get excited as an accordion,a violin, and then the Gibson’s new piano are brought up the stairs.  Thoughts of foot stomping music bring a sense of joy, a welcome respite from reminders of war sitting in the harbor below.

The morning of the explosion brings chores for the Landry children on the first floor. The Landry family still grieves the loss of mother Charlotte who died in January and a brother Leo who died on the front lines the year before.  Youngest of the boys, Jimmy, does his best to cheer everyone with his fun loving antics.

This coming month, I’ll be finishing up 19 Stairs Street and will continue working my way through  other locations that I’ve started.  Well that’s all for now, better get back to writing.

Thinking of my Grands– Passing It On

Photo by Tracy Soucy

My great Aunt Anna Bella Landry Bradley shared family stories with me.  Now it’s my turn to share her stories with my grand niece and nephew, Nora and Tommy.

Nora and Tommy, are young now, both being less than five years old.  They are in my thoughts with each word that I write about their Meme’s and my grandfather Joseph’s family.  Our great Aunt Anna Bella is one of his younger sisters. 

Many hours of transcribing my great aunt's and my visits, additional stories from my dad's and my generations, and research both in the United States and Canada are now coming together in a more coherent form.. As the words make their way onto the page its my desire to create a memoir that will captivate Nora and Tommy.  Hoping that it will be worthy of their passing it on to the next generation.  

The book is taking shape as I work to complete this draft by the end of the year with plans to self-publish later next year.

For a little about how this book came about and Aunt Anna Bella's Experience: A Picture on the Wall: the Halifax Explosion

Great Grandfather Michael Landry:  A Father's Love - Halifax Explosion

100th Anniversary of Halifax Explosion: 
A Walk in Fort Needham Memorial Park,
Hope and Survival Quilt

Caught Between Two Worlds

Photo by Cal Shook

Maybe you’ve been caught between two worlds – it’s that time when you are preparing to leave the life you’ve known to head to another place.

For my husband and I, the familiar routines are gone as belongings are wrapped and placed in boxes. We are torn between the life we’ve known for the past ten years and the new life that we’re heading to.  As our journey continues, we grieve the loss of  being close to family and friends in and around coastal Maine.  Uneasiness surfaces as we contemplate the unfamiliar.  It’s followed by a muffled sense of wonder, yearning to break free, as we look at the variety of possible adventures in the foothills surrounding Lake Winnipesaukee.

Photo by Cal Shook

During this somewhat disorienting time, I want you all to know that the Landry Family memoir is making its way onto the page with the goal of a more authentic and coherent work.  In the life that awaits I plan to take a sabbatical of sorts before taking on new commitments.  I’m determined to leave this legacy for my great Aunt Anna Bella who put the narrative in motion and for the many family members who’ve added to it.  Family and friends have contributed key information, through research and detective style strategies that has helped me fill in information to add to its authenticity.

 In the months to come, I’ll post some brief updates and let you in on new family insights and strategies.  Thank you all for your support and prayers.

Writer to Writer - Hamilton and Miranda

Cal Shook - York Harbor, Maine

Motivational tools for writers and other artists are provided when two authors from two different centuries’ lives intersect.

Imagine writing yourself into the history of one of the greatest countries on earth and you weren’t born there.  Alexander Hamilton wrote his way from a tiny Island in the Caribbean to
free passage to America.  Once there he would gain admission to education and work his way up to become an influential force in shaping what would become the United States of America.

As an immigrant, Hamilton embraced his new life and opportunities.  His ability to communicate his fresh perspective would create a revolution that would change the course of history for generations to come.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and meet writer/artist, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the son of an immigrant. Lin-Manuel becomes enthralled by the life of Alexander Hamilton.  Six years in the making, his hip hop Broadway musical, “Hamilton”, is performed to sold-out crowds.

How in the world does a “rapping” musical about American history become a much sought after production?  The PBS special “Hamilton’s America” offers keen insights to what it takes to become an accomplished author.  Thanks to Lin-Manuel’s openness and candor the following motivational tools are revealed.

Tool #1:  Write as though time is running out.

Our time here on earth is limited.  Be obsessed – let it all hang out.

Just as Hamilton wrote wherever and whenever he could using his portable desk, Lin-Manuel did the same letting all the rhymes in his head make their way out onto the word processor on his laptop.

Tool #2:  Know your subject intimately.

Lin-Manuel was inspired by author Ron Chernow’s book, “Alexander Hamilton”.  Its 832 pages provided an extensive look into the life of this great man – warts and all. Not only did Lin-Manuel use this creative work, he also traveled to historic sights to gain further insight into the look and feel of the era in which Hamilton lived.

Tool #3:  Take a risk and keep it real.

Test it out by taking a risk, but make sure it’s real – authentic.

“I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.”  – Alexander Hamilton, Letter of August 13, 1782

The first song Lin-Manuel created was blunt and edgy in its portrayal of Hamilton’s life.  How would it be received?   An opportunity presented itself when he was invited to sing a song from “The Heights” to close out an evening of artists at the White House.  Instead he decided to sing this new song that he’d just written about Hamilton.  As his performance ended, the audience rose to their feet in solidarity with applause.

Tool #4:  Set deadlines and meet them.

After two plus years and only two songs, Lin-Manuel realized that he needed to get moving if this was going to be more than just a couple songs.  To remedy this, he set deadlines and met them.

Tool #5:  Tap into the talent around you – Collaborate.

Feedback from others is essential no matter what type of work you’re creating.

Not only did Lin-Manuel have conversations with fellow author Ron Chernow, he held what he called Cabinet Meetings with a core group that would help spur the production forward.  Collaboration with authors/artists can help determine whether your words are making sense and assure that they fit the totality of the work.

In Closing:

Alexander Hamilton’s life inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda and thanks to them and the PBS special “Hamilton’s America”* I am feeling energized.  The tools mentioned above, along with testimonials accompanied by music and other visuals provided in this special, are motivating me to write whenever and wherever I can.  The next draft of the memoir about my paternal grandfather Joe's family is under way.  The time to get it done is “now”.

What's your "now"?

*Note:  The video "Hamilton's America" on PBS will expire on November 18, 2016

Don’t Quit!

Don’t quit, my friend, hang in there.

Sometimes when we feel like we’re at the breaking point and about to give up, a new breakthrough is right around the corner.

Last week I came pretty close to losing it as I stepped back to review the memoir that I’m working on.

A Reflection on Last Week

Many years of research and writing are in front of me and it’s not a pretty site. Some sections of  the narrative are intertwined with details and free flowing thought that leave them sounding chaotic. This is not what I expected this draft to look like. Yuck.  

Feeling discouraged and not wanting to quit, I decide to take a short break. Fortunately, my husband Jim and I had already scheduled two days with family and friends. It provided a wonderful diversion.

A New Perspective

Rested and renewed I return to my writing room.  Sitting with paper and pen in hand, I remember a blog post by Cal Armistead - “How do Your Write a Book? First, You Start with a Lump of Clay…”

Rereading Cal’s article was like getting a shot of adrenaline.  Maybe it’s not a chaotic mess, but a lump of clay that is taking shape. If I stick with it, it will continue to take form. It will become a complete work in its time.

Be a Bridge Builder: Be the Artist You Were Created to Be.

Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, New York City - Wikepedia

“Who can deny that the Queensborough Bridge is the work of a creative artist?”

“Behold its liberal loveliness of length,

       A flowing span from shore to shore,

       A brimming reach of beauty matched with strength,

       It shines and climbs like some miraculous dream,

       Like some vision multitudinous and agleam,

       A passion of desire held captive in the clasp of vast utility.” Helen Keller, Midstream

How does someone who is blind and deaf write such beautiful flowing words about a bridge?

Helen Keller traveled across this bridge numerous times with various companions; each offering their experience as they road up to and over it. This was done by either signing into Helen’s hand or allowing her to place her hand on their lips while speaking about it. Helen responded to their observations in a similar manner, making comments and asking question to get a deeper understanding of their perceptions. Helen took these tactile images stored in her mind, as one looking at digital photos from a variety of photographers, then composed what she envisioned in the above quote.

Two works of art, each possessing beauty and relevance, one created by an architect and the other by a writer. Oh, to create something so delightfully useful, something that stirs the soul from start to finish.

Bay Bridge, Maryland - Cal Shook

As I ponder the time and effort required to build this bridge and Helen’s description of it, I’m reminded that both took years to perfect.  To become the artist I’m created to be requires building a bridge to mastering my talents and abilities. There’s a creative photographer and writer within me.

Over the past several months, I’m learning to let go of unnecessary things that are jamming up my time and leading me away from these passions and suffocating my spirit. The more I let go the more room I have for things that rejuvenate me like eating well, getting plenty of sleep, and getting exercise.

When I get to bed early, I wake refreshed to ponder the words for the next blog post or my first book. Energized, I transcribe the stream of thoughts, no matter how illogical they seem.   Rearranging them, crossing off the unnecessary as I strive to create a logical piece.  Later in the day, my spirit feels light and free as I pick up the camera and head out for a walk with my husband Jim.  We move along watching nature unfold before us with its varied landscapes and activity, hoping to capture that unique moment.

What passion is burning inside of you?
Are you making time for the artist within?
If not, how might you do so?

Resources:
Midstream - Helen Keller
Art of Work - Jeff Goins
How to Build a Bridge audio - Jeff Goins

Pushing Through the Pain

North Myrtle Beach, SC - Cal Shook

What does it take to become a teacher when you can barely see?  

It takes “pushing through the pain”.

“Fortune favors the motivated.” – Jeff Goins, The Art of Work

1.  What would you like to achieve? 

Anne Sullivan pushed through the pain of limited vision, being abandoned, and living in poverty to dream of getting an education.

Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing at 19 months.  As Helen grew, she desired a better method of understanding and interacting with people and the world around her.  

2. Are you willing to push through the pain to get there?

At fourteen, Anne got up the courage to tell an influential adult that she wanted to go to school.

Within months, she started school at Perkins Institute.

Because of her age, Anne was starting school at a disadvantage.   

“Anne Sullivan's recollections of her early years at Perkins were mainly of feeling humiliated about her own shortcomings. Her anger and shame fueled a determination to excel in her studies. She was a very bright young woman, and in a very short time she closed the gaps in her academic skills.” – Perkins.org

Anne’s tenacity and determination, plus the support and nurturing of teachers and a housemother, aided her in graduating from Perkins Institute.

When offered the job to be Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne accepted.  Her life experiences were well suited to Helen’s strong-willed personality. 

Helen writes about meeting Anne for the first time.

“I felt approaching footsteps, I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother. Some one took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me.” – Helen Keller, The Story of My Life.

Day after day Anne would have Helen touch an item, then finger spell the word into Helen’s hand. Then one day at the well-house, with water pouring over one hand and Anne finger spelling the letters in the other, Helen made the connection.  The liquid pouring over her hand was “w-a-t-e-r”.

“That living word awakened my soul, gave it light,  hope, joy, set me free?  There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away.  I left the well-house eager to learn.” – Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

As Helen’s vocabulary grew, so did her desire to communicate more effectively. Helen wanted to be able to speak and read lips with her hand.  A woman named Sarah Fuller, principal of Horace Mann School, offered to teach her.  Anne took Helen to the lessons.  

“Miss Fuller gave me eleven lessons in all. I shall never forget the surprise and delight I felt when I uttered my first connected sentence, ‘It is warm.’ True, they were broken and stammering syllables; but they were human speech. My soul, conscious of new strength, came out of bondage, and was reaching through those broken symbols of speech to all knowledge and all faith.’ – Helen Keller, The Story of My Life

Effective communication takes time.  Helen's words remind me that even if it’s not perfect, like putting the words together for this blog, it’s important to keep working at it.  I desire to find “new strength” to find my voice. 

Today we saw how Anne pushed through the pain of abandonment and poverty to complete her education.  How not giving up and signing over and over until Helen made the connection, paid off. Once the connection was made, Helen thrived and wanted to push through to even greater achievement in communicating with others.  In the next blog, we’ll go deeper into Helen’s journey toward fulfillment in “Be a Bridge Builder.”

Feel free to share your ideas and/or journey in the comments section below.

Next Steps:

Read more about:

Pushing through the Pain "Painful Practice" - The Art of Work by Jeff Goins

Anne Sullivan

Helen Keller 

For notification of my next blog, "Be a Bridge Builder", sign up by clicking on "Subscribe To".

Accidental Apprenticeships

Nubble Light, Cape Neddick, ME - Cal Shook

“An accidental apprenticeship begins with listening to your life and paying attention to the ways in which you’re already being prepared for your life’s work.” – Jeff Goins

You are who you are because of your experiences.  Some are a result of the life you were born into; others are by choice.  As you listen to your life, patterns will emerge.

Life is happening all around you – explore its mysteries.  The answers are within reach, seek them out.
Answers to questions like:
What fuels your soul?
What are you drawn to?
What do you want to accomplish?
What are you here for?

Move into action by acknowledging your accidental apprenticeships.  Learn from them. Masters are the people in your life who have the skills and/or qualities that move you forward in fulfilling your life’s purpose?

“Every story of success is a story of community.  Although mentors are hard to come by, accidental apprenticeships are everywhere. Your life is preparing you for what’s to come.” Jeff Goins

Follow Your Dreams.

Author Elizabeth (Betty) Wilder and I met several years ago at York Ogunquit church.  During the time we've known each other, Betty has written her first novel, "The Spruce Gum Box" (at the age of 72), and two subsequent novels to finish the trilogy.  She is currently working on her forth book. Betty not only inspires me, she encourages all of us to follow our dreams and take action no matter what stage of life we’re at.

Betty keeps in touch with friends on Facebook by sharing her travels and current engagements.  She generously promotes other authors on Twitter.  It’s through her promotion of Jen Blood’s book, “All the Blue Eyed Angels,” that another accidental apprenticeship came into my life.

Connect with Others.

Jen Blood, author of the “Erin Solomon Mysteries” knows how to engage a social media audience with her personal and relatable style.

One of my favorite examples happened with her Facebook group called the “Erin Solomon Press Corps.” Jen asked us for help.  She wasn’t sure about the new cover design for “Southern Cross”.   A lively discussion followed, adaptations made, and a new cover design approved.  I enjoyed watching this process unfold.

Jen connects with others (her followers) throughout the week and offers a variety of promotions. When her name or group pops up, there’s a curiosity factor that’s hard to resist.

Putting it all together.

Elizabeth (Betty) Wilder and Jen Blood are two masters that I am grateful to be learning from.  The examples given are only a small glimpse into what I’m acquiring from both of them.

As I work my way through Jeff Goin’s book “The Art of Work,” I’m gaining new insights that are moving me forward as a writer.  These accidental apprenticeships are helping me do just that.

What are the accidental apprenticeships in your life?  How are you using them to move forward with your life’s purpose?

Next Steps
Read more about:
Accidental Apprenticeships podcast with “The Art of Work” author Jeff Goins
Elizabeth (Betty) Wilder at her author page: Elizabeth Wilder
Jen Blood at her author’s page:  Jen Blood     .
Check back next week for "Pushing Through the Pain."

Exploring the Writer Within

Explore - Long Sands, York, ME - Cal Shook

Be Aware – Listen to Your Life – Part 2

“You don’t ‘just know’ what you calling is. You must listen for clues along the way, discovering what your life can tell you. Awareness comes with practice.” – Jeff Goins

Clue #1: An Inner Yearning

When I was eight my cousin Mary Ann was born with Down syndrome.  A few weeks later my brother Jay was born.  There were complications, during delivery, where we almost lost both of them.  Days later, Mom and Jay returned home.  Mom’s recovery would take time; Jay appeared unharmed.

Both Mary Ann and Jay delighted me with their individuality and abilities as they grew. Mary Ann’s beautiful smile and laid back nature plus Jay’s zest for life and rambunctiousness made for unique play time experiences during family gatherings.  While observing the two of them something kindled inside of me, a yearning to help people thrive and use their abilities to a live a happy and fulfilling life.

Clue #2: A Desire

My first memory of writing:

While a single mom was out working, her three teenagers decided to have a party.  Beer was being passed around and at times wound up in the fish tank.  Note to self, don’t bring out a pocket sized pad of paper and pen in the middle of a party and start writing.  It makes people uneasy and you might not stay very long.

Clue #3:  Finding Meaningful Expression

College and working toward a degree in Human Services gave me ample opportunities to serve others then write about the experiences.  I enjoy the creative process.  When the words flow and provoke a reaction from a reader it stirs my soul.  It felt good to get comments like “a unique take” and “creative” in response to my papers.

One of my favorite people to work with and write about was “Berkie” who’s only home for the first 40 years of his life was a state institution.  Living conditions were deplorable. Thanks to deinstitutionalization, “Berkie” was sent to a group home.  This afforded him ample opportunities to gain social and work relate skills through field trips and attending a sheltered workshop. When I first met “Berkie” he could barely say “yes” and “no”.  As experiences heightened his emotions, more words started to come out.  “Tree”, “Chop”, and “Big” came out in joyous delight as he expressed his enthusiasm about his first Christmas tree.  Then there’s the riding stable where “Berkie” looked a bit nervous as he stared at the horse towering over his small frame. Two of us helped him on.  As his body slid into the saddle, he looked down and yelled, “Me Break Neck!”…“Me Break Neck!”. The horse was carefully moved forward and within minutes “Berkie’s” fear turned into joy.

Uncovering the clues: 1. An inner yearning to empower others, 2. A desire to record events, and 3. A pursuit of meaningful expression, have rekindled the writer within.

What is your life telling you?  Is there a writer in you? Maybe there’s something else waiting to burst forth?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Next steps:

Listening to Your Life audio podcast, with “The Art of Work” author Jeff Goins.

Check back next week for: “Accidental Apprenticeships” or "Subcribe" to this blog.