Cindy La Ferle’s Home Officea window on the writing life

Life is a verb

Cindy on December 17th, 2008

“How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard

I can’t think of one creative person — painter, auto mechanic, poet, or pastry chef — who hasn’t had to endure a creative slump. In fact, I haven’t met anyone who, at some point, hasn’t questioned his or her purpose on the planet or at least struggled to reclaim it. What can you do when that happens? You can howl at the moon, polish off a carton of chocolate-fudge ice cream, or reorganize the tool shed.

Or, better yet, you can read Patti Digh’s Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally. This book will inspire you to look at your life with fresh perspective. It will help you find the creative possibility and wonder in every moment, whether you’re chopping onions in the kitchen or struggling to make conversation at a family reunion.  Sounds like a New Age cliche? I suppose it does. But this book works, and I really, really like it.

Why thirty-seven days? As Patti Digh explains it, “At some point in your life you’ll have only thirty-seven days to live. Maybe that day is today. Maybe not.” Digh goes on to tell the story of how her stepfather, a tall guy with “a golfer’s tan, five World War II bronze stars, and a forest-green Lincoln Town Car” was diagnosed with cancer on a beautiful autumn day and died just thirty-seven days later.

“I tried to reconcile the fact that this fearful death was happening with the understanding that I needed to make something good out of it,” Digh writes. “What emerged was a commitment to ask myself this question every morning: What would I be doing today if I had only thirty-seven days to live?”

The result is a book that is part memoir, part creative manual. Illustrated with original artwork, Life Is A Verb brims with “action challenges” and inspiration for writers, artists, and other creative dreamers. Each chapter focuses on one of Digh’s six essential practices for intentional living: Say Yes, Be Generous, Speak Up, Love More, Trust Yourself, Slow Down.

I’m still working on the challenge at the back of the book, which is to “list twenty people who’ve helped you in some way and write one or two sentences that capture the gift they’ve given you.” A couple of examples: “Thank you for teaching me how to whistle” or “Thank you for asking how you can support me” and so on.  Lucky me — my list already contains more than twenty people!  – Cindy La Ferle

Tags: art, artful living, artists, Books, creativity, domestic arts, life, Life Is a Verb, lifestyles, living the creative life, overcoming writers' block, Patti Digh, personal enrichment, Skirt, writers, writing, writing life
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