Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

A writer takes a minute for a closer look

recent posts

  • Brain play

    Debbie Lee Van-Ginkel dancing “Synchronicity

    The richness of dance emerges over time, when I’m experienced enough to know the steps and then encounter them in new choreography to unfamiliar music. My brain gets to enjoy moving in already embedded ways while being delighted with new combinations and unexpected rhythms.

    Add on top of that getting to dance with the choreographers who created the routine, it’s like sitting down to eat a fabulous meal with the chef responsible. Delicious!

    I had the pleasure of dancing “Primal” with Kellie Chambers, the latest Nia choreography she co-created with Debbie Lee Van Ginkel. That routine ran me through my paces! It’s too soon to say which parts are particularly wonderful. I just know I left the studio drenched in sweat and wanting to do it again.

    Meanwhile, instructor Dael Parsons is teaching her students an also-new Van Ginkel routine, “Synchronicity” (which is also available online).As always Dael’s attention to small detail — today it was our foot placement as we moved — helps me focus. As I’ve been settling into it, I’m really struck by the power in “Riot” by Blood Red Sun, which builds into a kind of controlled momentum. I wind up feeling like I’m ready to launch, which is a great way to start the day.

  • Freedom through … discipline?

    It took me about a month of receiving free daily newsletters from Nautilus magazine before I finally subscribed to it. The science magazine has not disappointed me, and I still enjoy its newsletters because they link to interesting stories in other publications. Today’s newsletter included links to stories in the New York Times,(trees that benefit from being struck by lightning); the BBC, (a unique fossil where the muscles, sinews, tendons and even guts are all preserved); and Phys.org, (strange things happening to the tectonic plates deep below the earth’s surface).

    The free newsletter permits subscribers to read one story a month in Nautilus itself and they definitely lured me in that way to a full subscription. Today’s Nautilus story focused on a new book about physicist Albert Einstein’s spiritual side, written by neuroscientist Kieren Fox.

    What captured my interest in this interview with Fox was the notion that free will is a slow process enhanced by discipline. Here’s the quote from Fox:

    Through conscious effort, you can become a more free being who develops free will, or almost grows freedom with increased exertion and with increased restraint. It’s a discipline-equals-freedom idea, where the more you discipline yourself, the more free you are to live according to your own ideals, regardless of what’s happening in the world.

    This notion will take some processing, but experientially, I find it compelling. I have a tendency to jump to anger for reasons that others might question. Lately I’ve been trying, when anger is my first response, to recognize it, keep from reacting and ponder other potential reactions. It’s a kind of emotional discipline still in developmental stages.

    With dance, I have discovered that regular practice builds muscle memory. My body knows without constant direction what to do, allowing me more freedom to explore and add to my dance.

  • Waiting, waiting, waiting

    tall pink blossomed camellia with cute lights in front.

    This camellia began to set buds sometime in October, about six months ago. Three weeks ago, the flowers began to open.

    For the record, I didn’t go outside in November and stare at the buds, hoping they’d open right then. I didn’t do it in December or January or February, either.

    But in early March, when the daffodils began showing off, I did go out and look at the camellia and saw that the first bits of color had begun to reveal the coming blossoms.

    I love how it’s at the height of its gorgeousness right now.

    So that’s my metaphor with the writing process, something to help me maintain perspective. A book is written and edited. The supporting materials about it have been written and mailed to potential agents.

    How long it takes for the subsequent unfolding is in the hands of forces I don’t control.

    One more metaphor: This is kind of like being midway up a mountain. From the bottom the mountain looked very scalable, but half way up, the full height and steepness has become much more apparent. Having invested the time and energy to get this far, it would be counterproductive to turn around and go down.

    Or, as my mother used to say: Patience, little one.