Wednesday, August 19, 2009

transformative moment


Steven, over at his blog, The Golden Fish, had a great idea for a
transformative moment post meme. I have these moments nearly
every day now. These stokes of genius usually come to me when
I'm in the bath or shower. I'm not sure if they are induced by the
renewing quality of water or just the fact that my brain can think
better, once it's warmed up. But, this wasn't always the case. There
was a point when I thought they were dried up for good.
.
I would have to say, hands down, my most recent momentous
transformative moment would have to be February 12, 2008, the
day of my first post on Life at Willow Manor. My sister and I both
decided to take the blogging plunge on the same day. The funny
thing is, I had not even read a blog before I started my own. Little
did I know, how much this blind leap into the blogosphere would
change my life.
.
My children were grown, and for the most part, out on their own.
Many of my friends had moved away, or we had just lost touch,
our kids being our major connection. I was a lonely, unmotivated,
stagnate prune. My creative juices had dried up. My life had
turned into the Groundhog Day movie, every day being the same
dry routine.
.
I timidly started posting a few of my favorite things. At first, my
only comments were my own, my sister's and my dear uncle's.
Then, miracle of miracles! I started getting comments, from real
people, nice people, who shared my interests, actually seemed to
enjoy what I had to say.
.
The digital camera came out of its box for the first time and I learned
how to use it. My photographic DNA from all my grandfathers
straight back to great-great-great grandfather with his first camera
in the 1860's, wasn't dead after all. I started writing poetry again. I
tested new recipes and shared them. Some of my favorite books were
dusted off and reread. Wonderful, creative and inspiring people, from
all over the world, were quickly becoming dear friends.
.
Blogging saved me. I was raised from the dead. It was truly a
miraculously transformative process. My juices were back and
flowing. Bathtubs full of them. And I have all you amazing bloggies
to thank.
.
.
.
Photo: Homage to Frida Kahlo by willow
.
(Heavens to murgatroyd, if someone told me I would be taking
pictures of my toes in the bathtub and posting them on the internet,
I would have thought they were coo coo. For cocoa puffs, that is.)

93 comments:

  1. Love the homage to Frida--think she would have liked it herself! Thanks for sharing your moment!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ha. and nice toes they are...smiles. blogging awakened me as well...love stopping by for a read each day...so keep them flowing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, your blog sprang straight out into the blog firmament and is wonderful.
    You are so protean and inventive.

    ReplyDelete
  4. willow - it takes a courageous cool magical person to post her (nicely manicured by the way) toes on her blog. i love coming here every day for the reminder it gives me of what clever, insightful, straight up, creative thinking looks like and feels like. i cannot believe you've only been blogging for a year and a half but it's something that you are right inside which is why your blog is such a wickedgood place!!! thanks for everything!!!! steven

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love that photo--your blog is such a gift to us all, & glad to hear it was a gift to you as well. My experience has been similar in terms of a blog's power to transform. Very good story.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Willow--I feel the same. About the blog AND the bathtub. I never realized how important my bathtub was to me until we had a leak and had to remove it. My bathtub is my sanctuary. It is where I do all my best thinking. It is a place of solace for me too. My husband always jokes that I "get talkative and filled with ideas" when I am in the tub. I don't know...maybe it is the bubbles, maybe it is warming up, maybe it is just a time to be alone with my thoughts and relax. You "prior" life sounds like mine. It does give one something to look forward to and plan for each day. A connection. Thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A friend told me I should start a blog. I am glad he did that. I have had the most fun of all.

    I have met some really cool people.

    Keep up the great work. Love your post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That day you decided to start a blog was such a happy beginning to some fascinating posts Willow.This blog has given so much pleasure with links to such interesting,artistic,down-to-earth, funny, brave,(you-name-it) people.Thank-you.I do think blogging makes us much more aware of the world around us, opens our eyes to things previously (in a pre-blog existence )glossed over, or we failed to notice at all.I know I for one, am better for it.It's fun, wise and wonderful... 'specially here!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hope you didn't get any soap on the camera. That would have been my sad story. I am thinking I take way too many showers. Obviously, creativity improves in the bathtub. Your blog Willow, is a testament to that. Over a thousand readers are in agreement..... so, what do you say..... everyone into the tub! Wickedgood, right down to your toes!=D

    ReplyDelete
  10. You have discovered the fun and sustenance the net can provide. I discovered it back in 2000, long before blogs. At that time it was through online yahoo groups and I discovered a whole online world that was very vibrant. It helped me find a way out of the darkness following my mother's death.

    Now I blog for my best friend. It carries on something we've done all our lives. The added joy are the voices that pop in every so often to give their opinion. I've found that virtual friends can sometimes become very real friends.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great post Willow. Who would have thought that starting your blog led to your re-birth. One would never know you were a dried up old prune before. Now you look just like Johnny Depp!

    ReplyDelete
  12. So glad you took the plunge into blogging, Willow!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm glad you had that bath-inspired idea.

    That picture reminds me of the Dick Van Dyke episode where Rob and Laura were staying at a hotel and Laura gets her toe stuck in the faucet. Moral of the story: don't play with any stray drips while you're dreaming and thinking!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Willow:

    This blogging thing is quite an interesting phenomenon. Someone will probably find a way to get a doctorate by formally studying it soon!

    I really do get the feeling that it is transformative and in some cases life-saving, or a way to find meaning in one's life . . . just as you describe.

    Thanks for sharing your moment and your life on your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow! You got on the blogmill and have been speeding and collecting followers with each word you write. I think we can understand why, and glad your creative juices have been turned on.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good story. Blogging is such a radical way to connect with like-minded people: geographic distance is no barrier, neither is time. In fact most of the traditional stumbling blocks to communication don't apply at all.

    (Did you paint your toenails for the shot or are they always so beautifully polished?)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you, all, I wouldn't have been transformed if I didn't have any readers.

    Eryl, I am fastidious about my feet. On the other hand, I pick my fingernails. Why? I don't know, it's a mystery.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That's a wonderful piece Willow (and a very imaginative photograph). I have often wondered what made us all start blogging. I suppose if we ever tried to explain it, it would be in that very first post we put up. Perhaps on one day we should all re-post that first thought.

    ReplyDelete
  19. A lonely, unmotivated,
    stagnate prune? Guess the Blogosphere was your pot of boiling water. You plumped up well.

    I love that photo. I think you need to do a whole series of photos on your toes in the tub. I can just see them in a gallery!

    ReplyDelete
  20. beautiful photograph!

    and excellent post.
    peace~
    Chuck

    ReplyDelete
  21. Willow, you pulled the words right out of my hands :) blogging has been an absolute blessing in my life. My journey thus far has been scary, funny, awakening and transforming. It sprang up through tragedy and has given me the most incredible amount of courage and confidence. I have realized I am a lot more creative than I ever gave myself credit for.

    Congratulations on your transformation. May your bathtub always be full :)

    Peace - Rene

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sweet Willow - all these thousands of miles & the Pacific ocean away it's like the Manor is just at the end of our little country lane. If I peer hard enough I can almost see you walking around your garden. Camera in hand, using your wonderful skills to capture something we all will delight in seeing. That's the magic of this incredible medium. Steve's meme is a super idea, nothing like a moment or two of meaningful introspection.
    Millie ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  23. I think my computer transformed me! Great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  24. oh, and how lucky we all are that you took the plunge!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm feeling my creativity return too - although I only have one toe in the water so far... That reminds me - I need to paint my toenails!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yours was, I think, the first blog I ever read and I remember thinking-"Wow!" (also, Yikes!)because it was so wonderful. That was back in December or January. Since then, the look of "Willow Manor" has changed greatly, but the basic creativity, wit and intelligence have not. Your transformation has enriched us all. Keep going!

    ReplyDelete
  27. This blogging thing is amazing -- a yours, my dear, is one of the most elegant I've encountered. A daily joy . . .

    ReplyDelete
  28. This bloggin this is a way of being lifted up that I would never have dreamed. I can so relate to this post and the feeling of personal reinvention!
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  29. Willow, I'd never have guessed you felt that way. Good for you for starting your blog, then! It's been a pleasure getting to know you, and you're inventive, creative, talented and witty. So if it took a blog to make you realize that, then touche! Keep it up! xo

    ReplyDelete
  30. I rather like prunes, Willow. You make the blogging world a happier place. It's definitly a life changer.
    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  31. willow, what immaculate toe-nails! And immaculate thinking to highlight the fact that this is a very rare communication medium - using words, images and links to convey and create - that is then just put out to a forum, and the audience self-select. And then talk to you! How precious is that.
    Enjoyed your words, but as above, do not accept the prune, if the toenails are anything to go by.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Willow, I'm so glad blogging has revitalized you the way it has. I don't know how old you are, but it sounds like you are at a stage of life where (I'm told) women often go through a frightening, difficult time, then suddenly get a new surge of creativity and power. Described in Gail Sheehy's "New Passages." Ever read it?
    Anyway, in your case, blogging was the catalyst. Surprising for a medium that has a rep for being so shallow and ephemeral. But I love what you've done with it.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hello Willow

    I think you may have described the feelings of many of your blogging compatriots of a certain age...

    When people ask what I do all day I mention the exercise and office work and then I have proudly learned to say...

    "and I have a blog and that takes a lot of my time...I love to photograph and create little stories..."

    At first I had trouble sharing that information but now value the creativity activity so much because it has become a part of who I am...

    thanks for your lovely story

    Happy days

    ReplyDelete
  34. It's obvious that you have a lot of blogging company, and I think that blogging has transformed many lives in much the way you describe. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Great photo! Hey, I was just looking at the picture of Harold Lloyd in your sidebar and it struck me that Johnny Depp should make a movie about Lloyd's life, and take the leading role. Hm... Maybe I should think about writing a screenplay...

    ReplyDelete
  36. Willow, this was a very intimate post. Your picture is so very interesting. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine Willow and stagnate prune in the same sentence. Yes, I just wrote it, but I still can't believe it. You have so many interests and such a natural ability to tell stories and share about so many varied subjects. I always think elegant, but fun and that's a very good thing.

    ReplyDelete
  37. OMG, Steph!! You are reading my mind. I was thinking today that Harold Lloyd on my sidebar reminded me of Johnny Depp. YES, you DO need to write the screenplay!!

    ReplyDelete
  38. I wonder whose blog was a transformative blog for you? If such a one existed. Yours has certainly been inspirational to many. You know Robert Frost's poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening... well, this is Stopping by Willow on a Daily Pilgrimage. Always special.
    Love, Shaista

    ReplyDelete
  39. I thought I recognized those toes! I totally agree with your thoughts on blogging. Although a small minority blog for more sinister reasons, I believe the majority of us bloggy friends do it for all the wonderful reasons you listed here!

    ReplyDelete
  40. You know what Willow? I think that blogging unlocked a side of me that had been dead for many years, the creative, social side! I cannot describe how important that the blog community is to me!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hello, my dear! If having a blog saved you, then I have to say your blog saved me from deep, dark winter and wating for a son at war last February...it pulled me out of myself....and brought a great deal of joy and insight... and your glorious toes...weren't they featured once before with rich, red polish? {smiles}
    I miss my daily visits here...but school is good....I have some really wonderful students and very capapable and inspiring colleagues...including you!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Wow ... this is a fantastic post. I love that blogging has done so much for your creative juices. Your blog was one of the first that I 'followed' when I came on board not so long ago!!! I adore it! (and naturally I'm pea green with envy over your fortunate homestead, he he he)

    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Betsy, it is amazing there are those out there who actually DO blog for sinister reasons. I know exactly what you mean. But they are obviously the small minority. And are missing the blessings and benefits of the positive side of blogging.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thank you for this very special blog entry - it really touched a chord. I appreciate your blog very much and enjoy my many visits here!

    ReplyDelete
  45. LOL !!!
    great post and photo.

    .
    Since you are on my blogroll,
    you know I like your blog.
    I Like the great photos and writeups.

    I am back blogging again.
    I just started a new WordPress Blog, 'I C U Nature' for Nature Only!
    Click here to see the blog.
    It will take some learning to work out the differences between WordPress and Blogspot.
    The new blog is bare bones right now, with just the masthead and two posts.

    Come visit and tell me what you think,
    Troy
    .

    ReplyDelete
  46. Connecting is so important. Isn't wonderful you found a way to connect once again! Your words are so true.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Oh Willow, I'm so with you. Serendipity is good.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Willow, how DARE you laugh at what Sheryl said! lol (She makes me laugh, too).

    Boy, your post is perfection. It stated my feelings as well. You know you are pretty amazing to have the number of followers you do in only a year and a half. Your post are so different and bring a rich uniqueness.

    Now I have a question: do you do dream therapy, too? Last night I dreamed a yellow parakeet flew in and sat on my finger as if it knew me. I put it in our old birdcage where it was singing and quite happy, and then a blue parakeet came in, sat on my finger, and I did the same thing. I was so surprised and cheered. Okay, dream book friend - what's this all about? The dream feels significant somehow. I just KNEW you'd know the answers my all seeing-all knowing, Willow!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Very poignant post, Willow. I love how beauty springs from dark places sometimes. You have definitely elevated blogging to an art form.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  50. I so love your transformative moment! Of late, mine come when I am doing hard, mundane labour. Oh, and you have pretty toes. Why not show them off, Coco Pops indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Serendiptiy at work here... Two of my readers emailed me in the last two days, one to tell me about your "Good Friends" post and one to tell me that this post reminded her of my current post about the concept of "witnessing" relative to blogging and art. So here I am, reading, enjoying, already feeling connected... delighted to be a new friend in the process of transformative blogging!

    Thank you! Robin

    ReplyDelete
  52. I love this post for its honesty and to have a peek at the woman behind Life at Willow Manor. I am just really glad I met you Willow. I'm not surprised you have so many followers as your Blog is exceptional. I think you have your best creative moments to come as well! I predict! xx

    ReplyDelete
  53. The blogosphere has makde a great difference to many of us. Not Everyone has been as successful as you and your blog dear Willow, but most of us have a great new motivation and fun enjoying others' reactions.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Who is Frida? The toes know! I think there are some psychics in the room. Johnny Depp as Harold Lloyd, reminds me of Robert Downie Jr as Charlie Chaplin. Thinking of Johnny as Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. Love the white on white effect, looks great on the Dashboard! Heard that 2nd toes that are longer means the person is very beautiful. This I can attest!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Heck this is a busy place!
    I thought you had an elephant in the bath with you...
    Nice piece of writing.
    x

    ReplyDelete
  56. I was thankful to find you and to see the things that can be done when you blog. I never knew these things until I found you and a few others. I guess those were my tranformative moments too.

    And I truly know what you mean about everything changing when the kids are gone and some of it is nice and some of it is truly lonely, but always knowing that you can visit your blogging buddies is nice.

    I like your toes and the bubbles, but I do not think I would ever be brave enough to put a picture of my toes on my blogsite, so kudos to you for being so brave.

    Thank you again for sharing everything with us.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Dear Willow,
    I'll have to come back to this post,
    only read the first paragraph and that one caused me to giggle because you are the first blogger who confessed to not having read blogs before she started blogging and that is so funny: more or less my experience too! In my case, one of my daughters put her pictures up in some mysterious corner of the web and it turned out to be a blog! Wow! ;-)
    I have to run - in between a million other things I got myself a MacBook today - high noon past already and my to do list is long.
    Enjoy your day,
    Mersi

    ReplyDelete
  58. Hello Willow,

    I just don't know from where you get your energy and inspiration for such a huge variety of topics, all of which you write about so consummately, plus photographs, plus poetry! My brain stalls with the effort!

    ReplyDelete
  59. What a beautiful post. Now dear Willow I know you more. I'm one of your new readers and now I know Why how and with who you wrote this blog. :)

    ReplyDelete
  60. I think that blogging is kind of like today's version of talking over the backyard fence. We sit with a cuppa and tappity tap our thoughts to our cyber neighbors. And when we have nothing much to say, we leave a stone (o) to let them know we stopped by.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Your story of getting into blogging is one of the poignant ones I've seen to date Willow and I congratulate you on becoming so successful at it. And I'm not referring to the huge number of followers you have but the fact that it has opened up your mind, heart and soul.
    Congratulations! And I just love your toes and old faucet.

    ReplyDelete
  62. wonderful story and great photo. I love that Frieda painting. I think part of what makes your blog so great is your sense of humour.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Willow-
    Nice toes! I will never reach that transformative moment, never let you see mine.
    Transformative for me in blogging is the insight I get from my encounters, to discover all that beauty and truth. Who could ask for more?

    ReplyDelete
  64. I'm glad you started blogging. And, I love your sudsy toes photo.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Blogging really does change things, doesn't it? A whole new way of expressing oneself!

    ReplyDelete
  66. you were born to blog - I love everyday I get to spend with you

    ReplyDelete
  67. Very cool!

    I, too, have transformative moments on a daily basis. I loved reading Delwyn's post today in which she says her life is more of a flow without the A-HA aspect of things. So interesting to me!

    And, I, too, listen to what I call The Voice in the Shower. I think of it as a spirit guide of sorts. Neurologists say that when the brain relaxes, A-HA moments can occur. I love the idea of a relaxing brain.

    So glad you came into the blog world, Willow! Oh yeah!!

    ReplyDelete
  68. I'm with you, Willow. Somedays, the only people I speak to other than my co-workers and my husband are my blogging friends. It's wonderful to actually share with others who have the same interests. Thank you for sharing yours with us :) It's always a joy to visit.

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  69. Willow, fabulous post! Yes, ability to blog has been a transformation for me too. After I retired I just happened on the idea of blogging. I was living in a new town, with a new husband, and attempting to make new friends, but the saving grace has been my blog and reading blogs of others from around the country & the world. I am so happy to have found people with whom I can relate, who write well, have interesting things to say & wonderful images to see. Glad you are here.
    Lizzy

    ReplyDelete
  70. 1/I like that picture
    2/I love the picture of you on the side(haven't seen it earlier)
    3/I adore the pic on your profile!
    Have a nice day :)

    ReplyDelete
  71. You're welcome.

    And amazingly you 'stole' the post I was going to do for my blogversary which ironically (to me, anyway) I deleted moments before hopping over here to see what you were up to!

    ReplyDelete
  72. I, and hundreds of others, bless the day you decided to take the plunge and start your blog, Willow. You are, quite simply, an inspiration. You blog reverberates with the very essence of YOU...and it is a continuing delight. In every possible way. So thank you, Willow, very much indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Thank you for your kind comments. Well, what kind of a revolution have 'we bloggers' started?! Enjoy the day.

    ReplyDelete
  74. P.S. That quotation from Thoreau is terrific...

    ReplyDelete
  75. Glorious ToePhotoPourFrida!

    And - it reminds me of an early
    (c.2005) transformative moment
    on flickr ... .
    I discovered there were actually other people who took self portraits of their feet, as a means of documenting their travels.
    (My feet on the beach in Maui, My feet on the street in Paris .... .)

    Perhaps that is truly the joy of our bloggy connections .. we find these delightful ( odd ) links to people we've never met in places we've never heard of!

    Jjjj

    ReplyDelete
  76. And we are glad you are back to your creative self, however it came about. I read a book many years ago (and re-read it a couple of times since) called The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, it it was my own personal path from the creative desert to life as I live it now. It occurs to me that a book of people's "creative biographies" would be interesting - a storybook of the ebb and flow of creativity in their lives.

    Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  77. And....we are all grateful for that fateful day! :)
    KEEP IT UP !!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  78. Hi there Willow,

    whilst the internet is increasingly full of bilge what keeps me coming back to it every day is the capacity for connecting with others.

    I would never have gotten here had it not been for Steven's meme.

    We form associations, engage with people's work, ideas, thoughts and we share lives. Basic human stuff.

    How nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete
  79. I think I smiled all the way through this post. It reminds me that we are in this boat together and it floats or we swim.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Chiccoreal, I'd not heard that about second toe people. I think I like that!

    ReplyDelete
  81. Blogging opened up a whole new world to me, too. Sometimes that world threatens to smother me, though. I'm glad you began blogging. I've always enjoyed coming here and I love the things you have to say. I've learned so many things about literature, art, the cinema!
    And now I have seen your toes. Good Lord!

    ReplyDelete
  82. This is great sharing...transformational for sure.Blogging has opened so much for me as well and I'm so glad to have the Manor to visit regualarly!

    ReplyDelete
  83. I LOVE This piece of history. I didn't realise you and Betsy started on the same day! And now look at you! You have more followers than any other blog I read!

    and, what pretell, happened to Bach's blog, btw?

    Anyway, I'm glad you blog. It is so well done. I love to come here and sit in repose in your manor, soaking up the arts, enjoying the incredible meals, but avoiding the ghosts at all costs! :)

    I often wonder just how many followers I'd have now if I didn't keep changing my blog. Even now, i want to change the URL to one closer to its name.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Very nice toes!

    I agree blogging is a good thing - and I'm so glad it has done such good things for you!

    ReplyDelete
  85. Perfect homage! Frida Khalo came right to my mind the minute I saw this super cool pic! Very clever indeed, Willow, love the shot!
    By the way, I've been to her place at Coyoacan, which is now a museum! Gorgeous! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  86. I like the color on your toes. Where can I get that?

    So glad you decided to blog. I completely understand how it serves.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Midlife, heh-heh, well, it's actually red. Sally Hansen Tenacious Ruby.

    ReplyDelete
  88. For many, blogging did create room's of their own-places where you once again start listening to yourself and exploring. I'm glad you took he plunge and started blogging.
    We are more rich for it :)

    ReplyDelete
  89. it is hard to believe your blog just turned 1 year old in february.... your commitment and readership (as evidenced) by the shear number of comments you routinely get is quite amazing!

    to transformative moments!!

    last night I saw julie and julia and the julie story was not only about how julia changed her life but how blogging did too....maybe that is why I didn't agree with most of the critics dumping on amy's portrayal of julie....I found she had authentically captured things....

    ReplyDelete
  90. i'm right there with you, willow!!! i had a very similar road to blogging and i love every minute of it!

    ReplyDelete
  91. willow i love the referral to ground hog day! i know that feeling too, and doesn't it feel grand to break out of it. it is a wonderful experience indeed this blogging & sharing. i am toe-tally inspired (ouch) lol x

    ReplyDelete
  92. I must confess Willow, I have not visited your blog for quite some time, not because I did not want to, I just did not get to it. Now I realise how much I have missed. You have a gift of describing everyday events in your life in such a way that I feel as if I am sharing in it even though I am thousands of miles away. Please keep on blogging for a long, long time. I think you deserve every compliment from every one of your many followers. Thanks for sharing a bit of Ohio with us.

    ReplyDelete

Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)