Pandemic Poetry and Portraits - Messy Pics From The Mamas Heart
Using Creative Practice as a Tool for Stress Management
by CHARLEYSTAR
Mamas, are you in a blur yet? What day is it?
I could hardly gather my thoughts for this post. We are certainly in “messy” times, but all the photoshoots I had planned for this article were Corona-cancelled. I couldn’t photograph the mamas I had wanted to.
So much has happened and yet, not happened.
As a poet and a photographer, I’m curious… what’s your creative outlet? Painting? Gardening? Cooking? If you’re not in a creative habit already, I invite you into mine: try your hand at writing a poem, and / or setting up a photoshoot. There are no rules, but if you scroll below, I share guidelines to help you tap into your personal creative flow:
We are in week something-or-other of shelter in place, and the days are running together like watercolors, each one sliding into the next in slow, messy, beautiful, peaceful, anxious, crazy, unexpected, chaotic, creative ways. People are on a global rollercoaster of feelings. There are financial hardships to deal with, health scares of people affected with Covid-19, not being able to see loved ones, and the general stir-craziness and uncertainty that many are feeling.
My family and I have felt the ups and downs of this pandemic, too. I’ve felt all of the above. I’ve cried tears with my beloved, elderly aunt at the nursing home as we chatted through a window-- her inside, me shivering outside in the cold, palms reaching out, our love split by the glass. Separation hurts. And by the time this is all over, we’ll have had two birthdays, an anniversary, and attended a wedding -- yes, a Zoom wedding! -- in quarantine. Strange days. Messy days, indeed. But despite all of that, I dare say, still, beautiful days. There is so much good that has come from this pandemic, like the amount of creativity and enterprising means of connection that is pouring out from all over the world. I’m sure you’ve seen it, too.
But as parents, especially parents newly saddled with homeschooling their children, dealing with numerous stressors of this time requires us to find ways to maintain our own sanity, centeredness and sense of peace. For me, creative practice helps immensely. Nothing shouts time for a new creative project like a global pandemic! Creative practice is constructive, the perfect antidote to the destructive pandemic and fear.And I’m not talking just supervising an arts and crafts project with your toddler. I mean something deeply meaningful for you. Here are mine:
Pandemic Poetry
For me, I was lucky enough to, coincidentally, have had a previously scheduled assignment to write for Tupelo Press’s during the month of March for their 30/30 project. Nine poets and myself had been assigned to write a poem a day, each day, that was published on their website in March. There was no time for endless revisions or overthinking, which was hard for the perfectionist in me. But turns out, it was exactly what I needed. No one could have predicted back in 2019 when I was assigned the month of March, that we’d be facing a global shutdown. It was so odd, but also kind of wonderful and unifying, to be writing with other poets from around the world as we went into Corona lockdown, to be able to process that through poetry. Having this creative project to focus on, with it’s rigorous daily deadline, was just what the doctor ordered, especially since my photography sessions were put on pause. It gave me a wonderful way to creatively and constructively focus and process any stress of the day. You can check it out here.
Pandemic Portraits
About the time the 30/30 poetry project ended, I found myself a newly minted homeschool teacher of grades 2, 3 and 7, as my three childrens’ schools had finally fully transitioned to digital learning. What should have taken 10 minutes to do with pen and paper, was now taking an hour and half of troubleshooting tech issues, login and password issues, and eight thousand emails coming at me from multiple teachers and too many digital platforms. Our family of five was fighting over the two computers that everyone suddenly now needed simultaneously. By the time we worked out the kinks each day, my kids had lost their mojo and I was pulling my hair out. If you’ve seen this video, you know exactly how I felt.
I needed an outlet. A creative outlet, especially now that my poetry project was over and all my photography work was on hold. So, I grabbed my camera and my surprisingly willing teenage daughter, and did a photoshoot. A minimal backdrop and a yard full of blooming azaleas set the stage, and soon my daughter and I both were in a creative zone, bonding over artistic visions (she’s old enough now to offer some of her own ideas).
Creative focusing always brings me back to center and gets me off the problem, and I find the editing process meditative and creative as well. Plus, I’ll have some lovely photos to document this time. Beauty from the pandemic ashes, as they say.
For Poetry:
Work from instinct. Feel and think easily -- don’t judge it -- and just get those initial visuals, thoughts, and phrases down onto the page. Allow yourself to write a SFD (a shitty first draft).
Set a timer. Give yourself about 15 minutes for that first draft.
Take a breath. Look around. Close your eyes. Then, read what you wrote. Are their places you could tighten up? Look for links and connections. Let ideas spark. See how you can make it better, and revise it.
Give yourself 15 - 20 minutes, tops for this revision. You can stop there, but if you feel inspired by what you’ve written, repeat the process one more time. Don’t belabor it, though. The point is not to write a masterpiece. The point is to focus your attention into something creative. Get your thoughts down on the page in a way that is a step above stream of conscious journaling. You’re a potter forming your words into a shape. What kind of shape -- how formal, how loose-- is up to you. But if you let go of your inner critic and try this for a few days, I guarantee you’ll surprise yourself with what you come up with.
Feeling stuck? Here’s one of my prompts for you to use:
Last Fall when the trees shed their secrets ________________
Who would have thought
Your job was to soften
And remind me _____________
The sky __________
My brain talks without a mouth
All day we’re Zooming and melting
Outside, my skin is masked and perky
Inside ___________
And the tangerines __________
While moms ________ under the idea of ________
And a new earth
Blooms
In the shadows
Post it to your stories and tag us so we can read it! #pandemicpoetryandportraits @charleystar @milowekids
For Portrait Shoot
Grab your camera -- a DSLR if you have one; if not your phone can work great, too. This exercise is more about being intentional with how you’re shooting.
Have a vision and choose two locations. My vision for this shoot was a moody but airy look against a minimal backdrop and the blooming azaleas in our yard. A minimal backdrop is always good. For this shoot, I didn’t feel like setting up my gear so I just draped a sheet across my clothesline. A blank, neutral wall works great, too. (Be sure to remove artwork or distracting elements).
The age (and mood) of your kids will determine a lot, but this set up works with all ages. If you have a wiggly toddler, embrace it -- just entice them into the backdrop area to let them “wiggle” there. Following his/her lead-- don’t try to shoot quiet,moody portraits when your child is rambunctious. If you get in sync and let your vision be influenced by the toddler’s mood, it will go much easier… and besides, their energy will probably shift by the end of the shoot anyway and you can get both looks without any drama.
Don’t be afraid to get in close or zoom in (or to crop in post.) Shoot a variety of angles and compositions. Shoot for 6 or 7 minutes, then move to a second location around your house or yard and repeat.
Have fun! Make it short and sweet. It’s an exercise, not an event. The idea is to have a creative focus and see where it leads you, see what it’ll spark. You’ll be surprised how many great shots you can get in just a few minutes!
Editing. If you’re shooting with a DSLR, I trust you already have your editing system nailed down. If you’re shooting on your phone, select your top 5 or 6 photos and bring them into VSCO, Lightroom, or whatever your go-to editing app is. A little editing TLC can elevate a photo from a mere snapshot into a beautiful portrait.
Find one you really love? Print it out, make it your new screensaver, send it to grandma, and upload it to social -- not just for today, but for next year and the years following. When the IG/FB algorithm shows you your memories, you can remember your beautiful child and not how you stood in line for toilet paper. :) Pandemic portraits > pandemic panic.
Tag us @xxo_charleystar @milowekids so we can see and share #pandemicpoetryandportraits
xx Charleystar
For more inspiration, follow me on insta: @charleystar & @xxo_charleystar
