7 - From the Ground Up
Nancy’s Archived Newsletters, December 2024
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This is from December 2024.
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FROM THE GROUND UP
Happy New Year, Readers!
Groundedness is my 2025 Word of the Year.
The word "ground," and all its versions, came to the forefront a few months ago when I attended Quinn's online workshop, Hard Times. At the end of the session, she asked what one thing we might do to take care of ourselves when the hardness of the times threatened to become overwhelming. I surprised myself by saying: "get on the ground." I found myself explaining that once on the ground, you don't know what may happen. One can stretch, sleep, relax, exercise, meditate, view the world from a different perspective, and maybe feel a spiritual connection to the Earth.
:: First Grounding ::
Body
I (often) write on my daily to-do list to: GOTG. It means to Get On The Ground (or, Floor, but I don't want my word of the year to be "floor"). This comes from my step-daughter Tara Eden, a certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, who introduced me to this body work years ago.
The Feldenkrais method should be more well-known and popular than it is—having been around since the 60s—but it has the downside of not being easily explained. It's not meditation. It's not massage. It's not exercise. It's not yoga. It isn't even stretching, though you'll luxuriate in doing some of that once your body is happier. It IS intuitive, gentle, and effective movement designed to help your brain and body work better together.
There are two major components. One is the hands-on Functional Integration which is working one-on-one with a licensed practitioner, should you be lucky enough to have one nearby. Two, is Awareness through Movement (ATM) sessions that can be done on your own with audio tapes or with a group, in-person or online. It is a deceivingly simple process for relearning and integrating ways to move that decrease effort (and therefore pain and injury).
Feldenkrais practice and the almost hypnotic memory of Tara's gentle encouragement, has left me with an appreciation of what can begin to shift for the better when I simply lie down on the ground.
:: Second Grounding ::
Belonging /Family-Friends
I live far from my scattered family of origin. Over the last decade, it's gotten more difficult to get to them. Given my ongoing hip issues and the state of the world, I almost allowed myself to forego a December 2024 trip. But I decided to listen to my heart instead of my gut (this is how it felt to me) and Barry and I flew to Asheville, North Carolina where we own a house across the Famous (only to us) Firefly Bridge from my sister- and brother-in-law. Our stay coincided with Barry's youngest daughter, her partner and 18-month-old baby. So obviously that was pure FUN. Then we went to Houston, Texas (where Barry and I grew up) to meet up with my eldest son, daughter-in-law and 9-year-old grandson. So many hugs, smiles, and laughter. Games, talks, shared meals, and an exploration of a place I thought I knew so well that it would be only a backdrop.
There are many gorgeous, mature, spreading, sculptural oak trees in Houston that were small or non-existent when I was a child.
:: Third Grounding ::
A Sense of Place
Barry and I don't get back to Houston often anymore. I don't think we've been there since before the Pandemic. I was immediately reminded as we walked outside the airport that this place has a unique feel for me. The air has a quality that's indescribable, but is sort of soft. It might have something to do with the high humidity. To be fair, this same air will feel like a blast furnace in the summer, but for this trip, it was perfect.
This is where I grew to adulthood. Around an astounding number of corners is an incidental memory. Seeing the Coca-Cola bottling plant on Bissonnet the first day we moved there. The now-retro office building near downtown where my best friend's sister worked (Leah, being my personal Mary Tyler Moore "That Girl"). The once-brick street Jim and I lived on in the 70s where the Banditos motorcycle gang lived across the street from our hippie house and next door to an Ozzie and Harriet 1950s-style family. Hermann Park and the zoo—core attractions for me as a child—are so different and so much better in every way than they used to be (except that the zoo was free) and yet there are precious remnants of what it always was: the pine trees, fat squirrels, noisy grackles, the lake, the train, outdoor theatre hill, and Sam Damn Houston looking over it all.
:: Fourth Grounding ::
Purpose / Potential
For a writer, all of this grounding relates to writing fiction.
Characters feel like family and friends; the setting is a place to go and to revisit; there is drama, of course, as there is in real life. And this: writers are taught to ground their readers in the narrative. What does that mean?
Let's say there's a dialogue between two people. Do we know them, or is this their first introduction? Are they inside or out? Is it otherwise noisy or quiet? Are there smells, tastes? Is there a notable atmospheric or distracting element? If so, does it match or contrast with the dialogue? Which would serve the story? Are the people standing? On what? Sitting? Perhaps they are moving. Are their bodies comfortable or awkward?
If the writer includes every possible detail, the story will get bogged down, so we must choose the most important ones for each scene. Without this, the reader's mind will fill in details the author did not intend, and then they may have to readjust later. Not good. We do not want our readers to be grumpy if we can avoid it. Even worse, the reader might picture/ feel nothing except faceless, chatty characters floating in a white void.
In real life, our eyes, ears, and minds take in these details instantaneously and often subconsciously. In a well-written scene, they similarly become part of the weft and warp of the story.
This is a writing practice that long ago became routine for me, especially in revisions. But in thinking about groundedness in other contexts, and as I get back to work on the sequel to Every Rule Undone, I will refocus effort on making the short descriptions of place, face, senses, internal emotions, and atmosphere be the best choices to enfold my readers in the world I've created, thereby chasing away any grumpiness.
So happy to report that my next novel, The Liminalis, went off to my editor in late November. Still hoping I can publish it this Spring. Here’s the blurb:
When zoology student Libet Emell, finally encounters the legendary liminalis—flying invertebrates found only in Colony Arroyo—she is immediately enchanted. But this becomes complicated when her estranged mother—high ranking in the government—warns they are dangerous. Her confusion multiplies due to memory lapses from a recent brain injury. The liminalis seem to be communicating with her—and about her dead father, no less—but Libet assumes that it's just another misperception arising from her faulty brain. As she strives to recover her health, Libet dives deeply into the colony's politics and prejudices regarding this native life form. She comes down on the side of ostracized citizens who are attracted to and by the highly intelligent liminalis, whose very existence is threatened.
Every Rule Undone is doing well! People are reading it! Expectations have settled somewhere in the middle between best and worst. It's perfect. 😘
Did you know that Potential was my 2024 Word of the Year? Pretty happy I did it.
Here’s part of one of the more thoughtful reviews I have received (and from someone who does not know me):
“For readers seeking an alternative to traditional Romantasy or Epic Fantasy, this book offers a distinctly fresh approach. The writing style feels contemporary and immediate, while the themes explore modern concerns about identity and power structures through a fantasy lens. Characters think and speak with a present-day sensibility that makes them remarkably accessible, yet this never undermines the rich secondary world setting. This book would particularly appeal to readers who enjoy character-focused fantasy that tackles social issues, especially those who appreciate seeing familiar contemporary challenges reflected through a magical lens.”
:: Fifth Grounding ::
Food
Gosh. Nosh? Something to eat that is about "ground?" Hah. So many things! So much food comes from the ground! So much is ground up! Coffee beans! Chocolate! Grains! Here's something I didn't know till now: in the Caribbean and parts of Africa, they call root vegetable dishes Ground Provisions. These root vegetables are often prepared as a "boil and fry." Soften it up and then add the flavour! It could also be a boil and roast, like a British roast potato, which I never mastered, but which I understand involves roughing up and adding fat (cooking shows say duck fat is the best!) (?) to the boiled potatoes before roasting.
Here's a recipe I've been making since the 70s.
Chestnut Meatballs are great for a party smorgasbord.
1/2 lb ground pork sausage
1/2 lb ground beef
2 cups bread crumbs
4T soy sauce
1t onion powder
1/2 cup milk
2+t garlic salt
1 can drained/minced water chestnuts
- mix well
- form into 1" balls
- put on baking pan at 350 for 18 - 20 min.
Of course, you can make the meatballs any way you like, but the water chestnuts are brilliant. They give a nice crunch and texture.
And of course you need a sauce.
On the back of my recipe card, I scrawled: make a sauce from "fat, flour, water, red wine, bouillon, tomato soup and spices." Heck, open a bottle of gochujang, hoisin or barbecue sauce! Though if you know how to make currant sauce, I had that on meatballs in an ancient monastery cellar restaurant in Copenhagen and it was amazing.
:: Sixth Grounding ::
Growth
Well, I'm all about words, and here's another: dormancy.
[Trigger warning: In-coming Northern Hemisphere Bias]
What is the week between Christmas and New Year for but—if we're lucky—a time of relative quietude? Winter comes (in this hemisphere, and even in Houston!) and it is often a time of:
Conserving energy
Waiting
Hibernating
Getting ready
Amassing potential
For years, I have thought of these times of life (because it's not always about the season) as fruitful darkness. Something's going on under the surface. It may feel like nothing. Or laziness. Or anxiety. Or confusion. Or sloth. Maybe it depresses us because we don't understand where our usual pep has gone. If we wait it out, over time, we may realize that it was a time of transition. In the depths, we have changed in some way.
A time of dormancy reminds us that growth doesn't happen all the time at the same rate. Sometimes we need time to appreciate who we are at this moment. To gather what we need to move on to our next task. To remember what we once were and what we once wanted. To decide anew what to let go of and what to keep. To trust ourselves and our process, so that we will be able to produce profusely when the right time comes.
Somatic Movement Project, Tara Eden: Tara lives and practices mainly in Thailand, but does have help for those of us who can't be with her in person. Do yourself a favour and try some of her online offerings. In recent years, she has expanded her practice toward helping very young humans with special needs.
Paul Tillich: Ground of Being: I tried at one time of my life to have faith in God and to be religious. I really, really tried. But I was ultimately tripped up by the limited descriptions of God as the being from which we were modeled (and, honestly, many other things). Tillich had a different idea/belief. That God isn't a being at all, but is the ground of all being. That, from which everything comes. Not preaching here. Just fondly remembering a younger me who searched for clarity. Still searching.
Quinn Corte: you may have noticed that I mention her in almost every newsletter. I'm not TRYing to promote her. It's just that I can't help it. She brings me so much to think about and try. (RAGE JOURNALING IS THE BEST THING EVER!) Subscribe to her Monthly Care Package so you don't miss the next best thing.
Don't miss this novella: Care and Feeding of Your Little Banned Bookshop by Jennifer Shelby. (also available on amazon.ca and other online outlets) This is a perfect combination of great characters; entertaining, well-written story; and a timely reminder of the inalienable human right to choose our own beliefs and path as long as it doesn't hurt someone else.
An ungrounded thought: There's a bad grounded and a good grounded, right? One: not allowed to fly freely or go where you want to, being impeded, stuck. Two: being secure, having a sense of belonging, showing quiet confidence, knowing who you are, acting on what's important to you, searching for what's next.
