The man with the Doctor Who socks

It's Monday. I've just finished work. It's hot. I'm feeling upset, irritable and over it.

So I'm walking to the bus stop thinking, I have to do something different. The monotony of the daily grind is starting to eat away at my soul. I sit down at the bus stop next to a guy, I look him in the eye and say, 'Hey.'

'Hi,' he says, a little surprised, but very amiable. I smile at him. 'Do I know you?' he asks.

'No, I'm just having a really boring day so I thought I'd try talking to someone.'

At this point I notice he is wearing Doctor Who socks. And the conversation goes from there, onto the bus, and all the way to St James. Half way along the journey (his stop is about 3 before mine) we exchange names and a handshake; he is Chris.

Chris and I have some common ground, but mostly we are just happy to have someone new to talk to. We cover work, study, past careers, relationships, hometowns, hobbies, health... he even checks out a guy on the bus who is 'so buff'. He says goodbye at his stop, we smile and wave.

I get home feeling kinda refreshed.

Thanks, Chris!

image source: coolusbtoys,com

Why I write

I write because without writing, I am not.

In other words, I write, therefore I am.

Writing, to me, is more than the act of writing. Before I ever touch a pen or a keyboard, the process of writing is going on in my mind. The actual words on a page are just the external manifestation of that internal process.

Writing is my way of knowing myself. It always has been, for as long as I can remember; I like to think that perhaps even before I learnt to write, the aforementioned process was beginning in my mind. As I have been quoted as saying by my dear friend and fellow writer, Carrie Maya, "I write to explain myself to myself."

My main reason for starting this blog is that I have been getting a lot of fascinating comments on my facebook statuses, so I would like to expand upon some of the short things I have been writing in that forum for any of my friends who wish to read and engage more with me along some of those lines of thinking. I have so much to learn from the people I've connected with in my life both digitally and face-to-face, and what a beautiful opportunity social media provides for me (and all of us!) to do just that. When you think about it, there has been no other time in history when one could sit down and all at once potentially engage with hundreds of people: some childhood acquaintances, some work colleagues, some family, some former teachers, and some that one has never met in person. What an incredible gift it is to have access to all of these people with their vast and varied life experiences, wisdom and humour.

So, of course, I invite interaction with my blog. I'll be syncing it up with facebook so that my posts here will appear in your newsfeed. Please comment and discuss and engage as you feel, if you feel, and Inbox me if you want to chat about anything I bring up or have something particularly lengthy or personal to add.

If you're not a facebook user, feel free to subscribe using your favourite RSS feed reader. (Personally, I heart feedly.) Or just check the page from time to time. I'm not sure how frequently I'll be posting as yet. Hopefully at least weekly.

If you are coming across this blog as someone who doesn't yet know me, or I you, then hello and a welcome hug! (If you're not into hugs, then a welcome smile. I don't think I've ever met anyone that's not into smiles.)

I want to thank all of you who posted on my status reminding me that as an artist it's OK to be a little bit full of myself by putting my literary expressions out there into the world, and that my expressions are not only valid, but can perhaps even be thought-provoking and uplifting. I heard you, and so, I am here.

Now, I am sure you are wondering why I have called my blog 'The Clouded Well'. Well (hehe), it is, aptly, from a poem. By one of my very favourite Australian poets, Peter Bakowski.

...I go,
in pilgrimage;
to wash my heart
in the clouded well
of language.

-From "Self portrait in Richmond studio, 25 October 1994" by Peter Bakowski

Stay in touch!

Much love,

Kate