A writer's Merry Christmas

I received the best Christmas present this year, a year when I chose to pretty much ignore the whole thing. I decided some time ago to spend the month of December at the East Pole. Go to your happy place they say and I did. I have not regretted it, though I am sure some relatives aren't real happy with me.

So, this present came as a total surprise. Christmas Eve I was listening to my favorite music of the season, which though I am not religious is the traditional religious carols. They move me in ways almost every other genre does not. My concert always ends with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "O Holy Night." Mostly the choir backs a soprano who sings that song like no one since Bonnie in our schoolboy church Christmas pageants. The ones where I was always a shepherd.
Anyway the gift began during the choir's rendition of another classic, "Silent Night."

For years I have been collecting misinterpreted lyrics in Christmas carols with the idea with enough of them there could be a really clever story in it. An example would be: " … with angelic host …" becomes the Jelly Coast.

So last night listening to the Mormons sing "Silent Night," I heard a new one and this one involved names. Names mean characters and characters mean stories. It happens that fast.

It's been years since I have written much that is truly creative, except maybe an occasional post on this blog.

I have gone so far as advertising for a muse on Craigslist. I was invited to do some interesting things, none of which involved writing.

So imagine those urges being stimulated by an idea. I was so happy with it, I just had to tell someone.

During the day I had exchanged messages with a friend online and she has an interest in writing also. So I sent her a message explaining the project and telling her the inspiration I had just received from the Mormons. Mind you, at this point the gift had not yet started giving.

I realized it was late where she lived and I would not hear from her quickly. And then just as I was falling asleep, I had the awful feeling I don't know her very well and I might have offended her with what could seem like making fun of traditional beliefs.

Christmas morning I opened her message with some trepidation but I should have given her more credit. She loved the idea, she loved the new additions and even offered some suggestions of phrases she had heard. Now the gift was giving. As I went about the chores of the day, the idea was festering and growing in my mind.

By late afternoon too much was going on for me to ignore it any longer and I actually sat down to write: total creation for the first time in years. Talk about Christmas joy. I once told a woman friend that total immersion in creative writing is better than sex. She didn't believe me. Silly girl.

Anyway I wrote for two solid hours, one idea following another and coming so fast I had to stop the narrative only long enough to write the ideas for the future so I wouldn't lose them. The gift that keeps on giving.

After about two hours I came up for air. I had to restart the fire (the one in the wood stove) and take care of other chores, like food for one.

Now, breathing regularly again and coming down I recall the time this friend and I exchanged ideas about muses and what I was looking for. She correctly saw right through me, telling me what I was really looking for was a friend I could talk about things like this with. I don't think, though, that she was volunteering. But she has done it, probably without realizing it, and in the process given me the greatest gift someone could give a writer, in this case unmitigated encouragement.

I would love to share what I have written but that is a great way to lose interest in something quickly. I don't anticipate it being completed soon, either. I still need several more phrases and they will come and perhaps lead to more days like today. But I don't think it will hurt to give a little hint. My new characters are named Alice Calm and Alice Bright.

"Silent Night" New York Philharmonic and Mormon Tabernacle Choir