I took a much-needed semi-rest yesterday. I write “semi” because I had several interviews to prepare for, so I couldn’t entirely ignore my responsibilities. But it was good, once the work was finished, to just float away; there’s something about easy Sunday afternoons, with glasses of wine and bare feet, volumes of Yeats and rolled-down sweat pants, that makes for some wonderful mental and spiritual space.

It was in that space that I came across a note an artistic friend had shared on Facebook; this friend, a former journalist, is one of the most non-linear thinkers I’ve met. Interested in all ideas and eager to take creative tangents previously unseen, many of the notes he writes and shares are related to his keen observations of the world, and are frequently based on the seemingly-mundane things we take for granted. Yesterday’s note was about the letter X -as a concept and idea. He included beautiful photos and some insightful ruminations.

Think about it: “X” is rife with possibility, isn’t it? The playful-meets-probing style of the note, and its idea, intrigued me greatly. Though I wasn’t immediately aware, my friend’s mental wandering set off a delicate mental spark, and I tiptoed along the cliff of a response, when I hit “delete” and quickly – as if on auto-typist -opened a Text document, and started my own path of poetic rumination. Having the mental fog cleared, and having made time yesterday to sketch, read, and cook, there came a beautiful kind of clarity and light. And a playfulness.

…X decides everything and names nothing
X is definition non definition sublimation
submersion submission
X began the name of a King
X is Jesus sideways
X finds God in byways and highways in skag lines and bread lines
two lines intersecting
two bodies connecting
X is heaven and earth
angels and dirt…

I love Sunday afternoons. Perfect set-up for a busy week. Having done five interviews and started my next video project today, it’s good to know I gave myself permission to clear the clutter yesterday. Going to do that more often.

X marks the spot -and the spot says “play.”