10 Comments
May 29Liked by Samantha Clark

Apologies for missing the Raft this afternoon. Out on chores all day and trying not to drown x

Expand full comment
author

Keep paddling, Linda! Hope to see you next week :-)

Expand full comment
May 29Liked by Samantha Clark

Add my song to the chorus. I have too many subscriptions to keep up with. That is because people are so very interesting, as is the wide world they describe. Each deserves time and full attention. Time is what I lack to do you all full justice.

Expand full comment
author

Yes, I think we're all feeling it! So much good writing to keep up with, it's like drinking from a firehose...I passed a quiet evening with a book last night and feel much more in balance again. Screen reading is somehow always shallow in comparison. There's always a sense of another tab opne, another link to click, another page bookmarked for a 'later' that never quite comes...

Expand full comment
May 29Liked by Samantha Clark

So very well said! I love walking along with you seeing the sights of windswept Orkney. I love community and conversation more than sheer information. I guess I am here in Substack for the conversation, but there's not enough time and I'm already spread thin with my local friends.. As we all are. Drinking from a fire hose indeed.

Expand full comment

Sam, I know the feeling of getting behind on one’s post and reading others. It’s a bit of a treadmill but as soon as I get down to writing, something calming happens as the words and sentences flow. Like your absorption in paint, it is a kind of therapy.

Expand full comment
author

Yes it's true - I think it's because it brings our scatterbrain into focus on a task. That quiet absorption of 'flow' is my happy place too!

Expand full comment

I’ve been reading today too Sam. Paper. Ink. Necessary rest. Enjoy.

Expand full comment
author

Yes - a break froom the tyranny of the screen! I had a lovely evening with a big book last night and feel so much better already :-)

Expand full comment

Without appearing to offer writerly advice (wouldn’t that be preposterous), your account today from The Life Raft reminded me of Simon and Garfunkel’s 59th Street Bridge Song. Or just Feeling Groovy:

Slow down you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Tripping down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy

Ba da da da da da da feeling groovy

By way of encouragement, may your day be one of enjoyment and fulfillment.

So very glad you rowed by today. And always.

Expand full comment