Today it is sunny, and I sit in the sun in the room with all the plants and the birds while the cat meows at me for more treats.
The theme that has risen to the top of my writing agenda this morning is my writing health. What is my psychological and emotional state, how well do I feel as a writer? sunny? cloudy? stormy? hungry or parched? The mixed metaphor approach amuses me.
Silly or not, the concept is helpful. I reflect on how I feel about myself generally and as a writer. What are my writing behaviors? Who am I writing for? Sometimes (and often) I do not know the answers to these questions, but it helps to ask them.
In particular, I am not sure who I am writing for. My imagined audience, who are they?
Who are you?
Is there anyone there at all?
Is this simply a literary reflection in a mirror?
...
Perhaps. In any case, I have decided that joy is my barometer. Joy that is not simply glee but an overarching state of existence, complete with a range of emotion and underneath it all a continuum of joy, a joy that carries.
Onward.
