Heather Burton

For my #nanowrimo2020 project, I've been doing some research about Buckminster Fuller, architect, inventor, philosopher, futurist, and more. I might have an additional #mindcrush now. What a fascinating person! His life, I learned, had some rough start elements, including being expelled from Harvard College twice, some nearly dead-end jobs, and the death of his 4 year old daughter, possibly due to the family's poor living conditions. At the point of believing a life insurance... payment to his wife would be better than his own existence, he went to Lake Michigan, and later wrote that he had the following experience. Before you read it, I suggest you fix two ideas in your mind: individual worth and personal mission/life purpose. QUOTE: When contemplating suicide, Buckminster Fuller claims to have received this message...: From now on you need never await temporal attestation to your thought. You think the truth. You do not have the right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong to you. You belong to the Universe. Your significance will remain forever obscure to you, but you may assume that you are fulfilling your role if you apply yourself to converting your experiences to the highest advantage of others. [ Sieden, Lloyd Steven (1989). Buckminster Fuller's Universe: His Life and Work. Basic Books. pp. 8788. ISBN 978-0-7382-0379-9.] Grateful to have come across this. Glad to be writing a story that includes our wrestle with the condition of obscured personal significance, and a secret to fulfilling our reason(s) for being even when we're not sure what we're actually made of. Thanks for reading, <3 Heather Photo details: Buckminster Fuller at his Black Mountain College studio with models of geodesic domes, 1949. Photo in public domain: POET ARCHITECTURE on Flickr

Nano-lessons from Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month): Retreating makes space for uninterrupted writing; Retreat with friends who create gourmet food; Snacks are advisable, but brain- and body-nourishing foods help you feel more settled;... Get snowed in. See more

Keeping it real {to make it better}. https://heatherbecreative.wordpress.com//what-i-failed-to/

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a sophisticated person, but I do love intellectual stretching. I think that's why I find deep resonance with some poetry. Today, praying about and considering the import of this day, this thought came to mind: "Please help the centre hold."... It's from William B. Yeats' poem, "The Second Coming." I read it first in high school. It still gives me shivers. First stanza is in the photo accompanying this post. You can read the full poem here: https://poets.org/poem/second-coming

Big Goal, Shaky Start National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) started today. I’m registered. I need the super-nudge of writing 50,000 words toward a novel in the span of one month. Why? Basically, I’m pretty prone to giving up on goals that are painful...yes, for me, but more so for others. Writing has always had to fit between mothering, work, home-making, fixing things, etc. ... I remember trying something like this many years ago. One of our young children cried, Does this mean no warm suppers anymore? This time, I made sturdy plans to optimize my chances of staying on schedule. (It’s almost 2K words per day for the next 26 days. I take Sundays off.) One to-do was organizing a private writing place behind a closable door. It took days to unpack the boxes of books in that space, but I made it. Glitch: it’s now holding a dear family member who needs a home base for a while. Space or no space, I also just blew the early bedtime before the very early morning: so typical. All of this whined, I am still fully committed...to the point that I am scaring myself. You see, to keep accountable, I’m publishing each day’s writing on a blog I set up this weekend. It’s here, if you care to drop by: www.heatherbecreative.wordpress.com. The storyline is on the home page. I’m excited to (finally) be bringing this story to life. Thanks for reading! Heather <3