Do you ever bookmark something or save a passage from a book thinking you will return to it?
During the March challenge, I will save links from other slicers in a draft post. Sometimes it is a new form or structure for a slice. Sometimes it is a topic that I want to explore and write more about. But many times, I forget what I save.
As I was going through my drafts searching for ideas, I came across a post I had saved about a bliss station from Austin Kleon back in 2016.
Kleon states:
"You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen."
I have had multiple bliss stations in my life although I never new such a thing existed! When my children were babies, my bliss station was my bathtub. When I was a young stay-at-home mom, it wasn't creativity that I was craving; rather it was sanity. For that short amount of time, my husband was on "parent duty" and I was not to be disturbed. It might not have been a creativity incubator, but it was certainly momentary bliss.
My bliss stations have changed throughout the years, and even now, I think I have several bliss stations. One would be my classroom. I am usually the first to arrive in my wing at school. I like the quietness and the time to move my thoughts toward teaching for the day. I have also thought this time would be a great opportunity to stack habits, (see this post and this one) and use this time to create in my notebook.
When my son moved out, I took over his bedroom, and this has become my office. It is also my collaging area where I have all of my supplies. In this bliss station I can tear and cut and glue paper in my notebook - a true place of creative incubation.
My last bliss station would be the time of night when I am the only one up. Sitting in the recliner with a fire in the fireplace, the silence of slumber keeps me company, and it is when I do most of my composing on my computer. It may be a blog post, a Choice Literacy article, a poem for a monthly challenge, or even unit plans. But it is my time for creating.
Wherever my bliss stations are, to paraphrase Austin Kleon, it is a time and space to disconnect with the world so that I can connect with myself.
Have you thought about your own bliss stations? I would love to hear about your place of creative incubation.
Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we
share a slice of life during the month of March.
share a slice of life during the month of March.
What a great reflection. So much of this requires quiet. Those moments and spaces that allow you space to think. I love how yours have evolved over time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great concept, "bliss station." Right now, as a working mom of 3 elementary schoolers, my bliss station is the 20 minute commute from my home to school. In those 20 minutes I can play whatever music I want, talk uninterrupted on the phone, snack without having to share, or just sit in silence and think. This might be a future slice in the making. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteAustin Klein is genius at creating something unique from the seemingly simple. I love the idea of a Bliss Station. I have several spots in my home that I can call bliss station, and I’ve gone through stages in my career when I was the first to arrive, so that was a bliss station, too. I might need to write a post about this.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much here. I need to thank you for the ideas and resources. This is my first link on a new document I am opening to reflect on later, thank you. I also have a few bliss stations. One I have connects with yours. I also took over my sons' room when they moved to college. I have a slice or two in mind about my interesting bliss stations. This line you quoted from Austin Kleon perfectly describes the effect of my station; "it is a time and space to disconnect with the world so that I can connect with myself."
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a bliss station and how yours have evolved and shifted over time. Thanks for also sharing how your capturing posts to come back to later—brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing the term "bliss station" to me. I smiled when reading about your bliss stations. I consider my my sofa on Saturday morning when everyone else is still at sleep as my bliss station.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this idea! Austin Kleon is the one who wrote those creativity books - Steal Like an Artist. My car is my bliss station and writing at my kitchen table early in the morning. I would love to have a room for collaging. Mine is in the corner of my bedroom. Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteMy bliss station is the blue chair in my living room by the window- I start and end my day there! Great slice idea.
ReplyDeleteMy Bliss station is a chair. It has evolved in the last few moves that my family has made but I always have a chair that I sit in in the morning before anyone is up. I read, pray, sip my coffee and center myself for the day. That’s perfect. Thanks for sharing your post today.
ReplyDeleteInteresting concept. I saw him speak at a conference in Austin around 2016. I remember being inspired but I don't think the talk was about Bliss Stations. My bliss station is where ever my knitting bag is.
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever thing to call it, Bliss Stations. A great reflection of the meaning of your sacred spaces that you have built for yourself. You claim space for yourself because you value what you do. I'd have to think about this one.
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