Hidden Messages: Reflections
Amazing, amazing, amazing!
And so endeth my third seasonal notebook! Here are some thoughts.
In terms of material, this expanded slightly as I worked my way through the month - having only moved house a handful of weeks before, many of my papers were still in boxes at the start of March (some still are!). I had to be creative for the first half of the month, therefore, using what I could find to make sure I included an interesting - and sufficiently challenging - array of literature. Towards the end of the month, after I had managed to find my hidden messages in everything from a book catalogue to a medication leaflet, I decided to see the month out using the same magazine - partly, again, as a challenge, but also because the words used throughout Elle (June 2023) offered a lot of fun opportunities for my tiny stories. I also enjoyed including reference to the source material. In some instances, I suspect the hidden message was more understandable in terms of content once the source material was known, and I sometimes deliberately matched the content to the publication - for Day IX, for example, it was a conscious decision to choose the word Makars instead of writers or poets (which were both available) as the source material demanded it.
Some of the messages I struggled considerably more with than others. It took me well over an hour to find something I wanted to say in Runner's World, in others the message jumped out at me immediately.
I realised that, at times, my choice of message was being driven by my frame of mind, with content filtering through either consciously or subconsciously. Around Day XVIII, I had spent the weekend unpacking, tidying and sorting, and had been reading about Gaza. Also on Day XVIII: once or twice, I used more words than really felt right, but I couldn't decide between phrases, so I used both.
Generally speaking, writing fictional messages was more fun than many of the philosophical statements. Playing with the language, and the juxtaposition of it all.
Elle, June 2023
In terms of the images, I enjoyed showing my working and not specifically aiming for a precise photograph. I liked the roughness around the edges and the (accidentally) imperfectly blocked words, as they often reflected my circumstances. My fine pen ran out for Day IV, and Scapa jumped on the bed when I was working on Day V.
The element of erasure was interesting, and was something I was conscious of with one or two of the messages, in particular. With this in mind, I appreciated how this season made me ask questions on an academic as well as artistic level. And, to that end, in mitigation, I would also ask that you consider reading the source material for Day XXII, an interview with the founder of the Diotima brand.
It's a funny thing, being three notebooks in now, noting how the notebooks I have chosen have been exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. It is also important to me to know that I can still carve out time - whether twenty minutes a day or well over an hour if necessary - to continue to develop my creative muscles, even when life is at its busiest. Nearly all of these were identified, photographed, and uploaded either last thing at night or very early in the morning. Once or twice, Euan found me asleep in bed, literature spread around me and permanent marker still in hand. Yet, for me, despite the time commitment, it is healthier to continue to create in these manageable chunks, with a clear end point (yet with opportunity for further development, should I choose) than it is to not do it at all.
I’ll be back on the first day of May with an update on the theme for my next seasonal notebook, which will run throughout June. I have absolutely no idea what the next notebook is going to be, but I am sure it, too, will be just grand.
Lydia Crow
Benimeli, Marina Alta