Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Walking, reading, and thinking in Curaçao

Santa Anna Bay in Willemstad, Curaçao

For a few days in mid-March, my wife and I visited Curaçao, an island located in the southern Caribbean sea. We were mostly fulfilling a promise to ourselves to travel a little more and take in new scenes and cultures. My wife was born and raised in St. Kitts and has traveled extensively in the Caribbean. I'm mostly trying to catch up.  

On our trip, we stayed at the Renaissance Resort,which was centrally located in close walking distance to historic forts, shops, restaurants, and the harbor. What particularly stood out to me when we first looked around were the brightly painted buildings. Those vibrant colors, in such a warm, wonderful climate, were energizing.  We took long walks around Willemstad, the capital city of Curaçao, trying to take in the sights, the people, the culture, as much as one can on a short stay.

A market in Curaçao

Among other things, what I enjoyed about the trip was the chance to relax, read, and think about various writing and humanities activities. There's something about being away that facilitates my creativity. Of course, it also helps being in such a tropical climate and having all those colorful scenes to absorb.

I rely on my home library quiet frequently as I'm working on writing projects--big and small. In particular, when I'm producing blog entries about poetry, I often find it necessary to pull a variety of books from the shelves as I seek to make connections. In Curaçao, miles and miles away from our home in St. Louis, the books shelves I relied on were virtual. As a consequence, I spent a considerable amount of time drifting on my thoughts and jotting down notes that I might return to later.

By the time we returned from our trip, I realized that I had filled far more pages in my journal than usual. Here, I suppose I write far more on my laptop and computer. But away, I'm more likely to jot my thoughts down on paper.

The trip allowed for time to relax, think, and occasionally write.

Part of my writing habits in Curaçao were related to the long walks we took. As ideas and thoughts came to me, I would just write down a few keywords or short sentences, close my book and continue exploring. And it wasn't just the walking that gave me opportunities to think and begin generating ideas. During extended moments sitting by sea, I was inspired to relax, think, relax, and occasionally jot down notes. 

Some of my friends jokingly ask me whether I ever take a break when and if they think I've been productive with my blogging about the arts. In turn, I'm starting to think that my productively is directly linked to the ways that I relax and take breaks.

We have passports, will travel



Now that we've returned from our trip, we're already looking forward to our next travels.

No comments: