Where We Make: Mieke Zamora-Mackay
I'm so pleased to introduce Mieke Zamora-Mackay, a South Jersey writer whom I "met" on Twitter in early 2012—the short story is that we came together through our mutual love and appreciation for Nova Ren Suma, though Mieke (pronounced like "Mikey") tells the full story in her introduction to the 11 Questions interview we did that April. We got to see each other every week at the writing workshop series I hosted at my local library, and have kept in touch via Twitter and email ever since. I'm happy to offer her contribution to Where We Make—these are images from real life, not some idealized workspace worthy of a home dec mag, and I really appreciate that. (It's a big part of why I started the series to begin with!)
* * *
Hello! My name is Mieke Zamora-Mackay, and I write. I knit and cook too. Camille is my friend. Unbeknownst to her, she is also a mentor in my creative life. When she launched the “Where We Make” feature, her invitation to participate left me giddy and nervous at the same time. It took me a while to take her up on her offer, due of the static nature of my creative spaces. Yes, I said “spaces."
In my house, I have a designated craft room. But almost nothing is created there. Instead, there are spots that I cycle through when I work on my projects. These are the spaces where I truly make: My office desk. (Only during my lunch breaks, boss! I promise!)
The leather couch in the living room. (My poor back.) The head of the dining table. (Sometimes having the window behind me gives me the heebie-jeebies.) The drivers’ seat of my van. (While waiting for the kids.)
Camille recently posted about writing in a 24-hour coffee shop at Penn Station while waiting for her 4:00 am bus back to Boston. She reminded me of the poem "Air and Light and Time and Space" by Charles Bukowski, which she shared during a workshop* she led. The post and our Twitter conversation later reminded that we as artists must create anywhere, under any conditions. The “now” and “here” is the opportune moment and place.
Finding the perfect space or moment becomes just another excuse not to create.
*I’ve kept a copy of the poem in the inside cover of all my journals since then.
* * *
Find Mieke on Twitter at @mzmackay and on her blog, The Author-in-Training. Every Sunday she posts beautiful and inspiring images to use as writing prompts!