Below the Line

Hugh MacLennan and Louis Dudek, professors of mine in the late ‘70s at McGill University started me on the habit. And no wonder! MacLennan, in his early 70’s at the time, and a world-renowned author, would start off his lecture about Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and then slip off into reminiscing about his past. Poet Louis Dudek, with his infectious smile and a sparkle in his eye, would be talking about winter imagery in Canadian poetry and then stop, look at us, and say, ‘Mmmm, I wonder…” And he would then take us on thought-provoking journeys, far removed from the subject matter of the course. I relished those moments! I would turn to my notebook, scribbled full of class notes, draw a line across the middle of the page, and then start writing madly below that line about the stories these professors shared with us. I would write quotes, names of books, places to visit, ideas for stories – the list was endless! What I wrote below the line was much more interesting than the class notes written above the line!

I was reminded of writing below the line over dinner last night. My husband asked how that morning’s, Women Rowing North: Writing Our Life Stories workshop had been. I answered with passion and enthusiasm. And he replied - you must get so many ideas for your blog from your workshops. And he’s right; the conversations during my weekly gatherings with these amazing women rowing north with me go far beyond the writing and reading of stories. Maybe it’s the pandemic that is fuelling the conversations that arise from the stories, or maybe it is the deep connections between these women that provide a safe place for exploring thoughts and ideas. What I do know is, when I look down at my notes during our weekly gatherings, there is a line on almost every page and below that line is a wealth of information for blog posts! Clearly, 40 years later, this habit is deeply ingrained!

So what lives below the line on the page these days? Lately, I have been writing down lines from poems, lyrics from songs, beautiful words strung together, and ideas that wake up the butterflies in my stomach. Many of these words come from the magical stories shared by the women in my life stories workshops. I marvel that these gatherings, focused on life stories rather than the art of writing, evoke memories revealed through words of wisdom, vivid imagery, and thoughtful reflection.  They fill my head with ideas for blog posts. Here are just a few of the words I’ve jotted below the line this past week!

But I struggle with how to organize these notes, as well as the notes I amass on post-its, and in iNotes, Word and Excel files, and handy little journals I always carry around in my purse. There must be a Marie Kondo approach to idea organizing and de-cluttering! I’ve tried organizing everything by theme, which seems the most sensible approach, but I am a generalist and my notes overlap and crisscross which often results in multiple renditions of the same topic stored in different places. I can never find the quote I have just offered to share with a reader. Is it in my blog file, a life story file, or is it still written on a post-it hidden somewhere between the pages of a book? I sometimes think I should set aside a time each week to stay organized; the problem is I can’t even get organized enough to stay organized! Those hours only lead to new discoveries that randomly get assigned according to my best-fit system.

I haven’t always been like this. For most of my life, I have been the queen of organized – able to find the most random thing in the most disorganized mess! Mind you, I have had my moments. Most exasperating? The time I put our vacation cash in a ‘safe place’ – only to forget where I put it. Yes, the money did show up two months later, tucked between never-used dishes in the never-used cupboard above the fridge! Most embarrassing? Tucking my daughter’s passport safely away and then realizing I had no idea where it was a week before she was departing on a 3-month travel adventure with her boyfriend. We tore the house apart, but no luck. Thankfully, her emergency passport arrived the day before her flight. My husband and I drove the two of them to the airport, came home, I began tidying my office, and there was her passport, wedged between two books on my bookcase.

I now have a new approach to putting things away, especially important papers and valuables. I am very intentional and I talk myself through the process, “Helen, take note that you are putting your mother’s will in the back of the filing cabinet on the left-hand side.” Okay, as I write this, I have to share though, that I have no idea where her will is! I know where all her other important papers are but the will seems to have fallen into that abyss where I hide really important papers! Mom is still with us and I know she has a copy of her will, as does the lawyer, so I’m not going to spend time searching for it – it’ll show up one day!

I’m not sure why I am disorganized these days, why I can’t establish systems to track my thoughts. I sometimes think it’s because I have less on my plate, so there’s less need for keeping track. Yes, it takes me a bit longer to find something – but it’s not like I’m in a rush these days, or have many deadlines to meet! A comfortable place to be at, I suppose. But part of me thinks I would get so much more accomplished if I was better organized! These thoughts are a bit of an oxymoron! Do I want to get more accomplished or am I content with less on my plate? This sounds like the makings of another blog post. I think I have a quote somewhere related to that topic. Now, where did I file it?