{"id":585,"date":"2017-01-18T00:29:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T00:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/?p=585"},"modified":"2017-01-18T00:29:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T00:29:26","slug":"my-dog-ate-my-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/?p=585","title":{"rendered":"My Dog Ate My Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_01.jpg\" \n    alt=\"Cute brown dog nose\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-587\" \n    width=\"360\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_01.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_01-135x150.jpg 135w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_01-270x300.jpg 270w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The morning sun turns the snow a pale gold outside my window; shadows lay in soft gray. The sky is bright blue behind the pine tree. It\u2019s cold\u2014around 20 degrees\u2014but the light brings its own kind of warmth.<\/p>\n<p>My dog, Lucy, sits on her bed in front of the window, watching the world. I see a trail in the snow, to and from the pine tree, made by a neighbor&#8217;s cat. I imagine Lucy wishes a cat would walk by right now, and bring a little excitement to her morning.<\/p>\n<p>Lucy comes over, lays her face against my leg, and looks into my eyes. I pet her for a while, telling her how much I love her. She soaks in the sound of my voice, as though it is sunlight.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_02.jpg\" \n    alt=\"Cute brown dog with colorful toy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-588\" \n    width=\"280\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_02.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_02-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But I need to write this blog, so I tell her it\u2019s time to go play with her toy. She grabs a colorful wool octopus and plays for a few minutes. Then she\u2019s by my side again, wanting more attention.<\/p>\n<p>Like my mind, she\u2019s looking for something to land on, to keep her focused for a while.<\/p>\n<p>I take her outside. We stand on the deck, where moisture evaporates like smoke from the fence. A small moment to appreciate the beauty of this world.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_03.jpg\" \n    alt=\"Sun sculpture on steaming fence\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-589\" \n    width=\"326\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_03.jpg 326w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_03-141x150.jpg 141w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017-01-17_03-283x300.jpg 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Back inside, she\u2019s still restless. I fill her favorite puzzle toy with treats. (No one could call me co-dependent with my dog\u2014unless they knew me.) Now she\u2019s alternately dropping the toy and flailing it back and forth between her paws to get the kibble out.<\/p>\n<p>When I create\u2014like writing this blog\u2014I do something similar. I toss ideas around in my head, like a salad, hoping an olive will pop to the surface, a tasty morsel of inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>So here\u2019s this week\u2019s nugget: create from where you are. It doesn\u2019t have to be a masterpiece. Don\u2019t demand of your creativity, greatness; just let it be what it is.<\/p>\n<p>Small moments, like looking into the eyes of a little brown dog, accumulate in our lives. They inform its meaning as much as any grand philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>Be present. Appreciate what is. Create from here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The morning sun turns the snow a pale gold outside my window; shadows lay in soft gray. The sky is bright blue behind the pine tree. It\u2019s cold\u2014around 20 degrees\u2014but the light brings its own kind of warmth. My dog, Lucy, sits on her bed in front of the window, watching the world. I see [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creativity","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}