It’s Only a Piece of Paper

For week fourteen in Scribbled Lives we were asked to utilize a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I was not familiar with her words, and greatly enjoyed getting to know her work better. I chose the poem City Trees as its imagery made me think about the differences and similarities between city and country trees. I did several versions of what I thought this might look like, scrapped them all and landed here.

I never really keep track of how much paper I use to create my work. I tell myself and my students, “It’s only a piece of paper.” When I finished this one, I piled up all the roughs and noticed that my ideas changed and morphed along many different points throughout the creative process. It was interesting to see where one idea ended and another began. I save a great deal of my rough drafts in a drawer and will often pull them out and use them as scraps in other work. If I were to become conscious of how much paper I was using, I might stop early in order to conserve and miss out on the beauty that next piece of paper inspires.

I thought about how many sheets of paper Edna St Vincent Millay might have utilized to write, rewrite and finalize this poem. It is ironic that the poem is about trees when trees are the beginning of paper. Somehow it seems appropriate that the symbiotic relationship between the poem and the medium upon which it was created go together. We would never have this lovely poem about trees if it were not for the paper made from trees.

Creating, thinking, and bringing our ideas to life requires many resources. Paper, pen, maybe a computer, spreadsheets, time, energy, thinking, and even rethinking. Very few ideas are perfect right out of the gate. It takes courage to first document that idea or nagging thought, then it takes diligence and self reflection to edit to make it even batter. The great things in life do not always come in the form we expect, which means we have to be patient as our ideas evolves along its journey to completion. Sort of like waiting for a tree to sprout in Spring. Which branches grew, which ones died? Which blooms will pop out first and which ones will be more spectacular than the next? Then how long will it take before the blooms fade and the green leaves take over? All because of a tree.

Next time you have an idea, one that is written down or printed on paper, be reminded that the process of perfecting that idea may need more paper than you expected. Give yourself the freedom to use your resources generously. Stingy thinking stunts idea growth and prevents creativity from reaching its full potential. It’s only a piece of paper…the power is in how you utilize it until you reach the perfect bloom of your idea.