I’m not convinced anyone has noticed, but I’ve skipped my Tuesday Tales for several weeks now.

I have been reading novels (for my book 100, mainly) rather than my folktale compilations, so they’ve been less on my mind.

But I’ve noticed it’s like being on a kick where one eats only Korean or Thai food for weeks at a time. There are those who know nothing else and live just fine on that, but I’m not one of them– I get antsy for something… different? More familiar?

Anyway, I’ve noticed my mind doesn’t work quite the same way as it did, and I don’t yet have a good analogy for it. (Maybe a symptom is I make analogies less easily…)

Basically, to be immersed in folktales (especially traditional, that aren’t all from one author) leaves me feeling my mind has a connection with the (doubtless) thousands of other minds that have digested them over the centuries.

When I’ve been reading folktales I see connections between unusual things, and actually feel more creative.

My two biggest works (the novel I talk about here and one I put on hold to work on this one) are a dizzying mix of East and West. As I’ve gotten farther (in time) from my readings of either culture’s tales, the effort of binding together three worlds (my own included) becomes more and more challenging.

I’ve pulled out my favorite collection of Arabian Nights tales and will be diving back in there after I feel rooted enough to work with my daughter as she takes her first baby steps as a new believer.

This whole balancing act of being responsible (doing what needs to be done) while being drawn in other directions is supposed to be very good for writers, I hear.

Whether or no, I pray that I don’t lose track of my first goal or become weary in well-doing.