Survival Gear

Survival Gear by Rita Moir     1994 – Polestar Press

The Choice: I know Rita, she has sat at my dinner table twice. When I saw the book at the local Sally Anne (for 25cents) it was her first book which I had not read, so…I know that Rita can swing a hammer, handles a mean chainsaw, is Canadian, and she writes Creative Nonfiction. So how could I resist?

the reader in me: She travels from BC to stay in Freeport NS (with a brother, or friends or something and she seems to need to escape her old life due to writer’s block and politics). Each portion is an introspective look at place and life that chronologically follow her experiences during the 9 months in a small fishing village. Some chapters are full of images and poetic prose. Others are pretty hard to figure out what is in her head. The friends she meets and daily activities inspire me to immediately move back to Nova Scotia.

the critic in me: : I maybe already hinted that I loved some of the sections, and struggled with others. But all-in-all I enjoyed the ride. Rita shares just enough of her character to make the reader want to find out more and empathize as she learns how to find where she needs to be.

the writer in me: Rita facilitated a writer’s workshop (a long time ago) in my town. Her main message was to use ‘place’ as the most important element in writing. It creates interest and individual uniqueness that is very powerful. This book definitely shows its power.

Her style (as well as so many other incidents in our lives) is similar enough to mine that I should be able to believe in my own creative nonfiction attempts. So, take something that happened yesterday and find how it makes me feel – automatic writing with no explanations needed.

The book inspired in me:    Flash Mob for the introverted.

End of summer and there is a Union event on at Rotary Park. It is finally a smoke-free day in South East BC, comfortable sunshine and a free BBQ, market stalls on the right, playground equipment buzzing with hyper kids on the left, a gazebo with the whole afternoon filled with live music right in front while we sit on the grass in the shade.

The bands are great and some of the little kids get right up front to shake and twirl to the music. It’s my favorite part – watching carefree spirits revel in wild abandon. Some of the entertainers try and convince more people to just let their wild abandon take over…. But we are composed and only allow our feet to hesitantly tap along to the groove.

But in my heart, I am waving and stomping, the music is that powerful. I want to be a carefree spirit. I really do.

Every morning I walk about 45 minutes with my ipod ‘energy’ music pumping in my ears through sleek headphones (I no longer attempt to use those frustrating earbuds). The tunes make me walk faster, make me forget the number of steps in front of me, make me let go of any other stresses that may sometimes attack my efforts. It is also my time to let writing thoughts bubble to the surface and pop in unexpected ways. But maybe the music gets in the way of some great ideas. I don’t know. But some of the music in my playlist are just as inspiring as the music up on the stage today.

While walking, when Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba, or Making it Work with Huey Lewis and the News comes on, I am ready to GO. In my head, I am scurrying to the center of a field with 6 others, ready to step and swing our hips in perfectly choreographed splendour. Excited smiles, energy flowing from our dance to the imagined audience. Our hands wave and beckon others to climb the fence to join the frenzy of carefree spirits. The image is so strong I look around and wonder ‘should I, could I, will it really be too embarrassing to suddenly abandon the me that is solemn, staid, and restrained?