Tales From the Baltic: Part Two

I crouch as low as I can without sitting on the rain-slick ground, photographing cobblestones and parquet floors. I lie flat on my back in a flagstone courtyard trying to capture the majesty of a tower. I stretch my arms above my head and stand on tiptoes: how else can a capture the sheer scale of this gilded room?

I expected to go on this retreat to spend time with my friends, to make new friends, to integrate myself further into this community of writers that I love so dearly. I didn’t expect, or perhaps I didn’t make the connection, that I’d be visiting palaces and castles and mideval cities that are perfect references for my writing. So I tried to photograph every detail where photography was allowed. I tried to sink myself into the moment.

How would a the distance between cobblestone effect a swordfight, a chase? I learned that cobblestones are incredibly slippery when wet and a chase through the rain would likely invlove a lot of slipping and falling. I learned that kings and queens like to record history in their own special way through the artwork in and on their palaces. I learned that the level of detail in my own fictional palaces is fairly low and that those details might afford me a space to expand my worldbuilding where it is lacking.

I also learned on these excursions that a few hours in a country is nowhere near enough time to learn it. I knew that coming in, but now that I’ve spent those few hours apiece in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Tallinn, I’d like to go back and spend at least a week exploring each of those cities. I’d like to immerse myself further in the history and culture of these places and gather inspiration.

There is a comfort to be found in the organized tour. You don’t have to think too hard about time tables or directions or itinerary, but there’s also a lack of spontanaity and flexibility. As much as I enjoyed my guided tour of Copenhagen, I disliked the tour in Stockholm. It wasn’t the places we went, but rather the guide who was the problem. But the little bit of Stockholm that I saw made me want to see more. In Tallinn, I didn’t join a tour, but rather wandered and sat in a wonderful cafe and wrote. It was fun and freeing and I could have kept going for much longer, but I had to get back on the boat.

Everywhere I’ve been over the last two weeks has been a source of inspiration. I hope that I’ll be able to translate the eyes of a tourist to my everyday life, to see the inspiration in the everyday (which aligns nicely with the class Jasper Fforde taught during the retreat).

I feel as though a lot of this year’s retreat has been about reminding myself of things I already know. Things I’ve forgotten I know because I’ve been so caught up in the cycle of work, music, write, sleep repeat. If I’ve learned anything this year, I think it’s that I need to slow down. I get so caught up in trying to reach the destination that I forget that the process is my favorite part.

Thank you for reading. What sort of things do you draw inspiration from in your everyday lives?