My sister and niece are in China now for a three-week trip to six cities, and they’ve been sending us photos of their adventures, which I’ve really enjoyed because I lived in China back in 1988 and it’s been interesting to see where it’s changed and where it hasn’t. The other day, they sent us photos of a man who’s a cricket trainer and shared, “He makes special coffins for his favorite crickets and buries them.”
I have to say that the cricket coffins were pretty awesome. One was made of a dark wood and had what looked like little dragons carved onto the top. On one end (and probably the other, though I couldn’t tell by the photo), there was a Chinese character carved through the wood so it looked like a little window. I was so touched by this man’s love and respect for these creatures that I opened up the Gemini app and asked it to make an illustration of a cricket funeral, which turned out great. In fact, I was so happy with it that I thought about writing a children’s book about a cricket who died and mentioned this idea in our family text thread.
In response, my brother, who used to be an art teacher for kids aged 5-10, said it sounded like “a very depressing children’s book! Kids like happy endings! I know from reading them books for ten years!” So I said, “Maybe it starts with the death…and then his death inspires them to live better. It could be a story about a life well-lived.”
Two years ago, I wrote my first novel and am still battling with the publisher/editor to get it done. In the meantime, I am exercising my mind by keeping this blog and coming up with new ways to utilize my creative energy. This week, I’ve used it to help others, as I do most weeks in my practice as a therapist. Doing so always gives me a boost, and, as of late, it seems to be coming back to me. Yay.