Today is the solstice. Here in Sydney, Australia, it’s the longest day of the year. I’m basking in summer sunshine, swimming in the warm waters of the South Pacific.
Manly Beach: photo by Sue Murray
If you’re reading this in the depths of a Northern Hemisphere winter, take heart. From today, for the next six months, each of your days be two or three minutes longer. Wherever we are, solstices mark the changing of seasons as our big blue marble continues to circle the Sun.
public domain: NASA via Wikicommons
The end of December is when I usually carry out a personal stocktake. Has it been a good year? Did I achieve the goals I set myself? What do I want to change? In recent years, when the world itself has seemed tilted off its axis, this evaluation has been more about how well I’ve coped with the chaos and loss we’ve all had to navigate. One way I’ve coped is to write.
Perhaps you’re like me. Writing helps me to make sense of the world. It also brings me joy. For most of this year, I’ve been working on Circle the Sun It’s a middle grade novel in which a boy is dealing with the death of his father. His sense of self, his whole world, is fractured. He learns that life goes on, ready or not.
While writing this book, I’ve had a lot of support from different circles, including fellow writers. Some, like Stephanie, your regular correspondent, are physically far away, but have felt close while I’ve been revising the manuscript.
Stephanie encourages us to think of the magic in the everyday, which is a powerful lens through which to view life. Something that feels magical to me is just how instantly and closely I can connect with people, no matter where in the world they are.
In the lead-up to this solstice, I’ve also been thinking about the magic in circles: the astronomical and the personal, the very circle of life itself. Circles have a mesmerising appeal to me. They’re never-ending, they’re perfectly balanced, they turn and spin. They seem to spark something, to ignite my imagination. They’re a recurring motif in my writing.
Many years ago, as part of a children’s theatre company, I wrote and performed a one-woman show for young children called Full Circle, presenting myths and legends about the Moon. I tied them all together in a central character called Dottie Spotsworth, who was on a quest to work out if the Moon belonged in her collection of best-ever circles. Was it a circle? Sometimes it was, other times it was just a silver sliver in the night sky.
Much later, I was asked to write a collection of monologues for high-school students. For one of these, I returned to the idea of someone who loved collecting circles. I started by simply listing everyday circles – bowls, bottle tops, buttons, jars, coins, clocks, coffee cups, oranges, marbles….I pictured a round stool next to a round table covered with round objects, bathed in a circle of light. Into my head came a character, fully-formed and demanding to be heard. She sat on that stool spinning a coin, waiting to toss it, to help make a life-changing decision. Her name was Marnie. For me, there remains a sense of magic about Marnie and that script.
My professional circles intersect: playwright + educator = scripts for students to perform. I also lead writing workshops for students who want to write their own scripts. You can find some of my scriptwriting guidelines on my website.
And plans can look circular too. On this solstice day I’m looking ahead, with dreams and schemes for the coming year of writing – ideas for works-in-progress and ideas for bright, shiny new projects. The feeling of the freedom to start afresh that this time gives me is very energising. One idea I’m contemplating really will take me full circle. I’m going to investigate re-publishing some of my plays for a new generation of young performers and their teachers.
I hope that for you the sense of renewal that this time of year offers us feels as full of magical possibilities as it does for me. But that’s enough from for now – the sun is shining and the beach is beckoning.
Sue Murray is a writer, editor and educator who lives in a beachside suburb of Sydney, Australia. She is best-known in Australia for her many plays for young people, a few of which have appeared in Cricket magazine in the USA. When she’s not conjuring up characters, she’s riding her motorbike, snorkeling or exploring outback Australia.