Finding Joy in Writing: Lessons from a Residency in Cuba
By Victoria Fortune
Last month, the Newport MFA finally resumed its January residency in Cuba after a two-year hiatus due to Covid. I’d been anticipating the trip since I began the program, and it was worth the wait! Faculty member Tim Weed, who has been leading educational trips to Cuba for over twenty years, planned the itinerary and provided us a glimpse of the country that few tourists get to see. We had lunch at the home/gallery of renowned artist Jose Rodriguez Fuster, attended performances by Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba and the percussion dance group Habana Compas, counted forty-three species of birds in the Cienaga de Zapata National Park, and enjoyed a private concert by a jazz trio featuring Alejandro Falcon, one of the best Cuban pianists and composers of his generation. We even discussed The Old Man and the Sea on a patio at Hemingway’s house, Finca Vigia, where he wrote the book.
We also participated in workshops and craft talks and found a little time to write in this inspirational setting. In preparation for one talk led by faculty member Danielle Trussoni, we’d been assigned Haruki Murakami’s book, Novelist as a Vocation, in which Murakami comments that writers who do not find joy in writing ought to reconsider their vocation. There’s no great fame or fortune for most writers, he points out, so why do it if it doesn’t bring you joy?
My first reaction was panic. Maybe I’m not cut out to be a novelist, I thought, because there are times when I find writing painful. Sometimes it resembles labor. Then again, the greatest joy I’ve felt was holding each of my children after giving birth. Perhaps this is what Murakami meant: not that every moment of writing should be pleasurable, but that there is joy in having labored to create. There’s a reason why the quote “I hate to write, but I love having written” is attributed to so many writers. And yet, I agree with Murakami: there ought to be some joy in the writing process.
Cuba is the ideal place to explore sources of joy. They are all around: the stunningly beautiful landscape and wildlife, the vivid, colorful artwork, the music and dancing. Each evening in the section of Habana Vieja (old Havana) where we stayed, music rang out as people emerged from the once beautiful, now crumbling colonial buildings to dance in the streets. Despite hardships and challenges —lack of resources and opportunities, poverty, long lines, government repression and corruption—Cubans maintain a zest for life. Everywhere we went people were smiling, singing, dancing. Of course, Cubans have plenty of complaints about conditions in their country. The majority want more economic opportunity, freedom to operate their own businesses, to travel and access media from abroad. And yet, they still manage to enjoy life. It was a breath of fresh air, coming from the United States where, in spite of our prosperity and privilege, outrage and negativity are abundant, and joy seems hard to come by.
So what accounts for Cubans’ capacity for joy, and what can a writer learn from it? Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who spent his career studying what constitutes a happy life, noted in his 2004 TED talk that although personal income has nearly tripled (adjusted for inflation) since the 1950s, the number of Americans who claim to be very happy has remained constant, at about 30 percent. The adage “money doesn’t buy happiness,” is literally true. This is good news for writers, since the gig doesn’t tend to pay much. In our discussion of Murakami’s book, Danielle advised anyone thinking of making writing their vocation to learn to make do with less—something the Cuban people have turned into an art form.
When money is not the primary indicator of success, people are more inclined to pursue their passions and interests regardless of financial reward. It may be a reason be why Cuba has so many talented artists, and why so many Cubans seem happy. Doing what you love and excel at leads to joy. This is because intrinsic motivation to engage in an activity is necessary in order to achieve what Csikszentmihalyi called “Flow”: the state of being so absorbed that you lose awareness of your body, your surroundings, of time passing. Some call it “being in the zone,” writers might refer to it as the muse taking control, but if you’ve ever experienced it, you know the feeling. Flow, Csikszentmihalyi believed, is the true key to happiness.
Achieving Flow requires
• intrinsic motivation—an inner desire to engage in the activity for its own sake
• a clear goal that provides a sufficient challenge
• the sense that the goal is achievable (within one’s abilities)
• lack of external judgement (at least in the moment)
We came across many Cubans who seemed to enjoy what they do so much they became thoroughly absorbed in it—the man carving a pig carcass at the market, Chef Don Alexis who grilled fresh snapper and lobster for us in his paladar, Falcon’s jazz trio, and my personal favorite, the dancers at Lizt Alfonso. Most of them looked stone-faced when we entered the studio, but as soon as they began to dance, they radiated joy as though lit from within. There was no self-consciousness or apparent effort in their movement. They were in perfect harmony, completely subsumed in the dance. They were in Flow.
We learned they practice 10 hours a day. It’s a grueling schedule, but all that practice has resulted in the level of proficiency necessary to attain Flow. Only when you have the skills required to engage in a challenging task can you lose yourself in it. The task must be difficult enough to require all your attention, but not so challenging that you become frustrated and self-conscious about your inability to perform. Proficiency in any skill typically takes about ten thousand hours to achieve. The more you write—even when it’s a slog and the result is crap--the more proficient you’ll become, and the more likely you are to slip into periods of Flow. That’s the joy in writing—the feeling will keep you coming back to your desk or chair, or wherever you write.
Some people have an easy time slipping into Flow. If you’re not one of those people, you can improve your ability to do so, according to Susan K. Perry. For her book, Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity, based on Csikszentmihalyi’s theory, Perry interviewed hundreds of writers about their perception of and experiences with Flow. The writers were unique in terms of what helps them enter this state of intense focus, but there were some common themes that emerged, which happened to coincide with some of the advice Danielle and Tim offered during our discussions in Cuba.
• Have a clear goal for your writing session. To help you focus and enter a state of concentration more quickly, you could
-follow an outline (but be ready to stray from it)
-write down what you want to accomplish before you begin
-go back and reread (or revise or even rewrite) what you wrote last
-leave off at a point where it’s clear what will come next
• Eliminate distractions in your environment. Some people need quiet to focus; others thrive in chaos. Some need to clear their desk; others can write surrounded by piles of books and papers. Pay attention to what works for you.
--establish a dedicated place to do your writing; ask loved ones to respect your space
--create the conditions you need (a clean desk, a comfortable chair, your preferred tools )
--practice meditation if you have trouble focusing your mind
• Rituals and routines can ready the mind. Many writers find that establishing a routine helps condition them to slip easily into Flow.
-identify the time of day when you focus best
-physical exercise, such as a walk, can help focus the mind
-listen to music, look at art, read from another author’s work for inspiration
The statue pictured in this post stands over my desk and inspires me. I bought it in Cuba, and it reminds me of the dancers we saw, the many hours of hard work they devoted to developing their skills, and the joy they exuded in practicing their art. It reminds me to be grateful for my art, and to seek joy in creating it.
For more ways to find joy in writing, see
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/rediscovering-the-joy-of-writing/
