Ladies who lunch

Today I'm off to lunch with a friend.  Both of us are 'retired' from the day job (also known as walking out of them), and will spend a leisurely three hours over a good lunch putting the world to rights.

I always enjoy my monthly get-together with her.  My friend is well-educated, has a Master's degree, and worked in senior mangement roles in the National Health Service and a university.  She always has intelligent insights into what's going on in the world.  She gets me thinking about world events in new ways,

All writers need a ladies - or men - who lunch type of friend to get together with regularly.  We need someone we can sit down with and chew over what's happening in the world.  Even as a science fiction writer, my stories are built around characters and civilizations, and I need to imagine what these people are doing.  My friend provides fresh insights into world events that often trigger ideas for story plots.

It's a part of what creativity teacher Julia Cameron calls 'filling the well'.  She says that creative people must have a good well of images and ideas to draw from to do their work.  Every so often, we need to 'fill the well', take ourselves off to somewhere new or experience new things to add to our stock of images and ideas.

When I get together with my friend our discussion will be wide-ranging.  We'll talk about world politics, new scientific discoveries, and the latest medical research.  

As well as a good lunch and the renewal of a good friendship, I get to fill my image well at our monthly meet-ups.  I'd heartily recommend a 'ladies who lunch' date with a good friend to get your creativity flowing.