My morning walk is time to think. Often I think of things I'd like to write. I am well aware of the danger of losing the ideas before I get them down - and have tried to find ways to guard them.
It happened again this morning. By the third mile my mind was racing with ideas and organizing them into some semblance of order. I determined that as soon as I got to the house, I would grab pen and paper to write while the ideas were flowing. HOWEVER, by the time I got in the door my thoughts had been diverted by the ferocious mosquitoes who were pursuing me the last few hundred yards through the woods. I savored a glass of cold water, slowed my breathing and cooled down a bit. I recorded my walking times and before long became focused on something else. Oops! Wasn't there stuff that I wanted to write? Sure enough, much of it was gone. Bits & pieces were still there, but they didn't flow anymore.
In case you're wondering, yes, I DID have an index card in my pocket - thanks to Anne Lamott's suggestion in "Word by Word" - hoping to capture at least key words & phrases. Unfortunately, some time ago I discovered that my ink pen doesn't want to write in that setting - so I switched to a pencil, hoping the lead won't break in my pocket. I have tried a tiny notebook in the past & may switch back to that idea. The biggest problem is probably that I usually don't want to take time to try to write anything down lest it mess up my walking times.
Moral of the story:
I am not giving up. I will keep experimenting & brainstorming. I will continue to look for ways to more effectively capture the thoughts and ideas that I want to write about.
It happened again this morning. By the third mile my mind was racing with ideas and organizing them into some semblance of order. I determined that as soon as I got to the house, I would grab pen and paper to write while the ideas were flowing. HOWEVER, by the time I got in the door my thoughts had been diverted by the ferocious mosquitoes who were pursuing me the last few hundred yards through the woods. I savored a glass of cold water, slowed my breathing and cooled down a bit. I recorded my walking times and before long became focused on something else. Oops! Wasn't there stuff that I wanted to write? Sure enough, much of it was gone. Bits & pieces were still there, but they didn't flow anymore.
In case you're wondering, yes, I DID have an index card in my pocket - thanks to Anne Lamott's suggestion in "Word by Word" - hoping to capture at least key words & phrases. Unfortunately, some time ago I discovered that my ink pen doesn't want to write in that setting - so I switched to a pencil, hoping the lead won't break in my pocket. I have tried a tiny notebook in the past & may switch back to that idea. The biggest problem is probably that I usually don't want to take time to try to write anything down lest it mess up my walking times.
Moral of the story:
I am not giving up. I will keep experimenting & brainstorming. I will continue to look for ways to more effectively capture the thoughts and ideas that I want to write about.
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