Day 349

Some days I struggle to identify one topic worthy of writing about. Other days I have 2 or 3 to choose from. Today I don't want to chose.

Subject #1

I woke up this morning with a familiar dread hanging over me. I had already designated this as a writing day. I heard a familiar whine in my skull. Oh, no. I don't want to write. It is too hard. It's Christmas time and I want to bake cookies and drink hot chocolate and sit by a fire (so what if I don't have a fireplace).

Then I received an email from a friend who was at work. She said that she would like to be in a coffee shop writing today. Suddenly I realized that writing doesn't have to be an obligation, it can be an opportunity. I am blessed right now to have the time to write. What a gift. Even better than cookies and hot chocolate by a fire.

Subject #2

Lately I have been fantasizing about skydiving. Now I do not really want to jump out of a plane. I am terrified of high places and even more afraid of falling. What I want is to move fast and feel the metaphorical wind in my face. I want my heart to pound out of my chest with excitement. I want to get goosebumps of exhilaration. I want to laugh at danger and cheat death. I want to step off the edge, feel myself fall and then be thrust up at the last minute by a parachute of my own making. I am tired of playing it safe.

Bring it all together...

Maybe it's all about the writing. Maybe skydivers get up in the morning before a jump and feel the same kind of dread as I do. Maybe they do it anyway. Maybe it reminds them that they are alive. Maybe I need to learn to think of writing as an aerial act.