You ever watch one of those films or tv shows where the main character is an author or journalist? Every time they sit down at the computer or with a pen and pad, they write, no hesitation? That’s not me, or at least hasn’t be me for the better part of 2 weeks. I’ve tried. The energy to write eludes me. What I have been doing is some walking, learning that I’m not as addicted to video games as I used to be, and laughing with the parents of close friends; I’ve also embraced that I’ll be uncomfortably hot for the next 4-6 weeks.
I’ll tell you what I’ve learned these past 14-15 years is to not beat myself up over days when I miss the opportunity to write. Eating with friends is writing. Cooking with loved ones is writing. Hiking a trail and getting lost at the turn where you thought the large tree with the weirdly structured branches would be is writing. Listening to your mom exaggerate a story from your childhood is writing. Shopping for wedding attire is writing. Watching 5 comedians bomb at a Fire Island comedy show, one after the other, is writing. Someone telling you that sitting down to write is the only kind of writing there is…also writing.
I hope you’re writing somewhere nice today, somewhere not too humid, with water and fruit at reasonable arm’s length. Talk soon.
Randy Winston