Laughter has such medicinal benefits. Yesterday we spent HOURS cramped in a booth at O'Charley's with Pat and Phil, an out of town couple I went to high school with. Our chubby little waiter kid darted about and honed in so efficiently. I knew if he kept up at that pace, he'd wear himself out, especially given our history of staking a claim on a table. The church crowd came and went, the place emptied, and when he finally realized we were settling in, he supplied us with extra beverages and left us to our own laughter.
Pat and I are artists in our own right. She's famous; I'm not. She uses paint and canvas and produces beautiful paintings; I use ink and paper, write and blather. All four of us laugh like kids when we get together. Our husbands laugh at us and we at them. Then, if you get one of the guys telling a story we guffaw and snort. Maybe that's why the place emptied out.
In reading Life of Pi,a wonderful book by Yann Martel, I came across a paragraph that applies to writers, artists, anyone in any situation. My words in quotations. "Survival [writing] had to start with me. A castaway's [writer's] worst mistake is to hope too much and do too little. Survival [writing]starts by paying attention to what is close at hand and immediate. To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one's life away."
Today is the day to stop hoping you can find more time to write. Get up fifteen minutes early and put 100 words on paper. About eight sentences unless you are as windy as I am; then it could be four. Don't worry about beginning, middle and end...just begin. If it doesn't evolve, go on to another thought, but go!
5 comments:
I needed a double take at the names, Pat and Phil, since my husband and I are Pat and Phil, too. Tee-hee!
Anyway, great advice. Gotta plant self firmly in chair and JUST DO IT!
Did I read the word, "snort"??!! Were you describing how I sometimes sound when I laugh?!
Pat, I just sent twp poems to Blue MOuntain Arts. Who am I kidding? But you never know if you don't try.
Becky, Yeah, I snort too. Don't get me started. You should hear my aunt; she squeaks.
I loved that book.
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