My arm is still a little swollen from the shot I got the other day (for going to China). It's gotten so much better today, but it's most definitely still swollen. My normally bony elbow is actually normal because of it...I like it better that way. However, the swelling is still keeping me from playing piano or saxophone or running.
Earlier today I didn't know what to do. I was feeling very...peaceful, and I didn't have a nagging desire to do anything in particular, or to no be doing anything. I wasn't highly energetic, nor was I incredibly tired. Wasn't hungry, wasn't full. Wasn't bored, wasn't stressed. I was just...balanced. This is unusual for me... Anyway, I walked around my yard a little bit. Eventually I found my way back to our creek, and I jumped across it. There was a styrofoam McDonald's cup lying on the ground, which I picked up later on my way back, to put in the recycling. But how did it get there? Was somebody walking along the creek with a styrofoam McDonald's cup that they thought they'd just drop there? Or was it blown to our creek from the street, or from the field behind it? That cup itself has a story, which is incredible. A cup. A McDonald's cup. Something I've had veerryy few encounters with in my 14 years...
I continued walking along the opposite side of the creek. I listened to the sound of the creek, and the breeze, and the birds. I could even hear a distant train whistling. The branches cracked under my feet, and every time I had to move one aside to get past, I felt a very reassuring connectedness to the Earth. This whole time, I was wondering, "What exactly am I doing here?" And I didn't have an answer. Because it didn't matter. I was living the moment, calmly enjoying myself. That's what I love about nature. It befuddles me, actually, because sometimes, while I'm really in nature, I don't exactly know what I'm thinking. I just am. And that is such a wonderful feeling. I don't get that much, since I'm always doing something, always thinking about something, and always so aware what I am thinking about. Sometimes, I think, it feels good to step out of the person we're familiar with, and experience a different side of ourselves. (I'm discovering this also as I prepare the script Cora and I are writing for the Script Frenzy in April - linked to NaNoWriMo - which is a combination of high school drama and a mystery. Neither of us are high school drama girls, but we're having enormous fun working on it.)
So I'm taking the opportunity to just live. Enjoy the sights, and sounds, and smells, of livin'. And see, now I can think about it, and write about it. I can put my experiences into my writing. I realized something that ignorant little me hadn't a couple years ago when I started my first novel - people write when they're adults because they've had so many experiences that they can draw on, so it's important that I go ahead and have some experiences. There's a great story in the book we're reading in English, called The Alchemist. The lesson learned is that you've got to enjoy the world around you while not forgetting whatever you're striving to do. So wake up and smell those roses, but remember to work on that book!
I love that post! Beautiful!
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