Challenges show up in the strangest of places. And unexpected places. In the past two weeks, the framework of my home life has been bent. My biggest challenge has been transportation. Well, not really. The bus systems work just fine. The biggest challenge has really been timing. Getting to prearranged meetings and appointments, not to mention my shifts at detox.
Tonight I recognized another challenging part of my life with a car. A consequence of a chance meeting of someone’s front bumper against my rear bumper. A consequence that couldn’t be foretold. An unusual lack of interest in writing. Writing that has been my daily interest for so many years. On my days off from my nursing shifts, writing was what I enjoyed in the mornings. I am fairly certain I’ll not be a great writer or story teller. I’m not certain I even want to be in the ‘great writer’ category. In my journal and this blog I write because I like to write. Since the bumper to bumper incident, I have put my writing practice on the back burner. Each day that practice has seemed to move farther and farther away, yet I continue to post each night, an original commitment to myself. I have begun to feel not at home in my own home. Yes, I have had extra errands to do that require an intimate knowledge of the transit system. One more extra errand tomorrow and then a new/old car search.
My challenge tonight has been to re-engage with myself and my writing. My challenge in the next few days will be to continue that re-engagement. Pick up my papers and my pen. Find the stories and poems I was working on. Stand still slowly in my home and say hello to the writing that I have so enjoyed. I may not be able to straighten the framework of my car, but I can straighten the framework that I have created and delve in once more.
“Start writing, no matter what. The water
does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
~ Louis L’Amour
