Huh. Now I remember.
I wrote three chapters today. I could have written the final one as well, but I wanted to “save” that for a day all its own (fitting that it would be a Friday…TGIF can also stand for Thank God it’s Finished!).
Instead, I saved the files to disk (old dog/new trick), shut down the computer and…sat quietly and watched the water.
Over the course of the three books, I have done almost all the writing at the beach. While I came to recognize a major unintended benefit was the divorcing from all distractions in the house, the reason I chose to write there was the inspiration I draw from the sea.
Many of my most cherished memories are on, in or around the water. Having a fascination for the sea is not unique, but I feel no less special for my own. The power when you are out in the deeps or the waters are made angry by storms is awe-inspiring. Yet just as moving is the quiet lapping of the waves, the inexorable creep of the tides, the gentle rolling of a still day.
Working feverishly these past few weeks, I had somehow lost sight of that. Wrapped up in my “need” to finish, I forgot to take those moments of quiet to renew my mystical/spiritual/imaginative bond with the ocean. Looking back, I can justly wonder whether some of my writing delays might have been tied to that neglected entrancement.
Tomorrow, I will no doubt finish. Likely before the sun rises above the eastern cloud banks of the morning. I plan on packing up the computer and spending a couple of hours getting reacquainted with my lifelong friend. Only today did I remember what I was missing.
