Okay. So this is a weird one.
The picture alone is disturbing. Sometimes in life we stumble across things that are perfectly normal aspects of the natural world, but they affect our human emotions on strange levels. Mother Nature’s everyday can make us feel uneasy and strange. Maybe it’s our too-advanced brain reading depth where there is none. Notions of mortality and empathetic wondering.
In any case, I acknowledge that it’s strange, and a bit unnerving. But then again, so is life.
Evisceration
Yellow stripe teardrop burrows deep into her leafy green belly
Once so full of harvest and good planning.
The seeds to feed the hungry nesters
Spilled across the glass table top,
Like a cornucopia
A feast for jagged takers.
Did she feel much after the first piercing sting?
Was it just all black?
Or did she feel the tugging pull of her insides, turned out?
What if Katydid?
It got me to thinking about different types of runners. Some would have started training much sooner than this. Some are going to show up on race day with minimal miles and legs full of ego. Some have calculated calories to the numbers, selected precise nutrients per ingestion, and are weighing their shoe laces. Some are probably going to drink the night before and show up with four-year old sneakers and a day-old bagel with green chili cream cheese for fuel. The rest of us will fall along the spectrum between.
The one thing we shouldn’t be as writers, no matter if we’re outlining or winging it, is stagnant. Yes, we need periods of repose where we can recoup our mental losses and rest the neurons. Just like runners need a resting season, writers should take breaks as needed. This doesn’t mean we sit still. We are always, in some way, in training. And sometimes, the best way to train is to diversify the hours we spend at our art.
Stretching your brain is just as important as stretching your training plan to incorporate different activities.
Relentless
Sarah Reichert Author 