(7:20 am) Before I began to risk putting words on paper, I knew that there is a tempo of slower thinking that comes with putting words one after the other on a paper. I had a supervisor when I worked for the Division for Youth that said he could smell the soup in the kitchen or the pomade smoldering on the hair begin straightened in my reports. I took up photography so I could get visual snapshots, but I still longed to try to bundle words into a similar view. They both require framing and composition along with some focal point and either a pure black and white or a swath of color.
Most of the opportunities for getting your subject on film or paper last only have a few minutes. You snap the shutter, you jot a mental note and click. In putting words on paper, I do mental research at the time of the view and get some key thoughts that I want to explore. Occasionally, I go deeper if it is something that is personal or that I have put into an intention to explore.
The shutter is the same. I pull up a white sheet, set the counter to 500 and start from the top and let the words tumble. Since Grammarly I reread and made a few changes and occasionally shift later thought to a previous location for clarity. In general, it is free flow with a little rewrite. The purpose is always to clarify what I saw or what I am thinking. (half way says the timer – 264 words)
When I think with my dyslectic mind, I skip important words and leave thoughts incomplete. When I write, my thinking becomes clearer to me and there is a discipline to not just jumping to a new thought. I can also see/read when I am getting into a low spot and need a change in view, association, or attitude. I get stuck and when stuck I need a reminder that nothing is permanent… Switch directions or thinking that gets you back on track.
Words help me see a bigger picture as well as the minutia. I have long recognized as skills that I can see the big and little picture simultaneously … the road destination and the dirt on the path under my feet. I believe this made me a better grant writer. The second skill I discovered later in life, what is the capacity of a container in relation to the property to go into it. While this is handy for selecting a dish for leftover, it also helps me quickly estimate the width of a road I need for me and my scooter and how much I can tolerate when getting a deep massage.
I write to know myself better and to help me on my search for my Buddha. The words on the paper make a small piece come to life for me and bring clarity by filling in the spaces.
It is all good.(502 words – 8:03 am)
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