Writing Inspiration… & Fireworks

Catch the sparks

Early this morning, in my weekly meeting with my friends on the other side of an ocean (connections made possible by the incredible ), I was asked for a progress report on my writing life. You know, sort of like a “show and tell” in your primary school class.

I didn’t have much to offer. All I could muster was this:

“I feel like I’m sitting a tiny boat in the middle of a very still lake. No oars or paddles. Floating aimlessly. And there’s a leak in the bottom of the boat.”

Pretty bleak, huh? Well, I’ve earned the right. I’m trying desperately of late to reinvent my life… truly, reinvent me, after losing my soulmate of 47 years. I was just a girl—barely 20—when we found each other. I am embarrassed to admit that I’ve never lived on my own in my entire life. I went from living with Mom & Dad to living with my husband.

These are surely uncharted waters I’m navigating. And not well.

But the metaphor did bring to mind something else, something a bit more upbeat. Not even a fortnight after my aloneness began, I was invited to spend a week with my brother and his wife at a lake in upstate New York. A traditional, family vacation spot.

A place of memories, some of which stirred pangs of grief, but thanks to my comedian-wannabe brother, many smiles as well.

The last night we sat on the balcony of the motel which overlooked Lake George to watch the village’s weekly fireworks display. What a way to end a wonderful week, right?

Fireworks. I’m not a particular fan and never have been one to lug folding chairs into a nearby field to view the holiday displays. (This time was easy: the room my brother booked was right on the lake, complete with balcony. I watched them in my pajamas!)

But usually, fireworks don’t impress me. Perhaps I am too practical. I mean, someone spends hundreds of dollars to shoot explosives into the air for momentary—and I do mean momentary—displays of brilliant light and color.

Fireworks always seemed like a waste of time and money to me.

But this morning, at my dear friends’ prompting, I imagined seeing fireworks in the sky above me as I floated aimlessly in this tiny little boat. And voila, I saw a parallel. It suddenly occurred to me that my ideas for things to write about, which still pop into my brain at various times of the day and night, are like those fireworks.

They shoot high into the air above me and burst with promising brilliance. But sadly, of late, they begin to fall and fade, extinguishing into nothingness before they reach the water.

Or the page. Yeah, just like that.

Today, this morning, right now as I write this, you are all witness to one of those sparks that I reached out and captured before it died. And the idea burned so hot in my heart that I simply had to release it onto the page.

Yeah, just like that.

The message to my fellow writers here: Don’t let those sparkling ideas float to the ground as ash. No matter how trivial or random they seem, every brilliant idea is a magical inspiration from your unconscious mind, from nature, from the Universe. Reach out and capture these precious gifts, and let them burn in your heart and mind until you simply have to let them out.

Write them out. Share them with the world.

If you follow this one tiny piece of seemingly insignificant advice, I promise you, the heart of your writing will come back to life and continue to beat. Mine is beating now, the first sign of hope on this new journey, this new chapter of my life.

I hope you will join me as I begin.

Thank you and for this wonderful hour of inspiration!