A Quiet Walk

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and listening about the information overload that human beings are suffering in modern days. We’re reading on phones and e-readers in snippets of times where we were in downtime before, or we’re listening to iPods, or staring at TV screens while we’re working out–activities that were once the bastion of brain-wave downtime.

I’m totally guilty of this, of course. I want to cram as much stuff into my waking days as I can.

But this Saturday I found myself planning to walk to the health club (it’s about a mile and a half away), but realizing my iPod battery was dead. After a quick panic attack, I decided I would actually try to do the walk without any devices.

I admit it felt odd for a bit.

It was a great day for a walk, though, and my body warmed to the task, and before too long I was thinking about things and a story came up and I started gnawing at it, filing off a rough edge, then setting it aside for fifty steps or so and them thinking about it again. I counted steps for a bit, then considered the story at a different angle. I brought a couple of my own memories into the fray, and next thing you know I arrived at the health club with an entire story fleshed out.

I did my weight work and let the framework settle on my mind. My mind gave me back a character, and a motivation.

And on the way back I started envisioning what the opening, middle and closing might actually sound like.

This morning I sat down and hammered out an entire draft.

Take it for what it’s worth. But, me? I’m considering leaving my iPod alone for a bit.

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I don’t use this term often, but this is awesome.

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Posted in Daily Writing, Life.

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