Hold on a sec…

I’ve started a separate journal for noting little moments for future writing. It’s not anything overly sappy, but I started holding onto ideas when I think, “Wow, that’d be a good scene for a book.” So, now and again, when I see or am hit with something, I write it down.

I only have a couple of entries so far, but they’re good ones. When I remember them, a flood of other feelings comes with it. It’ll be a good flint and tinder for future literary fires.

I bring it up because I noticed how much I can get out of noticing beauty in small things…you know, the way the sun looks on a certain afternoon, or how a leaf looks alone in a puddle. Isn’t it amazing that I’d have to stop and write down little moments like that? If not, I’d forget them as soon as I saw them, like the Scripture verse that talks about the man who looks in a mirror and then immediately forgets what he looks like when he steps away. I’m not plugged into the crazy-hidden meaning of that little tidbit, but it seems like it’s talking about a person who’s hardly present in life.

The fact that we’re rarely present seems to be the basis for so much hardship in life. By barely present I mean hardly paying attention, waiting for the next bit of entertainment to distract us. “Oh, what’s on at eight?” “They’re playing when? I have to see them.” “C’mon jackass, speed up or get out of the way.”

If I can’t sit with myself for a few hours or an evening now and again, I’m too wrapped up in things. If I can’t just “be” then I’m too addicted to stuff pushing me to be something else–stronger, more handsome, more exciting…be it physically with clothes or cologne or vicariously through a movie or video game.

So the journal thing will help with that, I think. I could push and push to get a few dozen entries out in a day or so, but I’m going to just write down one at a time. I’ll wait a few days and then start to look for another one. It may be a few days more before I notice something, but I want each entry to have some bite.

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