Vacations and short breaks away from our work give us a
chance to rest and recuperate from our daily immersion in water.
Without our goggles, we can view our work with a new
perspective.
We can let our mind relax, step out of routines, and explore
new pathways.
We can rest on the side of the pool or float on a raft
instead of swimming.
There’s a certain pleasure in feeling the
warm sun against one's back, the sense of weightlessness, the sudden freedom.
But when it’s time to return to the water, it can be an
effort to get back into the pool.
I’m always reluctant to take that first step.
Instead, I cling to the uppermost rung of the ladder at the
edge of the pool, not wanting the shock of the water to chill my skin.
And yet, as I stand there, compelling myself to take that
step, I can feel the urge—the need—to
swim again.
And what surprises me is that just by writing--with a pen or keyboard, it doesn't matter--I let go of
the edge without realizing it and step off the ladder.
One moment, I'm standing on the ladder; the next, I’m back in the water.
Swimming!
The shock that I had feared was only in my mind, not an
actual shock of cold but a fear of cold, a fear of silence, of nothingness, of a blank page.
The moment my pen starts moving across the page, though, my fear
magically vanishes.
Words appear.
I can see my thoughts reflected on the page in front of me.
And I’m back in the water swimming again.
For more on how to
start writing again after a break, visit:
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