So there I was, two days without posting, reluctant to make another Post About Not Making a Post, and pondering what the hell was wrong with me. I thought about how we don’t really know what is good for us. I like to write, I enjoy writing, I often feel good after I have written. But there was this voice in my head saying, I don’t want to, I don’t have to, I can’t! It is the same voice and same words even the voice uses when I think I should clean my house, go running, or even eat that cucumber that has been in my refrigerator since I bought it on Sunday. For heaven’s sake, why would I not be able to cut up a cucumber, voice?
Unfortunately, I do not always think to talk back to the voice. On occasion I ignore the voice, with varying results (turns out running or house cleaning, while not impossible, can be damn difficult) (but let us strive to think positively at this moment). Today I pondered where the voice was coming from and why it often sounded so loudly.
My first thought was that we often do not know what is good for us. For example, we drink one alcoholic beverage and it makes us feel good, so we have another. By the third, that voice in our head (I am assuming in this example that I am not the only one who has one) is convinced that if we do not continue drinking, we will cease to feel good, we must have another! We all know where this thinking leads us (if you have not actually had the experience, surely you have heard) (and I will call you Shirley if I decide to). Most of us learn to ignore the voice’s toro poopie in these situations.
My next thought regarded a rule I have often observed in this space: writing begets more writing. I write a letter to a friend or make an extensive entry in the TV Journal, I can easily make that day’s blog post. Once I make a couple blog posts, I continue posting daily. Obviously the opposite is true: Not Writing begets more Not Writing. I capitalize Not Writing, because it is such a heinous situation to those of us who aspire to be Writers.
Then it hit me: inertia. Sir Isaac Newton did not just talk about Gravity, he also articulated the Law of Inertia: An object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest, unless worked on by outside forces. I like the words “tends to,” because in fact, writing does not always beget more writing in my case. My eighth grade science teacher also pointed out that friction, gravity, etc, are included in “outside forces” that cause a moving object to stop seemingly of its own accord. I add this for the yahoo (you know who you are) who just rolled a ball or a stone (not wanting to gather moss) and said, “There! That object didn’t stay in motion!”
So you see, I do not only suffer from laziness, depression, and whatever else is wrong with me (probably a lot; I can just see some of you gearing up to give me a comprehensive list) (you know who you are): I am a victim of inertia. Today I fought the inertia enough to make a blog post of — goodness over 550 words! Will this writer in motion tend to stay in motion? I hope so.
Mohawk Valley Girl 