Rumors Of Water Week: First Quote

This week I am sharing quotes from a book I've been enjoying called Rumors of Water. Here's the first one:

"Writing starts with living. Living starts with somebody caring so much about something that they need to drag you out of your writing chair and take you where you'll be surprised to find your words."

I've been surprised to find my words in places I've been drug to before. A stray comment by another person that I'd never have heard otherwise. A unique point of view outside of my own narrow one. A life lesson observed because I was out of my own little box. An encounter with nature, a glimpse of my children in another setting, the chance to see life from a new vantage point... each opportunity lends itself to finding words I would never have found otherwise.

But I rarely volunteer to leave my little cozy world. I get set in my ways, stuck to my routine. I need to work so I opt to stay in. I don't have time to venture out, I say. Everything is about the deadline, the word count, the to-do list. I loved that she used the word "drag." Because I've had to be drug. Drug away from my computer. Drug away from my chores. Drug away from this world that is mine to control into a world that is completely other than what I know. And so I go to the 4th grade poetry reading and I take time to visit that bakery owner and I sit on that soccer field and watch the ball get kicked around by a cluster of children wearing neon shoes and I meet with friends I don't see very much and I take time to talk to my mom and all the while I am craning my ear for what I would not hear otherwise.

And every time. Really, every time, I am glad I went for some reason or another. Maybe it's because I got to witness something truly special for one of my kids. Or I met some fascinating person. Or I recalled a memory I'd lost. Or I just gained a fresh perspective that can only be had by leaving and coming back. But LL Barkat is right-- writing does start with living. Sad that I have to be reminded to put life in my living. Wonderful that I have people in my life who drag me to it.