A Matter of Perspective

Most of the time I don’t know what to write . . .

When I start writing one of these reflections, I usually go into it totally blind. I am not sure what I am going to write about. I don’t even know if I am going to write anything at all.

Sometimes inspiration never does uncover its head and show me the path. Sometimes I take a leap into thin air and find there is nothing there except for air.

But other times, the light I see grows. It becomes larger and larger until it is a conflagration of bright clarity. While conflagration in the first dictionary meaning refers to a large, destructive fire, I like to think of it in the second meaning, as a large fire but not necessarily destructive.

Sometimes, people ask me where I get my ideas. Honestly, I don’t know. I believe I was given the ability to pull something out of thin air by God the Creator. I think we all have something “creative” that we were given to do. Some people paint or write. Some people are good at math or farming. I think all occupations have a lot of creativity in them. We just don’t always see it because we look at the “wrong” things.

I can write. Should I be upset because I don’t have the ability to draw or paint beautiful works upon blank canvases? No. Instead, I attempt to paint a clear picture with words. Sometimes it works.

Admittedly, I also get upset sometimes because I can’t paint or draw.

It seems like we often desire to have the skills and abilities of others. Sometimes we can learn them, but most of the time, we either have it or we don’t.

For me, writing is the easiest thing to do, even when I do run into road (writer’s) blocks from time to time. Most of the time, with a deadline looming, I can pull something out of the thin air.

I have talked to a lot of people who ask how I come up with my ideas. As I said, I don’t know, but I am glad that I can because I kind of like being able to use words on a page—digital or print—to weave a tapestry that people enjoy reading.