More Than a Song

Today I sat down to write, after the weekend, after a one day break, after thinking about other things for a little bit. I closed all of my internet tabs, plugged in my computer charger, and, well, sort of stared at the screen for a minute, wondering what to do next.

I thought of those fantastic movie scenes, somewhere in the middle of the film, when the main characters have decided to embark on some sort of project or some progression needs to be conveyed. A wonderfully emotional song comes on, some trees quickly go from gold and red to brown and bare to green and flowery when the song ends; or the hockey team starts doing drills and all of the players look great by the end of the song; or some friends put cucumbers on the ugly girls' eyes and after the song ends, or the music changes, a beautiful woman is pulling her hair out of a pony tail or, for the first time, looking in the mirror with a smile. Whatever the course of action displayed, all it takes is a song.

Looking at the blank computer, I remembered that I am neither in the song and neither will my success come in 7 or 8 exciting musical clips. Sometimes I think I accidentally pretend that I am in one of those captured moments, like as long as I am wearing glasses, zealously casting distracting clutter off the table (today it was a book that I later found under the table), and staring with a window nearby, I will not only look like an eccentric thinker, but I will also think of something brilliant that will within minutes translate into public language.

I didn't write a novel today. However, I did learn that sometimes I need to put the computer away and open a notebook. I also wrote 3 more pages that might contribute to my book idea. I also decided I need to stop writing the beginnings of stories--I have quite a collection. And I even accepted that the inspiring music my roommates are randomly listening to in the background will have no effect on the the reading of this post, leaving it much less romantic then I feel right now. I put in a little more time than a sentimental movie song and came out with a lot less than they portrayed, but those movie scenes that deliver such an experience probably did take more than a couple of minutes.