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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

things you need in an existentialist crisis

Aveda tea, for one (something I dubbed the nectar of the gods in college and still think of it as such) and a city like DC.
I've been fighting writer's block, career goal questions, other very important things that I don't seem to have figured out but that have all been gnawing on me for some time. I left to head down to Borders in Metro Center and ended up not going there at all. I ended up diverting my path somewhere along Logan's Circle, heading wherever the traffic lights took me and ended up walking through Shaw towards the Convention Center.
There was a breeze and the sun was just beginning to set with all the lights slowly turning on and brightening. As I walked up towards Chinatown on 7th Street, I almost got a West Coast vibe of a calm city close to the beach, maybe on the outskirts of San Francisco (I think that had to do with the brilliant sun from earlier and the cool breeze passing through the buildings as I walked). Without even thinking about them, my cares sort of just slipped away as I got caught up in my music and the city lights.
I think my favorite was leaving Chinatown and heading up E street. I happened to look down and see a framed view of the National Archives lit up. I don't think I've seen that building at dusk before. I highly recommend it.
And then...I got a little seed of an idea. First the ending came to me, in a vision, and then the opening line of a short. A few more blocks brought a few more sentences. I skipped my originally planned bookstore trip, and it may have been too late anyway, and hurried home. I couldn't wait to get back to my waiting screen and hear the click-clacking of keys as I finally felt somewhat productive again. Those pressing questions before? I'll figure them out. It'll happen.
Oh, and the tea comes in after I got home. Mmmm...sitting here with Tchaikovsky, the windows open and Aveda tea. I'm telling you...this stuff is that sweet nectar brought up to Olympus (and there is no caffeine or sugar added).

5 comments:

globalchameleon said...

Great description of how inspiration can strike when you're out and about enjoying the scenery and letting your subconscious churn away - nice post!

Across The River said...

Glad that the walk dispelled the writers block. Out curiosity, what is Aveda tea? I am not as hip to the tea as I should be.

The View from Dupont said...

Nicely done! And might I add my immense jealousy to the breaking of the writer's block... I've been sobbing for months over the same problem. Blogging, even RPing (yes, I write in an RP... does that surprise you though?), no problem - but real writing? I'm at a loss.

Tea happy hour sometime soon? Let me know :)

Patricia Heatherington said...

GC: Thanks for the comment! It's great when you focus your consciousness on something else (like not getting hit by a car) to let your subconscious go to work.

AR: Well, we'll see how long it lasts. Aveda tea is a sweet tea from Aveda with peppermint and licorice. I've yet to make someone try it who didn't like it. You can pick it up from any Aveda usually.

VD: I still haven't broken the writer's block for my novels I'm working on. This idea was for a short, but we'll see where it goes. Hey, RP is a great way to work your creativity!

Oh yeah, definitely down for a tea-filled happy hour. Let me know when you had in mind! I think I could Friday and this weekend, otherwise we might have to wait until next week. I'm going to try to go to a writer's group in Arlington tomorrow night. Could be of interest.

Patricia said...

VD: it doesn't sound bad. I could use DP for Dupont...but I like VD better. Yeah, that sounds great. I'm free...Friday, some of Saturday and Sunday right now. I'm supposed to go to the Holocaust Museum Saturday afternoon, but we'll see. Give me a call or I'll call you sometime the rest of this week.