Water and Writing Aerobics

Water and Writing Aerobics

While in water aerobics, I start with vigor.  Here we go.  Hit it girl.  I repeat these thoughts and get myself into the teacher’s routine.  Each class is a bit different.  About half way through, I wish for  a magic remote that I can push and move the hands of the clock closer to the top of the hour because then the class would be completed.  Kate, my teacher, keeps calling out new positions, demands we jump higher, kick longer, and leap over an invisible log, and on and on.  I push my remote to no avail.  Only if I continue to move and stretch even when I do not want to continue, will I complete the class.  I know the class has cardio benefits as well as building and maintaining my muscle mass.  I look at the clock and only four minutes have passed.  Why do I keep on? 

Kate  is reminding my body it can stretch more, work longer, and be strong tomorrow.  I will draw on the stamina built this day.  I wish Kate was sitting at my desk when I write.  She could call out,"internal conflict, unexpected ending needed, rewrite this scene, cut out all those extra words."  However, writing is a lonely business.  There is no Kate to direct my stretches.

Why do writers keep on writing?  It is a zone that stretches us into places that we have not been or experienced, nor even understand at times.  Writing lets me know myself more deeply, lets me have more of myself.  It forces me to look within and be honest at what I see, what I know and don’t know.  Each writing time is as difficult as my ongoing water class, yet just as beneficial.  I write because I want to describe feelings, create believable characters, and understand motivation.  I write because it is like putting together the most difficult puzzle with no picture on the box.  It is a call, a mission, and a constant nudging to complete my novel and share these lessons on life.  My writing pushes me to be stronger and work longer.  Perhaps I should call my writing sessions, writing aerobics.