Stop and Savor the Ice Cream.

Writing, for me, is like eating ice cream.  I always want more of both. 

But writing a well-written story, poem or blog post is like eating ice cream. 

Hard to dish out. 

(Oh man, I gotta get past these grandpa puns...)

That first break through with the spoon and soon your mouth easily envelops the icy, refreshing change of pace. Your mouth, cooled by the sudden change of texture and temperature, quickly absorbs the heat and breaks down any and all resistant molecules into a creamy delicious goodness. That's when the flavor sets in. Your taste buds and brain become equally enthralled by aromas reminiscent of lazy summer afternoons, celebratory ice cream parlor visits, and licking and lapping up dripping cones from corner convenience stores. The dispersing of cream over all surfaces of your mouth only brings more crave-satisfying enjoyment, and as the last of the vanishing goodness slips over your tongue and down your throat, the coolness and your desire for more lingers. 

It's after that first bite- when you're sure you want more- that ice cream and writing are wonderful. You've found what you wanted, and it's perfectly expressed. Not a worry in the world about counting pages or calories. Each bite just HAS to be this good and you can't remember why it's been so long since you sat down to enjoy this moment! 

And it has to be THIS moment too, because ideas sitting in a bowl quickly become a soupy confusing mess. Longing to be so eloquently expressed and enjoyed, but doomed to be washed away down the sink with all the other remnants of once-delicious ideas. 

Truly great expressions and ideas, captured or conjured, seem so easily escapable that they might disappear without warning. Some days they can be so fleeting that, without stopping to record their goodness, they are lost faster that the ice cream under a heat lamp. 

If you are lucky enough to have the pen and paper or keyboard available when the time comes, you can stop and savor the moment, relishing in every smooth and creamy detail. But far too often the elusive ice cream opportunities roll by like the ice cream man, tinkling music in the distance, headed off to some other writer who has time or means more than you. But oh! What a treat when you can take the moment and revel in the delectable goodness of the written word!

To take the time to stop and savor the full delight of a few paragraphs of ice cream. 

Because

because sometimes you feel lonely,
or worse, you feel alone. like there's no one there to hear or help you bear the burdens that you own.
because sometimes you are tired
and you wish a friend would call, just to share a laugh together, to lift your spirits when they fall.
because sometimes you are lost,
and hungry and afraid that you will never find the answer to the many prayers you've prayed.

because sometimes you are lonely, tired, lost or unaware
of the love your Father has for you, or that someone down here cares

He sends you out to visit, and share friendship like He does.
Just because.

Five out of Six

This is the sixth post I've started since the last one I've published. 

I'd say it's because I have a baby now and get called away a lot, but that'd be the truth. 

I miss writing. 

I miss feeling like I have time that for a few moments or a few hours I could just sit and write and think while I'm writing. 

I love finding the "Best words in the best order" as said Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in Table Talk, July 12, 1827.

I have not-so-secret ambitions of becoming a famous author. I don't think it's really about the fame as much as writing something that really makes a difference. That would mean that I accomplished the writing dreams and also made a difference.

I guess I'm really worried about making a difference, because I find myself asking that question and using that phrase quite often. Though, luckily for the people I talk to often, this mainly happens during inner dialogue. 

I don't think I would write a novel. There are just too many. And I don't really like to read novels that much. Or I should say, I don't make time to read novels. I'd rather make time for people. But back to the genre-decision quest. 

Poetry comes the easiest to me. Every time I write a poem, it seems to be more like a puzzle. I have to find the best words and the best order. I have to organize my thoughts and ideas have to be presented in a familiar pattern, but with a meaningful message. Meter, rhyme and word choice are king. Then, at the end of a great poem, I feel a sense of completeness and clarity. 

Writing is also creating, so I feel as though I have contributed to goodness, even without certainty that anyone will ever read my writing or care. 

AND! Once again, I was doing something else instead of finishing this post. 

Do posts have to be finished?