Sometimes we are blessed with unexpected firecrackers of inspiration that seem to burst into our minds without warning—

—though, upon deeper reflection, they were trickling through our daydreams and distractions. We just never realized what we were thinking.

Draft #13 did materialize nicely—and though there are still more colors and shades to add to the prose, I can now primarily concentrate on editing.

Although I had enrolled in improv classes to help me cultivate my skills in teaching, they have been more helpful in thinking about and constructing meaningful narrative. The instructor has said the same thing week after week; it was only while I was ill that I finally recognized what she was saying: The relationships are what make the narrative matter.

I picked up an old copy of Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and am making my way through the curious book and, sometime over dinner tonight, I sprung upon the idea of doing something like writing forty posts about various relationships in forty days. There is a link between Gladwell’s book and this idea; I just can’t make the connections clear right now. That kind of ambition mildly frightens me because writing, relationships, and writing about relationships require some amount of disclosure… and disclosure can be scary.

It’s the burst of inspiration I have been waiting for.