Gratitude

I have not been neglecting my blog, not really. I’m constantly thinking of ideas and really enjoy writing.  For the past couple of weeks my time had to be focused on future goals. I was quite happily occupied trying to turn dreams into reality. Ambiguous? Sorry. It’s necessary for the moment.

However, I can share that I had the opportunity to attend a great event last Saturday, The California Readers Authors and Artists Luncheon. I met wonderful people full of knowledge, enthusiasm and really willing to help a novice author. For the record, this is not a hobby, this is my art. I feel more serious already!

The keynote speaker gave a talk explaining the key elements of story telling:

1. Character
2. Character traits
3. Goal
4. Motive creates suspense
5. Conflicts and problems
6. Risk and danger
7. Struggle
8. Details

On that note, let me tell you a little story. The names and places have been changed to protect the innocent.

Spike and Lily decided to become a one car family. Lily got a job less than a mile away from their home.  They decided to reduce their carbon foot print and save some money so they got rid of one car.

Spike drops Lily off in the mornings. Friendly co-workers often give Lily a ride home. But thanks to the consistently pleasant California weather, it’s an easy walk even when she’s left to her own devices.

One unremarkable Monday morning, Spike and Lily were running very late for work. It’s difficult for Lily to justify being late seeing as how she lives so close to the office. Truth is, it’s difficult to wake up some mornings when your heart isn’t in the work you do and this was one of those mornings. Lily longs to spend her days in more creative ways and works very hard in her off hours to make that a reality.

At 9am Spike and Lily finally got themselves out the door and into their awesomely cool Mini Cooper. 5 minutes later they pull into the parking garage of Lily’s office. Lily gets out of the car and shuts the door. As she’s about to walk into the office building she realizes that her bag with her lunch, calender, walking shoes and, most importantly, her creative writing notebook, is stuck in the car door! She calls to Spike and thinks that, of course, he must realize there’s a problem but he doesn’t respond. She waves her arms wildly thinking that Spike will see her in the rear view mirror, but no. The parking attendant sees the bag drag along and also tries to get Spike’s attention, but no luck! PANIC.

After seconds, Lily remembers that she has her iPhone in her purse and can just call Spike. If only Lily hadn’t rebooted her iPhone the night before and not turned it back on. The iPhone, which she loves under most circumstances, takes about a minute to reboot when it’s been turned completely off. It is a computer after all. That minute has never seemed so long. Her fingers almost didn’t function as she punched in Spike’s phone number. Spike answers sounding surprised and a tad annoyed, he is running rather late. She explains the situation with the bag being caught in the door. Spike says he’ll pull over and see what’s going on. Spike calls back and tells Lily that the bag isn’t there. That’s when the horror of the situation really begins to sink in for Lily. The lunch, a beautiful avocado and tomato sandwich on wholewheat bread, could be easily replaced. The shoes are Sketchers Shape-Ups. They’re good walking shoes but expensive to replace. Mostly annoying because who wants to spend another $100 on homely looking shoes no matter how comfortable they are? Losing the calender is not the end of the world.

But the creative writing notebook?  Nooooooooo!

That’s Lily’s life! Her future! There are so many ideas in there, it can’t be gone! Then she goes numb. The office building almost doesn’t exist. Zombie-like she rides the elevator to the office. Tears are welling up in her eyes as Lily attempts to make it to her desk without having to speak to anyone. Somehow she finds herself sitting at her desk and stares at the blank screen of her computer which she doesn’t have the will to turn on. As she’s trying to figure out how to explain to her supervisor that she’s not able to work that day, her cell phone rings. It’s Spike. “Honey, I found your bag!” Lily is stunned into silence and her tears of frustration immediately turned  into tears of relief and joy. She runs to the elevator with an extra spring in her step and still tries to avoid people since she’s grinning like an idiot and wiping away tears.

Spike found the bag at a gas station just a half block away. The only thing missing was the lunch. The bag, a sentimental favorite, has a huge gash in the bottom. C’est la vie. Most importantly, the creative writing notebook was still there. The binding was a bit worse for wear. But for Lily, the contents are priceless. Spike has since suggested that she transfer the contents to a computer format that can be backed-up. She’s seriously considering it.

Lily is now a very grateful person. She thought she was grateful before, but when a precious possession she thought was lost forever was returned to her, she realized that someone out there felt she needed to learn a lesson. She makes extra sure to thank Spike every day and will attempt to never take her creativity for granted. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~Thornton Wilder