Suddenly Sunday Night
I was sitting in my hospital bed on Sunday night, my mind moving in a thousand different directions at once, listening to some Jazz Fusion, when a topic began to form. Normally, I can't catch my train of thought, but tonight I got lucky.
I had listened to a very good speech earlier today by Ted Simmons, one of my favorite baseball players from the 1970s. He spoke eloquently about the importance of each passing moment and how the total accumulation was far greater than any individual part. His memories, his view of life, came back to me this evening and compelled me to start writing. He wove a wonderful story from his past experiences and related them to his current position. He is an intelligent and thoughtful man I still hope I meet someday. He speaks like a professor rather than a ballplayer.
Normally, I capture a moment and write about its importance, even though I should focus on how it impacted my life as a whole. I make this mistake almost every time I start writing. I get annoyed and stop writing. But instead of starting over, I abandoned the effort and walked away. I failed to see my life story as a key part of what I wrote. I tried to create a whole new story from one single moment, and I always failed.
I finally learned that I should refocus my writing attention to creating a tapestry of my life. I hope that his words inspire you as much as they do me.