Precious minutes. Fragments of breath. Heartbeats filled with joy, awe, grief...
These are the notes that compose our songs of life. Our entire personal script can be written with a tangled mess of moments that tell our stories. What moments changed the road you were traveling down? One brief tick in time and everything changes. When we tell people stories of our lives, we share the moments that stick out in our memories. The things that mattered to us. Usually because that second in time shaped us in some way. Every little thought changes us, sometimes by such a small degree we don't even realize it until enough tiny thoughts have added up and shifted the ground beneath our feet. And some moments are so intense, burning as bright as the sun, that we nearly don't recognize ourselves the next time we peer in the mirror.
Sometimes the things we remember are not what we expect to. I don't instantly recall every birthday or Christmas present I ever opened. But I do remember all the details in vivid color, when hero hottie proposed to me, among a gray, cloudy morning and a horde of biting mosquitoes. Who can forget huge welts on their calf when they're in love? :)
But seriously, that moment changed every other moment after that because obviously I said yes. I don't remember the day after, I was floating on cloud nine and I don't, fortunately, recall all the tedious details of planning the wedding, yet that memory is so alive it could have happened a few weeks ago.
Giving birth, finding our wonderful Buddy at the pound, hiking too many miles, listening to music together and watching Christmas lights, they're all moments in my life. There's so many I couldn't even possibly write them all down. I would bore you too, because although the time hero hottie and I made bagel sandwiches and French fries for dinner while we were dating was important. It was one of the first times we cooked together, it's not a thrilling story. :)
Moments are vital. They shape us, they change us, they keep us sane.
And moments are valuable in a book too. A story is composed of moments, carefully and artfully stitched together to make you feel with the characters, to watch their growth as every little moment changes them. And hopefully, if it's a good story, towards a better them. Writing a book is a lot like life...composed of moments that wring the heart the most, sprinkle a bad hair day or two in there and with the realization that we wouldn't be who we are without our fist full of moments to treasure.
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