I’m trying to write. I’m reading the first post of my blog to prove to myself that I did it before, and can do it again. But my eye keeps going to the photo of the hiker stepping across the gap, and all I can see is that she falls, that her step isn’t big enough to get her to the other side.
My pulse is racing. I’m scared, not of heights, but of writing. ‘I can’t write’ ‘I never could’ ‘I never will’.
I’m pouring with sweat. I open a window and drink the cool air. I think, ‘Whoa, what just happened?’ And I see the word ‘racing’, how it led straight to ‘I’m scared’, which turned into ‘I can’t’.
So I try out other words for my strongly beating heart and find ‘pumping’, which takes me to the mechanics of it, to chambers and valves, and the job of getting oxygen around the body. And it’s easier, then, to stay with the thudding in my chest, to be grateful for it, to remember all the other times my heart works hard for me, cycling, carrying shopping, climbing a hill.
There’s an ache in my throat and cheeks and jaw, so I look and find thoughts like ‘I failed’ ‘My life never turned out as I intended’. Thoughts my mind slips into as easily as my feet into my old walking boots, which I still wear though the stitching’s come undone, and the wet gets in, and new ones lie in their box in the corner.
There’s an ache in my heart, similar but softer and not really mine, for everyone who thinks they failed, or wanted life to go one way but it went another. And the fear response, when it comes back, is that of anyone who’s frightened; the blustering politician, the child starting back at school, even the earthworms on the lawn on a wet night, the way they shoot into their holes, fast as pink rubber bands, when my footsteps shake their ground.
woah!!! that was definitely worth waiting for Margot!! Just love the way you bridged that impossible gap by focusing on the feeling and the process and finding a reliable word which helped you step on the other side. As for the pink rubber band analogy!!! well I’m still laughing out loud! You rock!!!!!!!!!
Always such a tonic to receive your feedback, Christa. Thank you! Wish I could bottle it 🙂
Wonderful writing Margot. The racing heart powered your brain. Well done xx
Lovely to hear from you, Barbara. And thank you xx
Lovely writing Margot – honest and engaging. Really good! More please! Xx
Hi Gill, thanks for reading! Glad you enjoyed it xx
I love the part about the old walking boots … I have an old watering can which leaks a lot of water even before I get to the plants .. yet I still use it because I choose to, so I understood why you didn’t want to wear your new boots.
Oh yes, old shoes, old clothes, they’re just the best 🙂
Glad you stepped back in their Margo, lovely piece of work, such a human experience, love it.
Thank you, Susan. Always good to hear from you x
It’s utterly beautiful. Real and raw and honest. Thank you for sharing and I echo the requests for more please.
I’m very happy that you enjoyed it so much, Anne. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment.
I love the image of the worms ‘fast as pink rubber bands’ great stuff. I love your writing and your kindness for ‘everyone who thinks they failed.’ I’m bowled over by your skill in setting up this fab site – keep writing your precious words xxx
Thanks, Kate. I liked that image too 🙂 I’m not the techy one, tho, my husband did it.