THE RECKLESS WRITER

Einstein was famous for his thought experiments. To all outward appearances, he’d be sitting quietly in his home or office. But his thoughts would allow him to go hurtling through the fabric of space and time. He spent hours contemplating what the universe might look like from the perspective of a particle of light. His conclusions changed the way we perceive our reality.

People sometimes speak dismissively about the stuff of dreams. But dreams can make you awaken in the night with your heart racing from fright. The dream might not be real, but the panic is. The line between reality and imagination becomes blurred.

What’s the difference between a memory and a dream? We spend our lives in an infinitesimal moment we call “the present.” Time moves forward, but what does it move forward into? If I get caught up in the threads of these questions it’s like taking a deep dive into an eternal mystery.

“Daddy?” My kids say. They have to say it at least twice. Their voices compel me to come swimming back to the surface. Light returns. It’s like awakening from anesthesia.

“You disappeared, where did you go?”

“To the infinity pool.”

For most of my life, I’ve been making my deep dives alone. Recently, I’ve been taking advantage of collaborative tools. The support of other writers allows me to go further and stay longer than ever before. The experience is more profound.

When two people share a dream, it becomes as real as any other experience. That’s why we write. But today, we can share our dreams in new and exciting ways.

A companion in creativity

Writers tend to be introverts. I know I prefer to get up in the morning, make coffee, shuffle to my computer in my pajamas, and disappear for the day. I have to set alarms on my phone so I remember to pick up my kids from school. Something external needs to call me back from my explorations.