Reading & Writing With Rebecca: Issue 77
If you've been following me on Instagram, you know that I spent last Sunday in the ER, on a quest to diagnose and treat what had become crippling pain in my mid-back. Luckily, it appears to have been a badly pulled muscle (muscles?), and after a week of meds, rest, and careful movement, I'm feeling a lot better.
While I was in the throes of this injury -- when I couldn't catch a deep breath without a stabbing sensation exploding on my back -- I got to thinking about how present pain makes us. We're never more aware of the immediate moment than when that moment is agonizing. Be it physical, mental, or emotional, pain brings us fully into our experience. For example: On the whole, I only consciously cultivate my breath in the yoga studio. I don't spend much time thinking about the quality or depth of my inhales and exhales in my day-to-day life. My injury made this impossible, since every breath culminated in sharp, acute pain.
If you've endured a similar phenomenon in your own life -- not the stabby back injury, I hope, but some other embodied experience -- you know the great irony of living in the moment is how fucking exhausting it is. Be here now seems like a great idea right up until you'd give anything to zone out, but pain makes even temporary disengagement impossible. For all that we strive to be present to our experiences -- to avoid obsessing over the past or growing anxious about the future -- are we also taking the time to value being nowhere in particular, divorced from the moment and in no rush to rejoin the flow of time?
Creatives know that great ideas often strike precisely when we loosen our hold on now and detach from reality. If you've ever had your best-ever idea in the shower, or in those tenuous moments right before you fall asleep, you know exactly what I mean.
If you're heading into the final stretch of National Novel Writing Month -- or if you're doing any kind of sustained creative project -- I encourage you to embrace your wandering thoughts, down-the-rabbit-hole internet searches, and time-wasting indulgences. Maybe just... stare out a window for a spell. Eventually, we all find our way back to the present, but before we do, we might cultivate gratitude for the ability to forget time exists every now and then -- even if it's just for the length of a long, pain-free breath.
Due to American Thanksgiving, there will be no new RAWWR next week.
xR
First Line Frenzy + a NaNoWriMo IG Live
This week's FLF Reels roundup:
No.227 (YA fantasy): Scuffing sounds echoed from the shadows, limbs thumping and sliding on the rough, gravelly cave floor.
No.228 (adult general/commercial): If I’d been born to her a week earlier or just one day later, I might not otherwise have waited twenty years to be noticed—and truly seen, for the very first time.
*New today!* No.229 (adult romance): He was practically a dead man so before his imminent demise, he needed to hide the incriminating evidence in a place only his colleague would think to look.
Bonus content: Jennifer Udden and I took some time to chat about National Novel Writing Month progress, challenges, and strategies. This 30-minute vid (aptly titled, "We're halfway there, livin' on a prayer") has some good advice for writers in the thick of NaNoWriMo, so give it a watch here.
Books of the Week, and my 2022 Gift Guide
This week, I'm featuring two books from my 2022 Gift Guide, linked below. Gifting books is a subtle art, but one I'm entirely passionate about (surprising, I know). Gifting the right book can be a challenge, so I've rounded up 15 perfectly giftable titles for everyone on your list, from family to teachers to yourself.
An added bonus to shopping my list? Every purchase gives *me* a little gift too, in the form of a small commission at no cost to you. Give books with abandon, my friends, and happy holiday season to all!