So I've been biking a lot lately. I don't mean this to say "look at me, I'm down with Mother Nature and the Carbohydrate Burners" but to help set up how I've been having more time to think without feeling pressured to think. It's a nice mental space. Friday I biked about 12 miles or so from East Somerville to Hyde Park to tour the site where I'll be working this summer. I got there with so much sweat that it had literally gotten through my backpack and made a random paper in my backpack so wet it was stuck to one of my books, but I wasn't as sore as I was worried. Leaving an hour later I was considering returning home by train. As I would have to bike a few miles to that station (Hyde Park has very limited public transit compared to other parts of Boston) I had to begin by biking. It felt good. All I was doing was peddling. Then peddling a little more. And the ride there, though sometimes challenging was gorgeous. By the time I was at the train station I knew I was just going to keep going and within an hour I was home.
This is the editing process. This is the daily practice. The big picture of the ambition can seem daunting, but commit to the little bits repeatedly over time and eventually you get somewhere that you want to be, and maybe you find some new places on the way or realize you want to go somewhere else. Plus the hard work of it is joyously fun. While I'll miss my commute from earlier this year that was briefer and allowed good time for reading, I think this approach too will teach me a lot about writing. This peddling, this is something I'll have to remind myself. Between graduation in May 2011 and this past April, I was barely writing, let alone editing or writing well. This was something I promised myself I would avoid post college but it happened. Well, I pulled myself out of that rut (post for another time maybe) and I'm going to keep it up. It's about peddling a little more. And then peddling a bit more. And having you, audience, is helping give me reason pedal. Thank you. One more paragraph. One more day where writing is habitually part of my regular thoughts. A bit more peddling. Let's see where this journey goes, shall we?
Yours,
Jason the Peddler
Tomorrow: on Adrienne Rich and Punk Rock
The Day After Tomorrow: "So you like poetry. Who's your favorite poet?"
The Day After The Day After Tomorrow: Something I am always trying to work on.
Someone once asked me how I got into cycling long distances and the best way I could think to sum it up was "I just kept pedaling..." which seemed so Forrest Gump at the time, but I still stand by it. Thanks for making the connection to the writing process--not so good at going the distance there, but you've inspired me to try just a little bit more tomorrow!
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