Comes Alive in Contact

It'd be wrong to claim that I like being anxious, but I've found a way to redirect that energy pretty effectively into my particular way of being. Anxiety inhabits a nervous, weightless space – I feel light-headed, and a little sick with it. When it gets too wild, the static maelstrom sort of buzzes out my effectiveness. But as a driving force, well, it's the closest I've come to ever having one. When I show up at some signing or speaking engagement, there's always at least one person saying: "You look younger than I thought." I know why, and it's not surprising. As a writer, I'm solitary and intensely directed. Any distractions in the veil of me and nature are mostly unneeded. But face-to-face, I'm smiling, I'm talking till I'm tripping over my own tongue and words. Ancient as I feel in isolation, I'm still a little kid in company. There's a part of me that comes alive in contact, and the high is manageable because I've become attuned to it. Anxiety in action, a force for my greater good.

 

June 18, 2023

Bear River, Nova Scotia

 

facebook | instagram | tumblr | youtube | etsy

 

You can support my work

get things in the mail

and see everything

first on Patreon

Done