What immediately popped into my mind, oddly enough, was the scene in "Under the Tuscan Sun" where Francis is describing her surroundings in a postcard. Somewhere in there she uses the phrase "smells like purple"... or something like that (it's been a while since I've seen the movie.) That has always stuck in my head. This woman had let go of everything and in this one moment just gave in to all of her senses- literally soaking in every bit of her surroundings from the sights to the sounds (and even the smells!) We all have such a tendency to be wrapped up in our own little worlds that a moment like that to let go almost seems impossible to fathom.
So, my goal right now is to take a day- sometime soon- to simply find a place where I too can be inspired by my surrounding, as Francis did, so much that I may sniff out- see- taste- touch all of the colors around me. I am going to reach deep and pull out my inner Papa Hemmingway who was able to describe one view down a road in more words than I swear are in the Bible. If I could take that one day to truly release all of the stressors and worries that consume me- I wonder if, or rather, my hopes are that I can finally break free this block when it comes to my own writing. I have a notebook full of story ideas; however, when it is time to actually sit and begin one of those stories- my words simply fail me. I cannot open up to my senses as I once did. That is certainly a cry for needing one day to do nothing but explore the senses.
As E.L. Doctorow put it... "Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon." I will make it my goal to feel the rain and smell the purple! Thank you, Nicole, for that one word has inspired me!
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*Image found at frontpagemag.com
