Swiss Cheese Brain

Sometimes
having a brain that feels like a piece of swiss cheese has its benefits. Some
of you know I had surgery, under general anesthesia, last week to remove the
hardware from when my foot was rebuilt a few years ago. Although I almost
immediately traded the opiate pain pills for over the counter medication, I discovered
my brain continued working in gaps. I’d have a thought and then it would fade
away as my eyes closed. I’d snap back into the moment before again losing time.

Not
exactly what a Type A personality wants to have happening. I fought against the
drowsiness and the loss of what seemed to be logical brain connections, but I
didn’t win. If anything, it exhausted me more. So, I decided to surrender.

Once I gave
up, I saw things with more clarity (except for where the holes were). I
realized that sometimes we can’t control the moment or what we want to do any more
than we can dictate the flow of a story or the behavior of a character. Pushing
against what the story or characters want usually results in flat writing or a
dead end. Better to give in until the flow begins anew.