Writing is cathartic. I said that just last night on Twitter to “The Vegan Bitch,” otherwise known as Lauren. She was talking about having a bit of a writer’s block on her own blog:
Part of me thinks that I am struggling to write because I’m not letting myself blog about what I really have on my mind. And I never will.
My advice was to write it anyway. You don’t have to publish it. But at least get it out. That’s what I’m doing. But like Lauren, I’m unable to not publish something I write.
This was my food for thought this morning.
A few weeks ago I talked about how I have a bleeding heart for animals everywhere. That’s what makes this morning so tough for me. I dropped my son off at his sitter’s home. I was singing to the radio. I was looking forward to coming home, sitting down, writing my heart out.
As I neared a local convenience store, which looks more like the land that time forgot, I saw something on the road out of the corner of my eye. Fresh from last night’s rain, I saw a turtle slowly plodding along trying to cross the road. My heart leapt and my tires swerved (PSA: have you checked your tires lately? If you’re tread is worn, you NEED new tires. Your life could depend on it). I turned in to the nearest mobile home park and did the fastest u-turn possible.
As I was turning around, I saw ONE car drive past me in the same direction I had been going. Oh God. My heart sunk. I turned out and saw what I had feared. In an instant, the turtle was gone. His shell had been shattered.
30 seconds was all it took. I was sure that I saw that turtle for a reason. I was sure that I was meant to save him. He hatched from an egg, grew from a tiny turtle into this creature plodding slowly in front of me. ME. And in 30 seconds, I couldn’t save him.
I pulled over because I felt angry that I couldn’t make a difference. I felt sad that I couldn’t make a difference. I called my husband who compassionately listened to me. That’s really all he could do.
Once I calmed down, I pulled out to head home. The turtle, at this point, had been hit by several other vehicles. There was really nothing remaining and no trace that he had ever lived. How sad. Yet I felt there was a lesson to be learned.
I wish we did a better job of sharing this planet. I wish that, when our time comes and goes, we leave a minimal footprint. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an example of how we fail to consider the actual or potential impact of our actions.
30 seconds can make all the difference. Tread lightly.
5 comments
Oh no! The poor turtle! I love turtles. I also totally agree that there are many things I want to blog about but can't publish. You are so right, I just need to write them anyways! Especially when I want to blog about how irritating my MIL is.
This same thing happened to me once, but it was a dog.
We were in Wilmington and I heard kids screaming – I looked up from the cross street where we were at a stop sign and saw that they were yelling at their dog to stop running.
I said to my husband, “oh my gosh – we need to get out of the car and try and get the dog.” By the time we pulled over, the cars that were stopped at the light were coming down the major road towards the dog. It was if they were all going 100mph. It all happened SO fast.
I will never forget what that dog looked like, the sound of the car hitting the dog, or the sound that the poor child made the second his sweet dog was hit and killed.
I am sick to my stomach every time I think of that story. If I had only been 30 seconds quicker, the story may have been different.
Write whatever, whenever. You are right about what you said on twitter – it's there for someone to read. Read it or don't.
Oh, that is such a shame. Thanks for sharing.
My MIL just read my blog for the first time today. So I do need to apply a bit of a filter 😉
Oh. That was a horrible story and so much worse than mine. It's hard to accept sometimes when we have done everything that we can. But we make decisions every day that impact so much around us. I wonder how many people realize that?