Fellow writers (bloggers especially) has this ever happened to you?:

Have you ever, in the middle of a perfectly good, idle, random thought, ever pulled up short and started to edit it? Do you find yourself, while  absent-mindedly scratching your dog’s ear, wondering how you can turn that experience into prose with A Larger Message? Do you collect titles the way you used to collect comic books/45 rpm records/ Matchbox cars? (My personal favorite: Is Everything a Metaphor?) Do you attempt to turn everything you see or do into a metaphor?

Or is it just me?

Some days I can’t tell whether my little blogging habit has heightened my awareness of life, or simply turned me into a self-conscious, self-absorbed jerk.

When I am engaged in something that demands my complete attention, like work, tutoring, or talking with my friends and family, the “writer switch” is off. I don’t start  composing accounts of those experiences until later, if ever.

Any activity that requires less than complete focus can trigger the condition: washing dishes, walking the dog, driving anywhere alone.  (Not that it  gets me anywhere; you should see my drafts folder.)

Fortunately, I don’t go through the day narrating it in my head: “I walk briskly into World Market, intent in finding the green tea I like, and wondering again why Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry it. I love Trader Joe’s…I pause, momentarily distracted by the seasonal display at the entrance. Wait- I have things to do. Back to business.  The heels of my boots resonate against the concrete floor as I grab the tea, along with a bottle of ginger syrup I hadn’t intended to buy.  Next, I’ll  head to my store, to pick up the quilt I forgot to buy at the end of  my last shift. Checking out, I decide to drop by the garden department at Lowes’s for pansies to plant by the mailbox.  Or should I go to Home Depot?…”

If it ever comes to that, I may have to abandon writing altogether.