The Thing About Writing by Jennifer Laffin

The thing about writing
is that it makes me notice life.

And what I notice might have gone unnoticed
if I wasn't a writer
and unremembered
if I wasn't a notebook keeper.

Things like...
     A man vacuuming his driveway
     Seven cardinals sitting together on the side of the highway
     or
     The yellowing of the willow branches in late winter.


            Being a writer
            opens your eyes.

            Keeping a notebook
            opens your memory.


I keenly search for artifacts and memories that I can
add to my notebook.

Words I overhear someone say while
in line at the deli counter.

Strange things I see like that lady with
four different colors of hair on her head in front of me at Target.

Or the way the nursing home always seems to smell
like bathroom air freshener when I walk through the front door to visit Papa.


       I record these things in my notebook
       for safekeeping.


Some will just become memories that
I can relive with a simple rereading.

Others may become sparks for stories
or other writing adventures.


Either way, this is my life -- my noticings.

And that's what I love about writing:
The noticing.