Accident: A Wake-Up Call to Priorities

Greetings,

Alexander had an accident. This morning in the kitchen he slipped and cracked open his head on the stone stairs. He was bleeding down his back so we dropped everything and rushed him off to the hospital immediately. At the ER he got an X-ray and exam and luckily everything turned out alright. Despite a deep cut (2 stitches) and slightly more gray haired parents the brave boy bounced back at the Starbucks at the hospital, where we spoiled him rotten for the next half hour with cake, Spongebob magazines and juice.

Now I'm back home again and processing the events of the morning. Having writer's block (or rather creative block as I knew what to write, I just didn't want to do it) seems stupid now. Because when you see a loved one in an accident, blood dripping down their clothes, your priorities reboot. Nancy for instance had been looking at going to a beach for Songkran (Thai festival in April), but balked at the steep prices and wanted to settle for a cheap local beach rather than a more exotic (and pricey) one. On the way back in the taxi from the hospital she said: 'Life is too short, I think we should go to a really good beach'.

And she is right. It's only when you are confronted with the inevitable unreliability of life's events hurtling towards you do you start seeing things in a more balanced light. Who knows how long we'll still be in Thailand? One year is planned, but that says nothing. I've had no work since December and Nancy is suspicious of the Red Cross laying off workers prematurely. We're also still in good health, but like the accident today showed us: any moment the dynamics of your family can be turned upside down. What if Alex had ended up with a skull fracture? Or paralyzed? These are not things you think about on a daily base. But when your life is no longer blessed with a healthy, fun environment, one that supports the relatively low cost of living while not having a job, where will my time and energy be spent then?

So I guess what I'm saying is, I 've come to the realization that I am blessed with time to write now and I should not waste it. The accident was a wake-up call to my priorities. I need to straighten myself out and follow the one advice that I've read so far in various 'How To Write' books:

KEEP WRITING 

No matter what you write. Even if it's drivel. Random things. Trivial observations. On paper, napkins, notebook, iPhone...whatever. Write, write, write. I write this blog, sure, but as you read yesterday: I even make excuses for that. No more excuses. So. Here's to another blog. Down the hatch. Bottoms up. Stick with me. We'll end up somewhere. The countdown is counting after all.

P.S. I just read Neil Gaiman's 'Smoke and Mirrors' and there's a story in there that you have to read to 'get' what we're writing about. It's called 'Snow, Glass, Apples'. Try it.