Don't Get Comfy. Life Always Has A Spectacular Plot Twist

But it also makes way for the best comeback stories.

This is an actual watch I own. It does nothing but remind me that the time is NOW.

Do you ever check the About pages or profiles of writers you enjoy reading?

I’ve been publishing on Medium for several years and I’ve received SO much random feedback about my profile blurb over there.

It says, “Write like no one is reading because it might be true,” and I’ve always received fun and positive comments about it.

Occasionally, I also click on other writers’ profiles. Not all of them light a fire but one day I found one that made me speculate more than usual.

In her profile, she referred to herself as:

“A free spirit looking to write her way back to the ocean.”

For me, that simple blurb painted the dreamiest, most wanderlusty picture imaginable.

I immediately envisioned her all alone in a rustic, wooden boat out at sea. She was drifting off into the sunset with a notebook in one hand, a pen in the other, and a tarnished brass telescope in her lap.

What I had imagined was very “Life of Pi” but without the hangry tiger.

Where was she going? I guess she’ll know when she arrives.

That single snippet of text in her profile made me curious about her life story.

Clearly she’s been in a love affair with the ocean at some point in her life. I wanted to know what took her there in the first place, what dragged her away, and how she’ll find her way back.

© Image by K. Keller

Where would I write my way back to?

That writer’s profile inspired me to think about where I’d write my way back to if I could. So many places and points in time come to mind.

For starters, I’d write my way back to genuine happiness if it was a real destination one could arrive at. But life inevitably has other plans, whether you agree to the terms or not.

Never in a million years would I have guessed I’d transition from footloose and fancy-free travel writer to all-star grief writer, literally overnight. Talk about a plot twist.

But what I have learned is just like the cliché says: Happiness isn’t a real destination, it’s a journey. We can absolutely live in the past and the present at the same time, just by writing words that breathe life into our moments.

I believe the technical term is called Being Alive.

When this post idea popped into my head I remembered that I had already told the story of where I’d like to write my way back to. I published it six months ago.

You can read it here.

Re-reading that story felt a little gritty in my soul. But that’s the beauty of writing. You can literally write your way to and from anywhere, at any point in time and the story will still be about YOU.

All you have to do is start.

Once it’s on the page you’re free to forget about it and leave it where you dropped it. You can abandon the past and present if you choose to, and head straight for the hills. Who knows, your future could be right over the next one.

If you write consistently as life happens, you eventually realize you’ve created a giant catalogue for yourself, which is ultimately where the cool stuff is tucked away in plain sight.

You’ll discover that everything you write about is inherently YOU…even if it’s not the same you existing in this very moment.

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Notes on the feature image above:

It’s a photo I snapped of my wrist wearing a faux timepiece from Steal Time Back. Their pieces are designed to remind us that the time is always NOW.

I seriously wish they had an affiliate program because I KNOW y’all are about to go buy one. You can just thank me for introducing you to the coolest (non)watches ever.

If you could write your way back to ANYWHERE, where would it be? Why not actually write it and tag this post? Pass it on!