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Life is Camouflaged
by Beth Ann Erickson

I take daily walks. Not because I want to, but because my little Rat Terrier would act berserk all afternoon if I didn't. So every morning I snap her leash on her and head out the door.

Because I live in a small town, our route tends to be the same: We walk the parameter of our fair city - either clockwise or counterclockwise - resulting in a good twenty-minute stroll.

The unchanging sameness of each day's trek has taught me something valuable that I've adopted in my life as a writer: Life is camouflaged.

Let me explain....

When I began this daily journey around town I couldn't help but wonder if I'd soon become bored seeing the same houses, the same woods, the same roads day after day after day after day. But that's not what happened.

As Lucy (my dear puppy) and I traveled our daily path it was as though scales fell from my eyes. I began to see things I'd never noticed before.

Subtle changes my neighbors had made to their houses began to whisper for my attention. Birds I'd never seen before - bright birds like Blue Jays and Cardinals - began to appear like a developing photograph. Squirrels, muskrats, cats, raccoons, fox - all these animals live in the same town as me - and I never knew it.

So here my point: As writers it is our job to notice the things other people can't or don't have the time to see. It's our job to look at something long enough for the camouflage to disappear and for the scales to be removed from our eyes.

We have the daunting task of not only living life, but stepping away long enough to really see what's going on - in all places, and in all situations. We need to see the hidden bird, the quiet gesture of a coworker, the nonverbal communication other people miss. It's these observations that make our writing come alive.

In a nutshell, life is camouflaged. Writers need to see through that camouflage and show this real world to others.

Copyright © 2002 Filbert Publishing

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