This is a blog meme.  When this was passed on to me by the lovely, and inspiring, L. M. Stull, I had absolutely no idea.

“A meme is a self-propagating unit of thought spread from one host to another.”

For bloggers, memes can provide insight into the personalities of other writers that you wouldn’t necessarily find in their writing.

When I understood what a meme was, I was intrigued.  There are many things that writing is like for me.  For instance, my first thought ran to “writing is like…a box of chocolates…”  It may sound silly, but it actually made sense to me.  The chocolates, you see, could represent genres, or writing styles.  But, I digress (and am now under a serious craving.)  On to my second thought.

Writing is like…

… a scrabbling spider burrowed deep within your skull.  It feels its way across the fissures and bulges in your brain, firing neurons here and there.  It’s looking for something, but you don’t know what it is exactly.

Tiny feet grope and pick their way as it searches for what it wants.  Tick, tick, ticking across your brain.  You can ignore it, of course, as I did for many years.  Distractions help, but it is always there, under the surface, tickling the senses every now and then.  Only through sheer determination can you hold steadfast, disregarding its light touch.  Occasionally, you may allow yourself to dwell on its desire, its need.

Fine threads of spun silk are weaved across your brain, an intricate delicacy that is deceptive in its nature.  The spider keeps crossing back and forth, busy at its task.  Though you may choose to ignore it, it never stops.  A net is built, slowly tightening inside your head.  Until the pressure grows so great, so complex in its simplicity, that the choice is taken from you.

No longer can you sweep it away.  No longer can you refuse that which is being forced upon you.  You have to find release.  You have to let it out, let it go, because that is the way to redemption.  It is the only way.

You draw the sheet of paper towards you, and reach for the pen.  Your hand is slightly shaking.  Slowly, you scratch out the first word, then the pen begins to move faster.  The pen flies across the paper, and you are helpless to stop it.  This is what the spider needed, the release it sought.  It’s net was not built to imprison the thoughts, but to channel them out through a different path.

Unable to contain the joy long forgotten by placing your thoughts on paper, you grin as you continue on.

The spider rests.  Until it feels it is needed again….

 

I must pass this meme on.  It’s the spider, you see.  I must do its bidding, lest it begin ticking across my brain again.  Thus I pass this on to a couple of truly talented ladies who will understand.  At least, I hope Jennifer Gracen and Karen DeLaber will understand.  Perhaps they have spiders of their own…