Grape Soda As A Writing Tool [July 2024 Lightning Strikes 02]

Here's a healthy helping of over-thinking to start your day.

ESSAY: Grape Soda As A Writing Tool

Or, Finding freedom at the car wash.

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”  

Jack Kerouac

Photo by Brooks Rice on Unsplash

I’m drinking a grape soda and it’s hot out and I’m sitting outside at the car wash and smoke from an old man’s cigarette wafts over and I take a deep inhale and I feel… free. 

Somehow this combination of things from my childhood, teenage years, early twenties, has all mixed together into some kind of intoxicating potion of youth.  Like, I’m sitting here on a super uncomfortable bench that’s leaving little hexagon marks on my sweaty legs and I want to laugh out loud.  I’m sitting here but I want to run through the water spraying from the hoses.  I want to go find some tequila and watermelon.  It reminds me of ‘summer’. 

Not just summer but ‘summer’.  And ‘summer’ reminds me of Lena because no one does it better.  ‘Summer’ is night swimming in pools that aren’t our own, picnicking on the front lawn, playing truth or dare.  Staying up all night just to solve the mystery of what the breakfast at the bar down the street is like.  (Answer:  the smell of spilled beer and vomit while you’re trying to eat your eggs is not appetizing.)

This feeling, call it freedom, call it youth, call it summer, it’s easy.  It’s simple.  I can define it in a million ways but what it is doesn’t change.  This is what I imagine writing should feel like.  Easy, simple, the instinct is clear, the idea is strong, the words come naturally and with no unnecessary adornment.   

But instead, for me when I write, it’s so much easier to be complicated.  To use too many words, too many explanations, too many thoughts - a maze is easier than a straight line.  Why?  Why is it so hard to just say it like it is?  To communicate clearly, to not get lost in your bullshit?

When I’m writing from a place that is too caught up in my mind, my anxiety, my ego… that’s when things get convoluted.  When I just write about how it feels sitting at the car wash… it’s simple.  

The virtues of simplicity have been extolled for centuries.  

Shakespeare:  “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Albert Einstein:  “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Henry David Thoreau:  “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

Steve Jobs:  “Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Michael Scott (and also the U.S. Navy):  “Keep it simple, Stupid.”

Simple is good.

So, why is it not just my tendency, but the world’s tendency it seems, to over-complicate everything? I mean, bureaucracy is one thing, but we do it even in our art.  We want to connect with others through our work and yet we send it through a labyrinth of intricacy, its potency diminishing with every extra layer that separates us from our audience. It’s like stepping forward while pulling away. Like inviting you in while I put obstacles in your path.

Do we complicate to protect ourselves from being too vulnerable?

Which brings me back to ‘summer.’  Grape soda.  Sticky bench.  Second-hand smoke.  Turns out, when I’m feeling something, it’s easier for me to express it simply than when I’m just thinking about something.  Ideas get tangled up.  Feelings just… are.

Something to remember the next time I’m writing.  

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LINK: How To Simplify Your Life

The New Yorker: How to Simplify Your Life with the 80-20-17-30-5-1-17-0.29-0-6-66 Rule

This just sums it all up perfectly, I think. Hopefully there is no paywall when you follow the link - there isn’t one for me and it’s definitely worth the click and short read.

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

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GOOD DEED: Another Dog For Your Heart

I’m looking forward to featuring other items here that have inspired me about people and life and the world, but for now, more dogs!

Introducing: CHICK HEARN #A2108856, 4 years old, 54 lbs neutered male

Video of Chick Hearn on Instagram

From the friendsofnorthcentral shelter instagram post:

Chick Hearn is a petite brindle guy who got his name when officers found him running loose at LA Live.
He was brought to the shelter (back in Oct ‘23😥) in hopes that his owner would find him, but no one ever came.
Volunteers have found Chick to be affectionate and polite. He knows basic commands and loves to play fetch! He’s also had positive dog meets at the shelter, having a gentle/dainty & push/pull play style, and has had numerous kennel mates.

Visit the shelter to meet Chick Hearn and add him to your team today!
He is also eligible for foster. Please visit link in bio @dogcoalitionla to apply to foster a dog!

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Visit the shelter to adopt!
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Tues - Fri 8-5;
Sat & Sun 11-5.
For more info ☎️ 888-452-7381 or laanimalservices.com

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