Still Waters

Still waters run deep.

That’s how I think about Outer Life; placid on the surface, swirling about below.

You can’t see it, but I’ve been a whirling dervish this year, shattering my life, putting it back together again, scrambling to put out fires, drilling deeply into my relationships, channeling my newfound wanderlust into places I’ve never been, systematically studying the human condition, siphoning so much information out of hundreds of books, essays and articles that my hats no longer fit, all the while accumulating interesting life experiences at such a rapid clip that I’ve had no chance to jot them down.

I have no time to write when my life is exciting, plenty of time to write when my life is boring. I guess the challenge of writing is to resurrect the exciting when everything else is boring. I hope to face that challenge again soon. I’m bored with all the excitement, excited when I contemplate boredom. I need quiet. Maybe then Outer Life will start making noise again.

Next week I will be in Vermont, chasing the leaves and a dream. Is Vermont a state of mind, or is just a state of the union? By this time next week, I hope to know.

Until then, as my wildly out-of-control life lurches in yet another direction, Outer Life will remain peaceful and quiet.

As you contemplate this, remember that still waters run deep.

Or maybe they’re just stagnant.