The Day I Nearly Died

Writing last week about the WOW moment (the night that triggered my writing journey) brought up many happy memories. It was fun to look back at old journal entries from the first days and see how my writing has changed. Reflection is an important part of the creative journey - there is much to learn from each step.

Even though I started writing daily after my WOW moment in January 2022, I made the journey official & public on February 1st. On the same day of pursuing my passion & stepping onto the path, I faced my first challenger: FROZEN WATER in the concrete jungle.

I came close to losing my life.

This is a TRUE STORY:

Tuesday, February 1, 2022 ~ I woke up well-rested and ready to embark on this new journey. I wrote a journal entry, a few notes on story ideas, and my first tweet, which became my pinned tweet for nearly a year:

I was over the moon - I took the first step onto the path! A cold and snowy step, but a step nonetheless.

After a long work day, and still on a high from writing, I went outside for a leisurely walk. My husband and daughter joined me.

On our way home, we approached a major intersection when a huge chunk of ice fell off the top of a building. It hit the sidewalk less than a foot away, in front of me, with a huge THUD. If I had taken one more step within that second it would have landed on my head.

I was stunned at first, looking around and concerned about the woman in front of me. She was in front of the ice bomb and turned her head to look back at the mess on the sidewalk. When she looked up and asked me if I was OK, it was only then that I started to process how close it was to hitting ME.

Did this frozen water attack mean more than being in an odd place at the wrong time? Or was it the wrong time? Was it a sign?

My first round of thoughts were taken up by “poor me” lines such as:

• My life is MEANINGLESS.

• Why bother with my dreams if they can be taken away in seconds?

• Somebody is out to get me.

• The sky is falling so stay indoors.

• I hate… stuff…

• And so on.

None of those thoughts stuck, thankfully.

It also didn’t feel natural to take on the uber-happiness approach of:

• I didn’t die - I am invincible!

• Nothing is going to stop me now.

• Somebody out there is looking out for me, wink-wink!

• Winter is FUN!

• Boy, do I love… stuff…

Other random unsolicited advice and quote-worthy thoughts ran through my “not-cracked-open” brain:

• Live life in the present moment.

• Be grateful for all that you have now, your work isn’t done yet!

• This is a sign for things to come… like ice cream?

• Stay on the path, stay the course. You can do it! (Do WHAT? Who cares if you can do IT!)

• Get over it; it’s just freakin’ ICE, man!

• Happiness is… not dying.

• And lots of quotes about (something/someone beyond) protecting me and loving me to bits.

The attack on my life did not deter me from writing the next day. I journaled about the experience on February 2nd, trying to settle my thoughts around the possibility of being injured or dead, and decided to make myself laugh:

I took the mixed emotions, threw them into a blender, and poured them into words as I kept writing.

“They” say the first step is the hardest one to take when getting started. In my experience, the hardest part was determining whether or not to take the next few. Many life events can easily make you stop, spin around, pause, or become frozen along the creative path. Be sure to truly assess all your emotions before feeling stuck or lost right at the start of your journey. Freewriting in a notebook or journal is a great way to acknowledge feelings and fears, see various perspectives, stimulate ideas, and help determine how to get unstuck for the next step.

Seven days into my writing journey, I watched a sunrise from my window. I loved watching the first bit of sunlight peeking over the buildings and the clouds from my window. The sun is a beautiful part of the day, regardless of the season. This sunrise reminded me how grateful I am to be alive and able to continue this new creative adventure.

I was also nervous about how warm the sun was… beware of falling ice!

Pursuing your passion can be deadly at times. Stay safe, fellow creators.

Naddy / Nadine