An Inner Dialog

“Why MUST you be so stubborn?  You’re in there, I know it. And I want you to come out.”

 “I don’t think I’m being the stubborn one. You are. “

 “Oh, really?  I’m trying my best, you know, but you just won’t cooperate.”

“I am cooperating, but I think you may have the wrong end of the stick here.”

“Oh?  You think so, huh?”

 “Yes, I do. The idea you have is worth pursuing, but you’re looking at it the wrong way, I think, or maybe just putting it the wrong way round.”

 “Huh?”

“What is the point you’re really trying to make? What is your angle?”

(I describe what I think I want to say. I won’t bore you with the specifics)

“So given that information do you think it’s better to start with specifics and work outward (like a wide –angle lens) or start with the wider world and move inward to the heart of the problem (microscope) like you do with your TRs (theological reflections)?”

“I guess that’s been my problem. I’m not sure which way I’m supposed to go with it. It sounded so good when I was in the shower the other morning. I tried recording as soon as I was out of the bathroom, but it wasn’t anywhere near the same.”

 “That’s part of the problem. You can’t get back what’s been released. That’s why you’re struggling. You have the image of something that existed for only a moment or two in time and now you can’t remember how you got from point A to point B. Sounds like you’ll have to come up with a better way of capturing these thoughts and saving them, even in the shower.”

 “Yes, there is that, but I can’t drag my android into the shower with me, now can I? “

“No, you can’t, but you can come up with something else. Meanwhile, what are you going to do about your problem?”

“Scrap it? Put it in the file of ‘started but not finished’? Outline it?”

“That’s up to you. How important is the idea to you?  How much do you want to do something with it?  What do you want to accomplish with it?”

“Right now, I honestly don’t know.”

“Then the answer is there. Just let me sit in the ‘ideas’” folder of your computer and if you feel strongly enough about it and have some idea of what you really want me to say, take me out and try again. That’s the best I can tell you.”

“Ok, since you’re not going to be a good little essay and write yourself, I think I will follow your advice. Into the file with you. I hope we meet again –“