Carpe Diem

Last night, I was riveted to my TV set, watching the horrible aftermath of the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan. The most incredible footage was of the tsunami that hit immediately afterward. Cars, houses, lives, all swept away before anyone realized what was happening. One minute, someone was traveling to work, oblivious. The next minute, an earthquake hit, a life was over. No warning, no time to prepare.

One of the first thoughts that came to my mind was, "Wow. It can all be taken away in the blink of an eye." For any of us. A tornado, a house fire, a car accident, a fast-progressing disease.

I don't mean to get all morbid with this post, but the Japan situation is on the world's mind right now, and it's on mine. How does this apply to writing? you might ask. Well, I don't ever wish to elevate the importance of writing to a human tragedy, or to imply that writing is nearly as important as people's lives.

But -- when I do shift my focus to writing, with the Japanese tragedy still looming in my thoughts, it does make me think, "Seize the day." With everything. With jobs, with relationships, and yes, with writing. We never know when our time will come, how much time we have left in front of us. How many years of writing we'll have.

So, we should seize today. We should start that novel now instead of months or years from now. We should ramp up the query letters to agents or revise a book that needs revising.

Today is not too late. But tomorrow might be....