Monday, November 5, 2007

Coming Out of Your Shell

While walking at the park one day, I looked down to see a chestnut still inside it's green pokey shell. I picked it up carefully and brought it home. Setting it on the table reminded me of when my kids were little. We'd go for walks and look for "signs of fall" to decorate with. But this day it was just my dog and I.

I set the chestnut next to a cinnamon candle on the dining table. I contemplated whether I should break it open or not. That nice smooth brown chestnut was inside afterall, and much more festive than it's prickly covering. But I left it.

I didn't really even think about it until about a week later when I happened to glance at it. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that this was the same one I'd left there. At first I thought that perhaps my son had brought me a "real" chestnut, one of the brown smooth ones. But then I looked closer. That brown chestnut had busted out of the shell, or else the outer shell had dried up and pushed it out; I'm not sure which.

I touched the shell and then the chestnut. And when I did, the chestnut disconnected from it's shell. And that made me think; that beautiful (yes chestnuts can be beautiful) chestnut was just waiting for the perfect time to emerge. It no longer needed the protective layer. If it had stayed in that protective layer, no one and no thing could have gotten close enough to propel it toward what it was meant to be, where it was meant to be. It's growth would have been stunted. It would have been impossible to move forward. It would have been condemned to simply dream of a better future instead of actually living it. I love that.

Karen
nanowrimo word count- 6,665

2 comments:

Nate's Wife said...

Hey! Thanks for stopping by! The critique site I joined is AWESOME. Here's the address if you'd like to join. http://critiquecircle.com It's free and set up on a really cool point system, you earn points by critiquing other people's work, and you have to "pay" to submit your stories with the points that you earn. This keeps it fair for everyone. The site is a little confusing to navigate through at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's really nice. There is a wide variety of writers in a various levels from published authors to total newbie writers. I have received very valuable critiques, and stumbled across a phenomenal writer there, whose stories I just can't get enough of.

My brain is on such major burn out right now, and my parents are coming to town on Thursday. This will be an interesting race for me!! Good luck!

Karen Fisher-Alaniz said...

You are welcome. I'll check out the site when I get a chance. I think I'd prefer a face-to-face though. But we'll see. Thanks for leaving a comment!

Karen