I'm So Thirsty!

by Douglas Clark

I was struck today by the terrible images of Drought that certain parts of the US and the world are suffering with. For some reason, I'm fascinated by dry lakes and desiccation. Strange perhaps, but fascinating all the same. Perhaps you may or may not be aware of the Aural Sea. Well, it's basically gone. It dried up because of human interference with its water supply. Hard to imagine draining an entire sea, but there you have it; man's capacity for destruction. 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not all gloom and doom here. Human kind is capable of great things, but when I see pictures of docks and boats sitting on a dry and dusty plain, my imagination sparks with ideas. Perhaps it's the incongruent nature of ship and desert, or a dock leading to nothing. But my mind is transported to what it was like while the water was drying up. 

What did the people do who relied on that water? 

How did they cope and deal with the loss of the life they knew?

What caused this to happen? 

These are all thoughts that race through my head. 

See, I'll use those images and the thoughts they provoke to find a story. It may be tragic that the Aural Sea is gone, and drought is destroying countless habitats. But if it sparks your imagination to do something about it, that's at least something positive. There is usually a reason behind the catastrophes and disasters of this world. Sometimes they are caused by nature, sometimes caused by man. It's up to you to find the truth and bring some good to the world because of it. 

Thanks for reading.

Questions and comments are welcome.

DouglasHClark.com

A Spontaneous Blast of Inspiration

Maybe you've read or heard about the Tsunami Ghost Ship that was floating around the pacific for the last year.  According to the article it is now at the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska.  I've talked about abandoned places recently, but just a couple of days ago I was suddenly inspired by the ghost ship events.  I came up with a story idea.  It just hit me like a ton of bricks, like so many other story ideas. 

The amazement I felt as I saw the story unfold in my mind, developing, becoming layered, intricate, interesting and meaningful, made me feel great.  That kind of inspiration doesn't always happen.  When it does, for me at least, I'm filled with an awed sense of wonder.  Really.  The idea of constructing a world in my head, with characters, events, histories, feelings, emotions, life if you will, is truly awesome.  It's quite fascinating where inspiration comes from and how unexpectedly it arrives. 

You see, I've opened myself up to the idea that inspiration can and does come from the most amazing, or most mundane of things.  Inspiration is all around us.  We just have to learn how to recognize it.  Sometimes, the full force of creative inspiration comes in the blink of an eye, other times, inspiration seems to be as rare as water in a parched desert.  But if we learn to recognize where and how inspiration comes from, that oasis in the desert can become an ocean of ideas.  I've found my next project, now all I have to do is write it.  What about you?

Reckless Beams of Light, by G.R. Exper