A simple writing prompt can lead to unremembered places--created during the London Writers' Salon Social.
An experience of dance
I never thought of myself as a dancer until nostalgia and an ache for home made me one. Like most kids in my hometown – I took Highland dancing as a kid—it was the proper thing to do here in New Scotland – aka Nova Scotia. But I didn’t take to it. Mainly it was the teacher I didn’t like. I hated her. I hated her so much I wet my bed every night—that is until my mother threatened me by telling me she would not let me go to Highland dance if I kept wetting the bed. Which I did – as the behaviour was beyond my conscious control. I was yanked from the class and miraculously, once again, had dry nights.
Strangely enough I came to dancing in Taiwan—and it wasn’t exactly Highland dancing – it was Irish dancing. My Chinese colleagues decided to watch a video of Flatley’s Riverdance and as a team building exercise – all gave it a try on the stage after imbibing the steps of the Irish.
It was never my plan to get up on the stage—but as the only foreign teacher there, and the only one with red hair – my boss pleaded with me to get up on the stage. And as much to my surprise as that of my colleagues—whatever combination of environment and genetics created —I was a natural. And I danced for the next five years in Irish pubs across Asia.
The meal
It was what I had been dreaming of—and still dream of today—a lightly toasted onion bagel from the bake shop at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok.
For four weeks no food had passed my lips, I was tethered to an IV that I pulled along behind me in the hospital corridors knowing that until I got better, this would be my only source of nourishment.
I consumed books, but those only heightened my hunger, especially The Life of Pi- I felt we were going through similar struggles although there wasn’t a tiger keeping me from my food – but a nurse who laughed at me when I could understand her rapid fire questions.
Finally, the day came – the Lois Can Eat Party—all my friends came to the hospital and one of them brought the precious bagel. The one thing that I still crave whenever I’m sick.
Something your great at
The thing I am consistently great at is procrastination. I can procrastinate for an entire hour about getting out of bed in the morning. Lay there and work my way through a few exercises, listen to a podcast and make a list of things to do once I finally do get up.
I can procrastinate over breakfast, lunch and dinner – to the point where I usually miss one of those meals every day.
I can procrastinate about writing – of course.
But my best procrastination effort was saved for my master’s thesis. Over the time span of a four-year program, I handed the final copy of my thesis into the Graduate school office, two hours before deadline, and one day before I found out I was pregnant with my first child.
