I cannot speak for all writers, but for me it is imperative to write everyday. Sometimes that means leaving a note on the kitchen to tell my world I am out to lunch.

Sometimes it means sitting in front of my computer and asking myself the hard questions.

What am I thinking?

What am I feeling?

More times than not I go to my kitchen and write the note.

Eventually I calm my mind and really address my thoughts and feelings. Usually it isn’t a very comfortable space. It is difficult to avoid myself because, obviously, I am always hanging around.

What could be so terrible with my thoughts and feelings? I don’t know. That they are mine?

My National Geographic cover this month headlines that the world is approaching 7 billion people. For some reason that doesn’t seem like all that much. I think because with budgets, terabytes, cups of ocean water, well billions seem pretty standard.

I don’t think the Earth agrees. So I started to think about how the earth might not be liking all this weight that 7 billion people are carrying on its surface. Might the earth be saying, enough people, time for some balance? So, here’s an earthquake which will trigger a tsunami, and a volcano, and all these people are messing with the ecosystem, it’s just going to cause weather issues which causes hurricanes, tornados and floods. Something a kin to spring cleansing.

Then I begin to think about how even the very nature of man contributes to the earths cleansing. Our nature to protect our own, provide for our own. Our own. It is so inclusive. The fight for “our” space has managed to diminish the population quite adequately for….ever.

And as a result we build buildings to survive the earthquakes. We build levies to withstand the floodwaters. We build shelters for bombs. We build and fortify and plan for the inevitable cleansing. Such a false sense of security as we ride the elevator to the stars.

7 billion people.

Lunch anyone?