Showing Up for October Sky, October Theme by Tamera Wissinger

In preparation for this month’s October Sky theme, I recently set out to film sunset on the bay. I didn’t have a specific plan for what to write. In truth, I didn’t plan to film the sunset until I was on the dock doing it – let’s be honest, it’s not the most stunning sunset ever filmed. For some reason, though, I was drawn to the water, I-pad in hand. All I had to do was start to film and try to hold still while the Earth spun me away from the sun. So I did.  

Focused on my mission, I didn’t realize that a magnificent bird was about to fly into the scene until it was already there. I guarantee that if I had set out to film this heron, the shot would have been choppy – if I had been able to capture it at all. 

Listening to my intuition allowed me to simply be there to have that “right place/right time” moment.

Woody Allen is credited with saying, “Showing up is 80 percent of life.” I think it’s true, especially in art, and in particular in writing. It takes trust to show up to write even when we do have a plan, but especially when we don’t know what happens next. October Sky month was a good self-reminder to be an author who “shows up” and holds still while the Earth moves, ready to capture whatever images fly into view. I wish you all many opportunities to show up and create “right place/right time” moments of your own.