The authentic swing

The movie 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' was on my TV while I was getting ready for some appointments today, and it's a movie I've seen before and enjoyed. I'm a sucker for almost any sports movie, and the magical feel of this one speaks to me, so I had it on as background noise. But then the scene comes on when Bagger is telling Junah to forget everything but the ball and the flag -- to block out the crowd and the expectations and find his authentic swing. His authentic swing. I think that's what most of us are looking for as writers. That true note, that genuine emotion, that rare moment when the words hit the page at just the right angle and they resonate, and laugh and glow beneath your fingertips. That's what I write for--it doesn't happen every day or even every week, but boy howdy, it happens sometimes.

I felt the same way about the movie "Once"-- about a street musician and the woman he meets who collaborates with him in writing and recording songs. I cried through 3/4ths of the movie just because it portrayed the passion they had for the creative process. Making music moved them-- not all the illusive stuff that might result from that-- like fame and fortune. It knocked me down and left me skewered through and through.

I have plenty of days when I sit at the keyboard and feel as if I'm pushing a boulder uphill with my tongue. It's nice to remember that there are also days when the ground shifts and that after a nice little push from me, the boulder rolls downhill all by itself. I can't play golf and I'm a lousy musician, but every so often I can produce words that sing and swing inside my gut. What fun!