Blog #5 - An Unexpected Visitor

After spending hours digging around in the soggy remnants of what was once an art exhibit worthy,
wall-wide collection of interactions, I had finally managed to save a few photos and stories and placed
them in a box in the top of my closet.


Even though everything I had been working on for the past year was completely destroyed, I couldn’t
help but try to save it.


It was my challenge and goal to meet someone everyday and I pushed myself to do it so that I could
slowly escape the confines of the box I had put myself in. That was all gone now, and with it, my sense
of self. Somehow, through all of these complete strangers, I found a piece of myself in each of them.


I stared blankly at the emptiness of the demolished wall before realizing George was standing in my
doorway, not registering that I had left it open when I entered.


“Hey Cleo, I’m rounding up people still in the building to go to the library. There’s supposed to be some
kind of event there, might be a nice pick me up you know?”


I wasn’t really one for big public events, but something told me to go, so I did.


To my surprise, this event turned out to be Ryan Lochte’s Ted Talk, and how he ended up in this
cursed town I’m not sure, but I have to say I was very impressed with what he had to say.


One part really resonated with me the most.


“A lot of people didn’t get to see how I felt after the situation. People got to see the cleaned up version
of me that I quickly created to stay composed for interviews and clean off my name in the media, but
no one really got to see what I was like at my lowest point. You see, swimming was me and I was
swimming. I lived for swimming and dedicated every day of my life to it. I didn’t know how to explain my
identity without mentioning swimming. Once I was forced to stop, I can’t lie, it was one of the hardest
experiences I have had to deal with in my life. I questioned who I was, if I could still be me and not
swim, and how I had reduced myself to only become one thing. I relied on swimming to define my
sense of self, and without it I was powerless…”

My “swimming” was my wall. I found myself tearing up at his words, realizing that I was in the exact
same situation he was in. What started as relief quickly turned into fear and the revelation that I
would have to redefine myself without the comfort of other people.

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2019 at 7:15 AM

    “My “swimming” was my wall. I found myself tearing up at his words, realizing that I was in the exact same situation he was in. What started as relief quickly turned into fear and the revelation that I would have to redefine myself without the comfort of other people.”

    Questions: What was this “wall” exactly?
    What were the soggy remnants from (the storm?)?
    Why does your character believe the town is cursed?

    Clarification: It is unclear what your character has been working on for the past year.
    Is your character and George friends at all or is there any relation to one another?

    Suggestions: Provide more context as to what is bringing this character such distress.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2019 at 7:17 AM

    Good thing: the soggy art museum is an interesting setting.
    Question: What is she going to do next?
    Clarify: it is her art that was ruined right?
    Suggestion: Continue the water motif: soggy, swimming

    ReplyDelete

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