Absolutely WRITE

Tonight I can write so many lines... (that's a play on some Pablo Neruda poetry)

I have been greatly inspired by this artist that I met up with yesterday. I met her at a party where she told me about her peripatetic project in Cairo. I asked her if I could walk along with her, and write about it as an article.

So just from meeting her at a party, I had an idea for an article. And walking with her has taken me down so many avenues of thought already, although it was only yesterday that we walked together.

I also realized that much as she breaks out of her ken by walking with different people, I break out of mine through my job as a journalist. I write about people and experiences I have never known before, and my job forces the structure of my approach. I go, I question, I find out, and I write. And like her, I have had accompaniment on all my journeys; in my case, a more or less constant one: my editor, Joe. And Joe has often pushed me to go at a faster speed, or to go beyond my imposed self-restrictions, basically beyond my set route or map to discover newer terrain, just as Amira discovers new places and experiences the city anew with people she goes with.

I was also thinking about how I get ideas for writing my articles. I remembered that while attending another concert yesterday as well, I sat next to this bunch, and I ended up eavesdropping on their conversations. Their comments will no doubt make their way into my writing as they did in my observation of the event. And the were also talking about Cairo Ultimate - a frisbee sport group which I then looked up on facebook, and then pitched to another editor as a story for an article.

It is funny how comments, conversations, and the stuff of everyday life makes its way into your work, and your writing. As is right. Absolutely!