Here we are. Sunday morning has arrived. As I look back on the week I feel calmness, gratitude and a sense of accomplishment. This week there were some difficult tasks that needed to be completed. Although they had nothing to do with writing, directly, I see their indirect effects. Doing the right thing is something that many people view as a choice. Often times, the right thing is uncomfortable and it might cause some tension between others and us. However, when you really think about it, not doing the right thing is always so much more costly than being brave and standing up for what you believe is true.

So I’ve arrived at the solution, I think…for this very tedious chapter. I’m moving forward with the necessary changes today and tomorrow I will move on to another section of the book. The first section of the novel will follow this pattern: Chapter One-Gabrielle, Chapter Two-Kelly, Chapter Three-Jonah, Chapter Four-Ian. The reader will have both sides of the two stories in the beginning of the novel and I believe that having the chapters set up in this manner will help keep me focused on the story I wish to tell. Lives Lived has a few sections that should be in another novel. There is no need to cram every single literary idea I’ve ever had into one book. There will be more books, characters and themes to write about.

People often ask me what Lives Lived is about. I hesitate and ponder exactly how to explain what I’m writing. Well, I finally have the right answer and the fact that it fits into one sentence is a great sign. I have not been able to summarize the novel in one sentence before this point. The past month, even though I have been busy, stressed and often stuck in the narrative, what the novel is truly about has come to me. So, here it is, the sentence that describes what Lives Lived is about:

Lives Lived is about the intersection of lives and the choices that drive us away from some people, and towards others.

That's my official, encompassing statement but to elaborate on some of the themes, if more information is requested....Lives Lived is about distance created between people by the natural progression of time and the evolution of individual thought. It’s about that moment in the morning, when you wake up next to whomever, and somewhere in your subconscious the message of he/she is not the one or he/she is the one, plays out in your actions and words. You might not consciously know that you’re doing that but it happens all the time. If you try to live a lie, you will be only as successful as your subconscious allows you to be. Those fleeting looks of contempt, disregard, desire or love will reveal the truth even if you aren’t aware of these revelations. There are some friendships and relationships that are built on an unspeakable plane of understanding. There are relationships that live on even when the ties that bond are tested with distance, time and the introduction of others. Those are the friends and lovers who show up on the doorstep of your unfamiliar house and are able to walk through your hallways, without being shown the right way to go. We all have these types of relationships. The few people in our lives we are willing to risk everything for and the slightly more plentiful group, whom we are willing to risk almost everything for. Knowing the difference is priceless. If someone could quantify the weight of love they would provide the world with the answer to our greatest secret.

With that said, I am very excited to get to the writing and reading today. It’s 10:40. I have a good 4 ½ hours I can dedicate to Lives Lived this afternoon. I’m off to my fantasy world.