Oh, That's Better!

Some 25 years ago I was in a car accident. I was rear ended. It

Image by David Castillo Dominici
www.freedigitalphotos.net

didn't seem to be too bad at first but a few weeks after the incident I was hurting. Six weeks later, while driving the car to the  repair shop, I was T-boned by someone running a red light. That's when the pain got worse. Yes, there are more details to the story, but this is just a preface. It turns out that as a result of the car accidents I had a cracked C5 and severe whiplash. Time moves along and the crack heals, becomes arthritic, spreads to the C6 and results in compression on the disc between the C7 and T1. Yeah, it's uncomfortable.

So, I'm sitting in the chiropractor's office the other day waiting anxiously for the doctor to come in so I can be adjusted and have

Image by farconville
www.freedigitalphotos.net

some of the daily discomfort relieved. In other words, I'm waiting to be cracked. That's when I start thinking about alignment and Dem Bones song about how the toe bone is connected to the head bone circuitously, of course. The song made me laugh out loud and that's when the doctor comes into the room and sees me laughing by myself. Oh well.

The point is that just like our spines, our lives have to be aligned. In order for there to be function and painlessness, things have to be in their correct place (see, I'm right to nag about putting stuff back where it goes). If my vertebra aren't stacked correctly, I have pain and discomfort and it is difficult to do the things I have to do let alone the things I want to do. Once I was adjusted and my peripheral vision returned, I started noticing alignment and order patterns everywhere. Yes, it is because I'm a geek. Lasagna has to be stacked properly or it's a gooey mess. The dishwasher has to be loaded the right way or the dishes won't get clean. I could go on but then I'd just be indulging my OCD.

Where it's really important is in writing. I have a wonderful reference book, Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell that has been

helpful in aligning my plot line and my sub-plot lines. If the story isn't aligned, it won't flow. If it doesn't flow, it won't read easily and that means it won't be read. During my editing process, I'm looking at ways to adjust, realign, structure my story line to be more clear and concise. The first word is connected to the second word, the second word is connected to the third word, the third word is connected to the .... Crack!