Girls Write Out
Tuesday, November 29, 2005


THE GIRL ON THE INSIDE
Have you seen that commercial for the iPod in a cell phone where a girl is walking along but her shadow is dancing to the beat of the music she's listening to? I had an experience like that this week. I'm in Hawai'i. I know, I know, someone has to suffer and do research here and it might as well be me. Anyway, my daughter and I were coming in from snorkeling so I could check out the underwater life for the book I'm working on, DANGEROUS DEPTHS. The rocks were slippery, and I lost my balance and fell in a foot of water. Have you ever tried to gain your feet when waves are tossing you in just a small amount of water? I'd just chuckled at an older woman the day before in the same predicament as I found myself in. Now here I was, at the mercy of the waves.

When did I lose that flexibility that would have allowed me to clamber nimbly to my feet? When did what little grace I had disappear in a body that had lost the ability to simply STAND? I'm still 19 in my head and spirit. Why can't my body keep up? It was just like that commerical--in my mind I saw myself leaping to my feet and barely skipping over the water to the shore. The reality was I thrashed in the waves like a beached whale.

Though I was laughing hysterically, I was a little chagrined to realize just how much the body has changed. But that's okay. Really. You're only as old as you feel, and I'm still young enough to look at the ads for sky diving and long to tr it. Or maybe try a zip line or rent a sea kayak and paddle along beside a pod of spinner dolphins. Or maybe even try parasailing. Anything is still possible in my head. And maybe that's really the reason I write the kind of books I write. It's the shadow of a younger Colleen who still believes she can do anything. And I can. It's all in the mind.
Colleen Coble  
posted at 1:04 AM  
  Comments (8)
 
 
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8 Comments:
At 5:39 AM, Blogger Deborah Raney said...

...the shadow of a younger Colleen...

Oh, wow, could I EVER relate to that! I watched a teenager almost literally FLY down the bleachers at a ballgame last night and couldn't help remember when I used to be able to do that, and then contrast it with my awkward one-step-at-a-time-hand-on-my-husband's-shoulder descent when the game was over. Sigh. Thank goodness for fiction that can take us to a place where we're still agile, graceful and charming. LOL.

 
At 8:36 AM, Blogger Diann Hunt said...

Colleen, you can do anything you set your mind to. I've never seen anyone accomplish all that you do!

Still, I do understand the changing body thing. Sunday I squatted down to talk to my granddaughters. They each climbed onto my knees while I attempted to keep myself balanced. It wasn't until my sister-in-law said, "Will you be able to get up?" that I panicked. Fortunately, before we called the Jaws of Life, my husband and two brothers-in-law (yes, it took three of them), heaved me up from my pretzeled position.

If I ever squat again, just shoot me.

 
At 9:29 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Oh, C.....you're cracking me up, but only because I can SO relate! As the big four-oh approaches, I find my body betraying me. Once a cheerleader (no sarcastic comments, please) I was once able to tumble, jump, etc. And I'm paying for the abuse I inflicted on my body now. When I go up stairs, I sound like Rice Krispies cereal--you know, snap, crackle and pop! But oh, to live on and be adventurous in my mind! THAT's where it really matters!

 
At 9:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's so hard to really sympathize with you Colleen, when all I'm hearing is blah blah blah Hawaii blah blah snorkeling. Sigh, seriously even though I'm still very young =) a few weeks ago I said something to my niece and when I turned my head slightly I saw her roll her eyes. Gasp. When did I become part of the dorky older generation who totally doesn't get it? (at least that's what preteens think)

On a lighter note. My 6 year old son thinks I'm 22. Who am I to burst that little bubble.

 
At 10:50 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

My favorite trick in Hawaii was to take a bag of frozen peas snorkeling with me. You open that sucker up and every fish within fifty feet is on top of you. Waves are fun. Just ask my mother, who watched a lifeguard in California swim out to rescue a couple of stupid kids who'd got caught in the rip tide. Guess who one of those idiot kids turned out to be?

 
At 5:46 PM, Blogger Diann Hunt said...

LOL, Sabrina!!

 
At 8:31 PM, Blogger Dineen A. Miller said...

As one who has recently hit the Big Four-O, I can totally relate! And mourn the loss of my agility. Now excercise isn't just about moving, it's about stretching. Gee whiz, who'da thunk it would be so hard?

If I could rasberry you, I would, Colleen. Hawaii...now there's a place I'd like to 'stretch' to. LOL!

 
At 10:26 PM, Blogger Rachel Hauck said...

I'm raising my hand, here. When did I start to ache all the time? I'm almost 45 and still feel seventeen in my head, and in many ways, I refuse to give that up.

So, let's live like how old we feel, not how old "we feel." ;)

 

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The Authors
Kristin Billerbeck
Kristin Billerbeck is a proud Californian, wife, mother of four, and connoisseur of the irrelevant. She writes Christian Chick Lit; where she finds need for most of the useless facts lulling about in her head.

www.KristinBillerbeck.com

Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.

www.ColleenCoble.com

Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.

www.DeniseHunterBooks.com

Diann Hunt

Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.

www.DiannHunt.com

Hannah Alexander

Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.

www.HannahAlexander.com

 
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