Tag: Chicago

The summer of 2009 stands out to me because I looked out from the Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois to see the above clipper ship. The crisp white of the sails and the clear blue sky brought forth that WOW feeling. Prior to that moment there was another WOW that stands out in my mind. It also involves a ship. It was the summer of 2002. We were vacationing in the east. We hit Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; Washington D.C.; just to name a few. It was in Norfolk when I saw this aircraft carrier coming into port. The size alone commanded a presence. Sailors stood at attention on the outline of the entire flight deck around the ship. I wanted to be there. I wanted to know that feeling of standing on that deck. I didn’t know at the time that I would get that chance three years later. It was everything I thought it would be.

There are many moments in our lives that give us that feeling of WOW. Do you “collect” them? If you’re a writer you do. Use these moments in your writing. Have fun with them by embellishing them. One thing you can do is center a story around them. You are at the helm. Your mind wants to go on tangents. Let it. Let it run freely among the memories of your imagination.