I recall the thrill of walking on the beach in Israel. I was
no older than four, kicking sand, when I found an ancient Roman coin.
The coin was brown with tarnish and had uneven edges. For a
second I thought it was a pebble. But a closer look showed letters, and the head
profile of some guy. The coin didn’t look like a treasure.
The thrill I felt was a realization that someone, a real
Roman person, had been there.
Writers write for the same reasons artists create. We write
because we have something to say, or we want to say something even when we don’t
know what, and because we want to leave something behind. Something that says I was here.
Wow! What an exciting find. Do you still have the coin? How, as a 4-year-old, did you know it was a Roman coin? I agree with you about the thrill of being in a place and knowing that hundreds or thousands of years ago other people (with hopes, dreams, hurts, and joys just like us) were in that same place. It always makes me feel very connected in a special kind of way.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you about wanting to leave something that says--I was here. Thanks for a good post!