Laura Smith Writer

The Treadmill: you all know where this one is going

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It has been snowing / raining for a week here in the beautiful Berkshires. This has had a huge effect on part of my daily spiritual practice, running. The even rhythm of feet on pavement, the time alone with Spirit, and breathing in fresh air seems to keep me sane during any life situation. There are many people out there who haven’t encountered my wrath solely because I take the time to run in the morning. This week it had been a few days, the snow, the streets filled with gushing water and careening cars kept me from my normal routine (it does seem to take a lot to keep me on an even keel.) So I decided to go to the gym and log in my miles on the treadmill. I really had good intentions. However I started to feel trapped around mile 3, and by the 4th I was counting down the tenths, feeling my anxiety level raise. This does not usually happen when I run. The treadmill for me was similar to my life before sobriety and entrance into a semi spiritual lifestyle. Ten years ago I was running to get somewhere but never actually arriving at a destination. I was trapped by an unhealthy lifestyle, thinking that I would actually get somewhere, and then experiencing despair when I didn’t. Today, despite the incredible load of work I have heaped in my bowl, I am extremely grateful for the life that I am living. I have an amazing family, network of friends, home and education. The snow sits on the trees creating a magical kingdom that glistens. I have a coffee, a few free minutes and this laptop on which to write. I am no longer on the treadmill.

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● About Me

I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends. 

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