Writing is like hula hooping because it is a cyclical process. It is good exercise; and when you do it in public, people will stare, start a conversation, and, most likely, will say something like “Oh, I could never do that!”
“You could if you tried,” I counter, circling my hips without a pause.
Writing is… Writing is… and around we go again.
Writing is… Writing is… and around we go and go.
A hula hoop has a few requirements to be a good one. The one I have was purchased at a music festival, but that is not a necessity. Sizes matters, or so they say. An appropriate size for your hula hoop is that it should come up to the top of your tummy when standing on end. Writing demands a large enough imagination to stand up to tall tales and short attention spans alike. Thick hoops are easier than thinner hoops; just like writing with thick, juicy details makes you want to keep reading and follow where it leads.
Another essential quality of a hula hoop is that it be weighted properly. The one I have has curtain weights secured inside and that allows it to flow around my revolving waist like the ripples out from a raindrop. Writing needs to be weighty enough to speak to today’s issues. Humor and fluff are fun and can provide motivation for some writers. However, the weightier writing is what changes ideas, opinions, and, maybe, the world. Writing, like a quality hula hoop, needs to carry enough weight to get the job done.
Writing is… Writing is… and around we go again.
Writing is… Writing is… and around we go and go.
You can get a hula hoop just about anywhere. They are figuratively a dime a dozen. Don’t waste your time or money on the cheap flimsy ones though. You’ll live to regret it. This is how I feel about much of the hullabaloo I see in mainstream avenues for the written word. I see a huge, lucrative business of writing about fashion, the latest gadget, celebrity “news.” Don’t waste your time or money on flimsy writing. You’ll live to regret it.
Anyone can hula hoop. Believe me; it’s true! My friend from college does ballet leaps and turns while swiveling her midsection as if her life depends on it. I don’t claim to be able to do such choreographed hooping, but that doesn’t discourage me. I may never be able to pirouette whilst hula hooping and I’m okay with that. I can still practice. I can still have fun. This is how I feel about writing. While I may dance word circles around some, there are others that leave me in their written dust. This makes me no less a writer; just as my friend’s artsy hula hooping holds no bearing on my hooping aspirations. We all hula hoop to our own rhythm and writing is no different.
Writing is… Writing is… and around we go again.
Writing is… Writing is… and around we go and go.