Yesterday I had quite an adventure and am uncertain if it was a setback or a push forward.  I drove an hour and a half to ask for the transcripts from the witch trial on which i write.  The story is almost finished and I really just wanted my peepers on the pages.  I wanted to see what actually happened as opposed to the fantasy that has piqued my curiosity for years now. 

Reality versus fantasy seems to be a theme of my life recently and I need to get a handle on the importance of both of these things.  In the past, I used to brush away any discord on the matter with the words, "three sides:  mine, their's and the truth."  But, is there something more? 

So, my book is told from a neighbor's perspective.  I want to get the details around the story just right, to give validity to the events I have determined happened, not to tell the actual tale, but to prick thought into motion warranting discussion.  And i'm going to say the word - important.  Important discussion.  

I have chosen support as my word for this year.  I want to support my writing.  And i want my writing to support me.  I have vowed to participate in a book sale and have thought about some ancillary materials to have available at my table.  I decided pins/buttons, partly because i like them and partly because it's easy.   And then I found an article about lovers in the something-before-now-century would make jewelry with images of their eyes.  I like the idea of an eye pin.  I like an idea of something emphasizing importance of perception.  I like the idea of remembering that everyone has their own eyes and sees things in their own way.   I'm making eye pins.  

So, yesterday I drove out to get my eyes on the words that were laid out before William Penn  over three hundred years ago.  I wanted to know the truth.  I spoke with three people in the museum and library and discovered the transcripts were not in the building.  They are in the University of Virginia.  Ugh.. or Yay! I haven't concluded if it's a step forward or behind. 

But I did have a wonderful discussion that furthered my thoughts on perception.  It was heavy on perception and this person with whom i spoke said  I need to know the reality, if I chose -  but more importantly it is the perception that should be owned.  And that's been my stance in the past few months.  If someone perceived it is truth, then it happened. 

There is a curiosity why one remembers in one way, and another remembers in another.  There is curiosity where reason comes into play.  If i can reason what another remembers or saw, then could I perhaps change my perception?  Of course I can.  

So, why is there so much of a disconnect between what actually happened and what one thinks happened?  

I don't have the answers to these questions.  

I keep saying I want to write something important.  I want to write something of importance.  I think it's important that those perceived to be abnormal are only viewed that way because there is a lack of truth presented to those being judged.  Maybe it's not for me to write about something important, but to write something that provokes an importance?