Split Decision

An interactive diary entry

5:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.: Morning Run 

There is a certain stillness in the blue hour just before you hear the heavenly choir of everything waking up. It’s like waiting for a curtain pull, so restless and full of excitement—something is about to happen—but not even you or me could prepare for that moment. That thought alone made me wonder what had changed this time around. 

Bruderson’s Walk is the usual path you take on your morning run. It’s a quick and easy trail next to a lake with a winding path. This trail is still challenging enough for you to get a satisfying workout (and you know you’ll spot your favorite mother with her fawn).

Cat’s Cradle is a more steep and terraneous trail, it takes a little more time and sweat to get through but it’s a straight hike up and you can catch the most gorgeous views of the sunrise.

6:00 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.: Rest, Shower + Get Ready 

There is a sort of vain in staring at the split between yourself and yourself, no? 

7:45 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.:  Breakfast 

Today I had orange juice, water, two turkey sausages, two pieces of bacon, two sunny side up eggs, and two buttered biscuits. In my idle distraction I caught a glimpse at the fork etched in the lifeline of my palm and traced it over and over again with my fork. What amazing things we can discover about ourselves in the meantime. 

8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Paint

When I was little, I used to think the planes that left a stream of white smoke were because they were making more clouds. I still don’t know why that is, but I find my explanation far more whimsical and fascinating. This feeling was the focus of my painting today for the final installment of my body of work. 

12:45 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.: Lunch Break

1:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.: Paint  

Blue Period I, II, & III are a collection of my most personal paintings. Here, I told my secrets to the wind and had them carried to the ocean; I left my thoughts in the transition between night and dawn; and I watched planes arrive and depart when I looked to the sky for answers. When I stood back to admire the pieces in their entirety, I saw deep under all the existentialism and the macabre, a hue of yellow that had made its own pattern. On the surface there were the usual blues and eulogies but there was happiness trying to scratch itself to the surface too.

6:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m.: 

The rest of the evening is yours and you can choose to continue working through the night or go to sleep.

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What options did you choose?

{This post is a social and literary experiment I created that was inspired by a saying my mom used to always tell me: “It’s the choices in life we make and our attitude towards those choices.” Each option I gave holds weight in showing how we approach our life, what we think of ourselves, when and what we choose to sacrifice (or not), and whether we see life as something to live for or something we simply just do}