What Gets Me Dancing
Confession: I’ve been too nervous to post anything to my blog in a while. Nervous that my thoughts are trivial, my writing mundane, or my mission vague.
Confession 2: When someone marks my book as their current reading choice on Good Reads, a website for readers, I have been known to stalk their progress in hopes that they leave a review afterwards.
Last week I saw that a fellow Boulder person, who I do not know personally but recognize the name, had picked up my book to read. Today, this was his review on GoodReads:
“Powerful read. Cyclist/triathlete or not, highly recommend. Very good writing that allows the reader to really follow along Adelaide's crash and continued recovery. The first couple chapters where Adelaide goes into detail about her injuries are intense. Having personally ridden the road where she was hit multiple times makes me recognize how close many cyclists have probably come to having a similar outcome. Kennett is a great partner throughout the entire book. While I originally thought that this story would be about a comeback and a return to happiness, Adelaide makes it clear that each day brings different challenges but she is able to get through them with support from others and learning from her history. Adelaide seems like someone who does not enjoy sharing details about mental health and feelings which makes this even more moving.”
Upon reading this review, and not unlike a JUCO football player who scores a touchdown, I promptly ignored all work in order to complete a victory dance to the song Rockstar by DaBaby and Roddy Ricch. Book sales are actually not that inspiring. Of course, people need to read the book to enjoy it, but I wrote the book to make people think about mental health, safety on the roads, community, and our humanity. A book review that confirms I hit some of my targets, that makes me buzz for hours and sometimes days.
Creative outlets are a conversation. Often we consume media without considering what it took to produce it, myself included. However, if you really enjoy a book, indie film, photography, etc. don’t be afraid to tell the person how their work made you feel. The more happy kitchen dances that happen, the better the world will be.