you have been meditating for 7 minutes. you go from slow-mode to deeper-mode, where you stop box-breathing and move your breath to a more consistent, natural gait. this is where your best ideas come. it is a state not unlike being about to fall asleep, where your thoughts can wander into an almost dreamlike flurry. it is slow, but with consistent forward momentum. an idea strikes you from nowhere, and in an instant, you have formed the first part of your story. the hook, that will pull in your readers long enough to hopefully grasp their attention for the few thousand words you can bring yourself to put out.

you hear a whimper from the kitchen. fuck. is she okay? you hop off your bed and rush out of your room.

“are you okay?”

“yeah. i just dropped something and got scared.”

“okay. do you need anything?”

“no.”

you stand in the kitchen.

you stand in the kitchen a little longer.

“okay. let me know if you need anything, okay?”

she doesn’t say anything.

you stand in the kitchen for a bit.

you walk back to your room.

you begin meditating. you take a deep breath in, and hold it for 4 seconds, like you learned.

you think about your girlfriend.

you try to push the thought out of your mind.

you exhale, slowly, for 4 seconds.

you wait 4 seconds, as you were taught.

you breathe in for 4 seconds.

you think about the idea you had, for a magnetic hook.

you begin holding for 4 seconds.

you remember that trying to grasp onto an idea just speeds up the process of it slipping through your fingers.

you finish holding for 4 seconds.

you begin exhaling for 4 seconds.

you think about the time you disinfected the cut on your girlfriend’s arm, wrapping it with gauze.

you try to feel it exit you, with the finish of your exhale.

you finish exhaling for 4 seconds.

you hold for 4 seconds.

you think about how you didn’t have any thoughts for the period of holding for 4 seconds.

you breathe in for 4 seconds.

you hold for 4 seconds.

you exhale for 4 seconds.

you hold for 4 seconds.

you hear your girlfriend typing on a keyboard, in the other room.

she is talking to someone else.

you think about the time you disinfected the cut on your girlfriend’s arm, wrapping it with gauze.

you breathe in for 4 seconds.

you hold for 4 seconds.

you exhale for 4 seconds.

you hold for 4 seconds.

you breathe in for 4 seconds.

you hold for 4 seconds.