March 12, 2014

Abandoned Photography

Photo credit: Abandoned Photography 

Ahoy! The following post is a new project I’m starting on the blog in hopes of getting the creative juices flowing and connecting with other bloggers. (Fashioned after the awesome Weekly Wishes posts on the Nectar Collective blog). Every Thursday, I’ll post a picture of something, and write a short post about what it reminds me of. If you’re a blogger, I would love for you to be involved! Simply write a post with this picture explaining what it reminds you of, and link to it at the bottom of this post. (Include photo credits.) This is especially helpful for writers/bloggers to get their idea juices flowin! If you’re not a blogger/writer, feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts too! Let’s discover new blogs and create stories together :)

Initially, this picture reminds me of fear. The cars sit at the base of the coaster, and give me the chills because I know the anticipation before the climb, the slow elevation, and the inevitable drop. It reminds me of lemon slushis and hot days. Amusement park food. Watery eyes and wind.

But with the silent, overgrowing weeds all around this age-old paragon of fun, the first thing that comes to mind is the distant, tail-end of a scream, just barely. I imagine stumbling upon this roller coaster after life as we know it has ceased to exist and there is chaos all around. I imagine feeling tired as I stumble upon it, because I’m a lone traveler with no home anymore, someone who has survived the outbreak of whatever plague has eradicated humanity. I have walked for miles with nothing but whatever I can carry. I am starved, worn out, and thirsty. I am lonely, I am afraid, I am still avoiding death.

I will sit for a moment, and look at this old roller coaster. I’ll crave that childhood excitement for awhile. It won’t take long before all the memories of what a roller coaster used to mean seem like a long time ago, or a dream, because nothing so amusing can exist anymore. Although the fright this coaster may have once instilled, I’ll admit, is alive and well.

Whatever led to this coaster’s demise is likely what led to my own, and I’ll recognize this instantly. I’ll stand before it the way I’ve stood before abandoned Ferris wheels, gas stations, and stadiums, vaguely remembering their purpose,  the way each abandoned thing made me feel when it was alive, and the hollow way it makes me feel now. How tiring it becomes, seeing the previous world only in your head.

Amazing, this intersection of life that once was, and life that now is. Life left to grow without tending, to sit without maintenance, to rust.

Here’s What You Do Now

1. Write a post with this week’s picture and what it reminds you of. Be sure to add photo credits to Abandoned Photography, and a link back to this site with the button below so your readers can get involved too!

A Novel Quest

2. Link to your blog post using the blue ‘ADD YOUR LINK’ button below. Let me know if you don’t see it… (Note: All irrelevant posts will be deleted).

3. Visit the person’s blog who posted before you in the link-up. Let them know what you thought of their post! This is a pretty crucial part of this project, because it gives us the opportunity to build a community. Please, please, please make sure to encourage one another in their writing endeavors! :)

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Monique Muro

Monique is an exceedingly happy human from LA. She runs the blog A Novel Quest, and writes. A lot.

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  • http://thegoodluckknot.weebly.com Melissa Field

    I LOVE this idea! Thank you so much for doing this. I think I did it correct – linked back to you and the Abandoned photography. I’m looking forward to see what others write.

    • Monique Muro

      Me too! Thanks so much Melissa! :)