Riverbed
Calia G.
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I wrote Riverbed to capture the feelings of despair, fear, and resignation that so many have felt in recent years. Passion is something to be prized, but many sacrifice passion and resign themselves to a life they wouldn't have chosen if it weren't for the forces of the world. As I grow older, I find myself doing the same. During quarantine, I let my own passion, writing, slip through the cracks as I struggled to keep up with homework, studying, and extracurriculars, all while chasing away that feeling of despair that clings to the narrative of Riverbed. While writing Riverbed, I attempted to characterize all the forces I felt pulling me away from writing as the sleepy water of a raging river, flowing not by its own accord, but other forces that push it along. While I was writing, the narrative took turns of its own, and I felt myself structuring a story around the situation, as I love to do. I invented vague villains who threw the protagonist into the river, and in some ways those villains represent life, hurling people into the world to see if they'll float. I know that others can relate to the feeling of drowning in life, sinking further away from the glimmering surface of your dreams. There's an aspect of violence in Riverbed, as the rocks pummel the character floating to the bottom of the stream, but I think of the injuries less as physical and more spiritual, as one slowly breaks away from doing what they love. I think the core feelings of Riverbed can represent a lot of situations, but this is my own interpretation of the work, the thoughts I had in mind as I wrote it. The aspect of Riverbed that is most important to me is the way it revived my love for writing, gently urging me back on the path to following my passion. I wrote Riverbed during a period of creative stagnation, letting the rocks of the river bury me, and writing this woke me up.
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Creativity is the foundation on which everything human is built. Creativity builds astounding literature, mathematical formulas, scientific hypotheses, and the basis of language. In my life, creativity fuels my escape from reality: writing. I use creativity to transport myself into imaginary worlds.
