Mental Index Cards

Ever since I read the essay Index Cards I have taken the opportunity not to carry around index cards, I am not at that stage yet, but to examine the things in life that I would jot down on a card if I did that kind of thing. I am very amused at the things that entered my mind, little beautiful pieces of life that somewhere along the way I decided were no longer important to me. The wonderful everyday aspects that join their jabbing puzzle pieces together and make my life complete are so often overlooked, their individual beauty rarely has the chance to shine through. Last weekend I saw a classmate eating a sandwich that was diagonally sliced. Something that normally would have been skipped over, I took an interest in. In my head I jotted down triangular sandwiches for lunch. Before I knew what was happening memories of my childhood that had been dormant for years awoke within me. I remembered the lunches that I used to have with my mom after a hard day at kindergarten. The memories that we shared over a PBJ as I told her that "KaWah in my cWass caWed yeWow WeWow" (substitute the W's with L's- something that I could not do at age 5) . Little triggers like the diagonal sandwich have been flooding my brain since I read Index Cards and filling my mind with ideas for some compelling and personal Creative Nonfiction.