A Small Tweak to the Foundation Will Yield Big Results Higher Up
A few weeks ago, I started using a little thing that’s made an unbelievable difference in how I feel.
It’s called a Neuro Ball, and I got it because my friend Joe, who works for Xero shoes, recommended it after I described some problems I was having with my feet.
Here’s what it looked like when I got it out of the box.
You can see it’s just a small rubber ball with spikes all over it. When you press down along that center line, it splits into two half balls, and there’s a small, smooth ball in the inside.
Using it is simple. You just roll your foot over it and it loosens up tight muscles, fascia, etc. You can work any part of the foot you want.
After I’d used it three times, I felt like I’d gone out and bought myself a brand new pair of feet. The expensive, luxury version. After a few more times, I realized how much my aching feet had contributed to my overall discomfort, because I was no longer feeling it. An intermittent problem with my left ankle has disappeared, and my knees, problematic for years, are working more smoothly.
Such a little thing to make such a big difference. (Remember, the leaning tower of Pisa slants at four degrees because of the foundation.)
It demonstrates that foundational improvements are important. The Neuro Ball helps my foundation — my feet — and positively affects other joints, balance, and comfort.
Sometimes when it comes to writing, a little foundational thing can make a big difference, too. Like when I decided to switch from a third-person narrator to first person. All of a sudden my main character, Lily, became more real to me, and I could writer her better. That point-of-view switch solved an issue with the story I didn’t even know I had.
Here’s to building strong foundations, in our writing and in our lives!
What I’m Reading
Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen is the first in a series featuring Molly Murphy. I’ve read the entire series several times, but I decided to go back and reread the first one, from a writer’s perspective, because I wanted to see how the author handled a few things.
When we first meet Molly Murphy, she’s running from the law, trying to escape Ireland. In fending off her attempted rape by the son of the wealthy English landowner, she’d killed him. But, in Ireland at the end of the 19th century, she would have hung for it anyway. So she did what any feisty, sensible heroine would do — she ran.
Before she leaves Ellis Island for New York City, though, she may have witnessed a real killer on his way from committing the murder of an Irish immigrant. She quickly becomes embroiled in the case.
I really like the early books of this series, more than the later ones, but they’re all worth reading.
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Notable Quotes
I’d killed an English landowner’s son. That had to be a hanging offense, even if I was just trying to preserve my honor. But then peasant girls have no honor, do they? As Justin said, I belonged to him as much as any of his farm animals.
- Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen
I chose this quote, not because it’s fun or comfortable, but because of the unpleasant reality that Bowen captures so eloquently: at that time and in that place, a young woman was simply chattel. (That’s still an attitude that prevails far too much today.)
I walked around some more and tried several other factories and shops. It didn’t take long to realize one thing. New York was not an American city. It was a collection of small Italian, Jewish, German, and God knows what else villages, all slapped down next to each other. And Germans only hired other Germans, Jews other Jews.
- Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen
Another comment on the time and place. Later on in the series, Bowen places Molly in a factory that catches fire, reminiscent of the very real fire in 1911 at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, in which 146 workers lost their lives because they were locked in during their working hours. Molly, however, is nothing if not resourceful, and in her version, she and her coworkers escape across the roof.