Catalyst

by Rain Trueax 
 

Sometimes I wake up in the morning with a word. When catalyst flashed into my mind, I knew exactly why. I also knew what it meant. Here are two dictionary definitions.

1.  a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible
2. a person or thing that precipitates an event.

In life, there are catalysts that sometimes we don't recognize and sometimes we do.

A person comes to our house and what they say propels us to action. We have a health event that forces us to shift gears and go a new direction. Watching a movie/reading a book, suddenly we know what's gone wrong with our own lives. 

We might act without recognizing what the catalyst for the action had been. Families do this all the time. One word, a word that meant little to the one saying it, can encourage/discourage another. If it's repeated often enough, its impact can be for a lifetime. We remember our reaction to the word but maybe not why it was so significant-- the catalyst.

When we recognize what the catalyst has been, we have more control over our reaction to it. When we don't, we can be manipulated into going against our own best interests-- this happens a lot in the political realm. Politicians and political pundits are good at this. Their goal is getting votes or an action. How they get there often is using a catalytic event to trigger an emotional reaction leading to an action that might even go against the person's own best interest. 

Ads, for any product, are about finding catalysts that will trigger the desired reaction-- buy me. Again, as the potential customer, we have to be aware when it's happening as to whether the catalyst is causing a reaction we didn't want.

In my case, the word is here for me because I had been writing every day and finding out what happens as I go. This is called being a pantser. Most writers probably are a mix of being being an outliner or a pantser. An outliner lays out their whole plot before they start writing. In an extreme sense, they may have every chapter outlined for what will happen. A pure pantser starts out without any idea where the book is going. 

In my case, I am a bit of a mix. I had a very solid idea where this book will end up, but along the way, that's what I haven't known. One event triggers another. 

Writing this way requires some time between writing for thinking. A person or happening can be a catalyst for the next action. Sometimes, I won't see the catalyst for what it was until I am a few hours away from the scene. And then, there is that aha moment. I hear of those who can write 10,000 words in a day. Writing like I am means only 3-4000 at the most, or I will miss something that turns the whole story in the right direction.

Catalysts are important in life and writing. They make possible new directions. The key is seeing them, ideally when they happen and using them-- not letting them use us. 

I chose images for this blog that are all about evoking an emotion-- positive or otherwise. Images very much can be catalysts when we see a photo and think-- I want to go there, own that house, buy those clothes, marry that person, etc. Catalysts in themselves set there. They do nothing, but it's the chemical reaction that is everything.