If I didn’t know the imagination was powerful before, I sure do now!
I am taking a class about research, something I am comfortable with and enjoy very much. The subject I was given to research was pandemic viruses.
Everything was fine until I came across a plethora of articles about the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed somewhere between 50 million and 100 million people. For whatever reason, that particular pandemic made my imagination kick into overdrive. I felt suddenly sick. With the flu, no less.
The symptoms hit me like a ton of bricks. Stuffed up nose, upset stomach, feverish, and that all over feeling of blah. The more I researched, the worse I felt. By the time I had a sufficient amount of research I felt my best bet was to call it a day (even if it was only 9:30 am) and go to bed. So I wrote out my findings, posted my assignment, and trudged downstairs to get a pre-nap dose of vitamin C.
I never took the vitamin C. Within two minutes of posting my research, all my symptoms were gone. Not a sign of fever, not a sniffle, nada.
Yes, the imagination is an amazing thing.
Note to self: Never, never, never write a horror story or a thriller. Never!