I am reminded that I have not done a blogpost in awhile. What to write about? Perhaps my most recent adventure (tonight) into a most hated realm. I have decided that the opposite of writing is plumbing. Please allow me to elaborate.
Writing is the free flow of ideas, the expression of imagination. Plumbing is stagnant water, standing in the sink, ever so slowly trickling down the drain.
Writing is putting words on paper, studying them, tweaking them, moving them about until they sing! Plumbing is about looking under the sink, at the plethora of pipes and fittings, and knowing, that if you disturb them in any way whatsoever, they will never again function properly.
Writing is a trip down the rabbit hole to new worlds, new adventures. Plumbing is pulling out that horrid tool called the “snake”, uncoiling it and forcing it to writhe through the muck until way is clear. I hate snakes!
Writing is sitting at your computer, artfully arranging words, smiling at your efforts. Plumbing is four trips to the hardware store and getting the wrong things, watching the clerk smirk when you keep coming back.
Writing is finishing that last line, reading it over, sighing in quiet contemplation with a lump in your throat because you got it just right. Plumbing is tightening that last fitting, turning the water back on, and it spite of your best efforts, watching dumbfounded as multiple leaks appear.
Writing is pushing yourself away from the keyboard, satisfied that you have accomplished what you have set out to do. Plumbing is sitting on the floor,  hours past sunset, pounding on the drain with a pipe wrench, laughing maniacally, cursing the very existence of those systems designed to transport water. A modern convenience…Hah!

If you are a writer, perhaps someday you may be interviewed by a person who fancies themselves to be clever.  Perhaps they will ask you an abstract question just to see how you will answer. If they should inquire of you “What would you imagine to be the opposite of writing?” You may answer without hesitation – “Plumbing. Plumbing is the opposite of writing.”