Absorbing involvement.

This is the definition I found when I looked up immersion, which is my word for the month of February. I don’t usually have a word-of-the-month, but this is a unique February. In two days, on February 1, I will disappear.

No, not like Houdini or Amelia Earhart, but as people do when they plan to be out of pocket for a bit. It’s not so unusual, this plan of mine to go poof! 

Writers call it being “in the hole” as they spend day and night chained to a desk trying to meet a looming deadline. Survivalists build a sturdy shelter in the wilderness, stock up on supplies and ammo, and live “off the grid.” Covert operatives kiss their loved ones and strap on some super-secret spy gear that lets them “go dark.” (Okay, confession: I don’t know any covert operatives, or their loved one, or if the term “go dark” is valid—I just needed a third example, and I didn’t want to use the word “vacay” in any form.)

My plan is not so dramatic. It is not dramatic at all, actually. The cause of my upcoming disappearance is simple: I was awarded a fellowship from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation that will fund a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. In celebration, and in preparation, I’ve decided to detach myself from technology for the month. At VCCA, my basic human needs (aka food and housing) will be provided by others. All I have to do is work on my writing project. I’m going to do it without the distraction—or benefit?—of email, cell phone, or Internet access.

It will be an experiment in immersion, a chance to try out some absorbing involvement and see how that works.

Au revoir!  See you again in March.