This has been one of those years that remind me to keep everything in perspective. Having both of my children on the cusp of new lives – one a senior in college and the other a senior in high school – it has been an exciting and whirl-wind year guiding them, watching them wrestle with opportunities and disappointments, and ultimately make decisions that will shape their lives.
I have been busy with a new writing project…finally giving up on a project that I struggled with for years. I am happy to be researching and writing again. Thrilled that the characters speak to me and that I am able to create a world on paper for them to inhabit rather than the one in my head. It has been some time since I have felt this secure in my writing – it feels good. And in the meantime, a potential cloud hovers nearby… I am expecting to hear from an agent regarding the revisions to my YA historical. Part of me is fearful of what a rejection will do to my newly rediscovered passion for writing. I have been known to threaten to pull a "Sylvia Plath", to wonder what the purpose is, or to swear never to write again. Is this me just being dramatic? Yes! Is this me questioning the time, effort, and piece of my heart that I put into each of my writings? Yes! Will I do it again? Probably!
But when I watch my son dance around my kitchen at the very thought that he will soon be done with high school (enough to make anyone happy, I think), and when I hear from my daughter that she has been offered her dream job (at a salary she can actually live on), I am reminded that THIS is what is important. Making a life and loving every day. So, yes, I may be disappointed if the news from the agent is not what I would like. And, yes, it may slow me down. But, no, it will not stop me from writing because....as Robin said in our blog’s first post:“I write, therefore I am (a writer)."
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Keeping It In Perspective
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Yes, it's the journey and not the destination that matters. Easy to say, hard to live by especially when the road is paved with ups and downs. But then again, that's what makes it worth striving for.
ReplyDeleteAnd who says projects that are put aside will never begin to speak to you again? I'm glad to hear you're working on something new. That's always a good thing, definitely something worth celebrating.
PS...and you said you had nothing to write about!!
Meg: That was a beautiful post. You're right, making a life and loving every day is what's important.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I've decided to stop writing. It's getting in the way of both of those things.
Kidding! I have a feeling I'll always want to write...sometimes more, sometimes less...even though it gets in the way of damn near everything!
I guess that makes me a writer too. I mean, who else could possibly be that idiotic?
Woo-hoo! Can't wait to read a new manuscript!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Meg. I'm getting more inspired by others who've been reading my writing- it seems outsiders (you guys,some colleagues, my son) are better at identifying my "voice" than I am.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the new manuscript!