It is a delightfully windy day. Fallen leaves chase each other across my yard and down the street, twisting and turning at the whim of the breeze. One lone tree still holds tightly to it's yellowing leaves, steadfastly refusing release. Twirling in their tethered dance, those leaves reach for freedom, not knowing the cost.
The screen door beside me bangs and howls in the wind, fighting the lock that holds it fast. Out back, the wooden shed's locks are not so strict, and allow rebellious doors to fly on creaking hinges, back and forth with abandon - yet neither are they free.
I suppose to authentically write teenagers, it helps to have been one and also to have been on the other side having raised a few. But teenagers also get a bad rap. Don't we all at some point in our lives want freedom from what restricts and binds us? Do we watch others, and covet their experiences?
The more I observe others and talk to them about their lives, the more I am grateful for my own trials that tether me to my life, yet make it my own. No one's life is free from trouble, disappointment, or stumbling blocks. When I read books and write them I have to remember this truth. If I am to be honest with my readers and true to my characters their lives will not be idyllic.
But life is what we make of it, how we deal with those trials and setbacks. We can dance our tethered dance, yearning to be free, or we can enjoy the feel of the breeze and the beauty of the dance while it exists, while it allows us to embrace our challenges and make them strengths.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Happy Accidents
I have experienced lately some wonderful "happy accidents." I'll call them blessings. I recently found it necessary to change one aspect of my book. During some brain storming with my daughter about how to adjust the plot we came across some hidden meanings within a character's name. Those meanings lent themselves perfectly to the needed changes. All things came together, just as they needed to.
These "happy accidents" are certainly not the exclusive right of writers, but they happen to us as we go about our day. We can't make it to the store one day, only to find the item we were looking for went on sale the next day when we were finally able to go. Or even looking at more mundane matters - my child may not have made it quite to the toilet before throwing up, but at least he wasn't still in his bed in the midst of dozens of stuffed animals and toys. (That would not have been fun at 1 in the morning!)
This journey of life is full of challenges; I won't deny that. But there are many things along the way that make things bearable if not better. For those things I am grateful.
These "happy accidents" are certainly not the exclusive right of writers, but they happen to us as we go about our day. We can't make it to the store one day, only to find the item we were looking for went on sale the next day when we were finally able to go. Or even looking at more mundane matters - my child may not have made it quite to the toilet before throwing up, but at least he wasn't still in his bed in the midst of dozens of stuffed animals and toys. (That would not have been fun at 1 in the morning!)
This journey of life is full of challenges; I won't deny that. But there are many things along the way that make things bearable if not better. For those things I am grateful.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Life is a Journey
Today's blog is actually about my blog. Just over a year ago I started down a new path - being a writer. Don't get me wrong, I had always been a writer at heart, for as long as I can remember. But never before had I chosen writing as a career. It has been a wonderful and enlightening year.
Part of that journey has been this blog. I first started it for two reasons. Reason #1 is that it's just something you do these days to get your name out there and promote what you do. Reason #2 is that the act of writing something, this blog, got my fingers moving and my thoughts flowing. By the time I was done blogging I was ready to start writing on my book. While I have written much over the course of my life, I had never written all the time, consistently from day to day. There had never been a need before.
So, now a year later I need to stop and examine my reasoning. Reason #1 is still valid today, but Reason #2 is no longer necessary. When I sit down to write, I am usually ready to hit the ground running, as they say. Given that understanding, I have cut back to blogging once a week.
But I also reevaluated Reason #1. I was recently reading about blogging for writers. The point was made that you need your blogs to have a point. Initially the point of my blog was to catalog my writing journey, but I believe now that my point is actually much broader than that.
I am turning 50 in a few weeks, and despite that, I started a new career for myself just one year ago. I have learned so much about writing and life in general this past year. Isn't that what life is all about? It's about what we learn along the pathway of our experiences. I'm not going to change the name of my blog, because it is about "my crazy writing adventure." But it's really about all of the crazy adventures we pursue in this life.
Life is a journey. What are you learning along the way? What am I learning? How does that shape what we do and who we are? These are questions for everyone, not just writers. I may take the things I learn or observe and use them in my writing, but someone else could take those same learning moments and apply them to their parenting or teaching or artwork. Maybe by observing the patterns in nature a computer scientist will see how to organize his or her latest program. (Fibonacci numbers, named for the mathematician who wrote about them, mimic patterns in nature. I use them when I make quilts, to make them more pleasing to the eye.)
So, from here on out, think about your journey and I'll think about mine. Then as I blog about those thoughts maybe they'll echo familiar to you, and we'll see that we're all really on the same great amusement ride where our vehicle is the earth and the ride is titled life.
Part of that journey has been this blog. I first started it for two reasons. Reason #1 is that it's just something you do these days to get your name out there and promote what you do. Reason #2 is that the act of writing something, this blog, got my fingers moving and my thoughts flowing. By the time I was done blogging I was ready to start writing on my book. While I have written much over the course of my life, I had never written all the time, consistently from day to day. There had never been a need before.
So, now a year later I need to stop and examine my reasoning. Reason #1 is still valid today, but Reason #2 is no longer necessary. When I sit down to write, I am usually ready to hit the ground running, as they say. Given that understanding, I have cut back to blogging once a week.
But I also reevaluated Reason #1. I was recently reading about blogging for writers. The point was made that you need your blogs to have a point. Initially the point of my blog was to catalog my writing journey, but I believe now that my point is actually much broader than that.
I am turning 50 in a few weeks, and despite that, I started a new career for myself just one year ago. I have learned so much about writing and life in general this past year. Isn't that what life is all about? It's about what we learn along the pathway of our experiences. I'm not going to change the name of my blog, because it is about "my crazy writing adventure." But it's really about all of the crazy adventures we pursue in this life.
Life is a journey. What are you learning along the way? What am I learning? How does that shape what we do and who we are? These are questions for everyone, not just writers. I may take the things I learn or observe and use them in my writing, but someone else could take those same learning moments and apply them to their parenting or teaching or artwork. Maybe by observing the patterns in nature a computer scientist will see how to organize his or her latest program. (Fibonacci numbers, named for the mathematician who wrote about them, mimic patterns in nature. I use them when I make quilts, to make them more pleasing to the eye.)
So, from here on out, think about your journey and I'll think about mine. Then as I blog about those thoughts maybe they'll echo familiar to you, and we'll see that we're all really on the same great amusement ride where our vehicle is the earth and the ride is titled life.
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