Update on My Writing Dreams

“The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.”
~ Norbet Platt

In autumn of 2009, I took a creative writing course as part of my college studies, which I had blogged about in earlier posts.  At that time, I had taken great joy from rediscovering my passion for writing and for the creative process, and upon the conclusion of that class, I had assumed that my inner fire was going to continue to burn bright and strong.  I was going to finally write that novel, or at least write something suitable for publication.

I was wrong.

Shortly after the class was over, the words stopped flowing.  That is to say, the words didn’t necessarily stop flowing so much as I stopped trying.  For those twelve weeks during which I had mindfully tapped deep into my psyche to draw out stories, poems, musings, etc., it became easier and easier to cast words upon the page, to give them live, if even in my own eyes.  Once the deadlines and discipline of the class ended, however, I stopped pushing myself to “just do it”.

But… I have to remind myself that I didn’t let that fire entirely dwindle out.  In the year that has passed since that class, I have been periodically stirring the embers.  A blog post here, a deeper thought articulated as a status message there, a narrative in an e-mail here, and an expression of emotion in prolonged conversation there… I have continued to give myself snippets of voice.  Granted, it has not been on the scale of the creative writing assignments, but it is still considerably more than I have written in years.

So, for any of you who have followed this blog through its fits and starts since I originally launched it, and who have wondered what ever became of the whole writing thing….  I may not be as “on fire” as I was a year ago at this time, but the embers are definitely smoldering and sparking, waiting for the right wind to come to breathe upon them.

The dream to write is still alive.

Ch…ch…ch…Changes

“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” 
~ Alexander Graham Bell

Life is a constant series of transitions.  Unfortunately, all too often, just as we have finally adjusted to the last series of changes, we are blindsided by a whole new set of changes.  Indeed, as it is said, “change is the only constant.”

I’ve gotten to the point in my life where if things remain the same for a little too long, I begin to get restless and nervous, knowing that the longer the peace, the greater the change.  Personally, I prefer change to come in small, steady increments, always flowing and evolving.  But I have no say in these matters, and it’s probably just as well that I don’t.

Am I the same person that I was this time last year?  Yes and no.  I can look back at some of the blog entries I had written around that time, and while I see a man who is mostly familiar, I also see someone who has become a little bit of a stranger to me.  Yet, it is difficult to identify what is different, much less to try to articulate what I think I see.

Change is inevitable, and while we cannot prevent its coming, we can make the most of the opportunities to learn and to grow that it always presents.  The past will always live on in our hearts, but we cannot live there.

As the doors in your life are shutting, some slammed, some gently closed, don’t linger long, but look around for the doors that are even now opening to you.  The next chapter of your adventure awaits, if you will only step boldly through.