I was asked recently, “so how’s it going?” That’s an interesting question. “It’s going well,” would be the obvious answer but I don’t like the obvious. I thought about my family. Yes, they’re well, though my grandchildren seem to fight viruses on a fairly regular basis. I thought about Julie. Though she recently had to fight an intestinal bug herself, she’s doing well too. My mind quickly shifted to my exercise regimen. Yes that’s going well. I’ve learned to wear a swimming cap during my daily lap swim so my hair isn’t going “bleached blond.” That is going well. My diet? Yes. What else? My social media presence? Well I deleted that for the time being so the inherent hassles of an internet footprint have been temporarily eliminated. All good.
Oh my writing. Let me you in on something I’ve discovered. I hoped this was the case but I am increasingly aware of something that makes demands on me. I am supposed to write. Yes. I am called to be a writer. Weird isn’t it. I mean who talks that way?
When I was serving in the Episcopal Church that kind of talk was expected. Who would want to be a priest unless she was “called?” There’s too much to deal with to do it on a lark. There are a lot of other ways to draw a paycheck than dealing with Vestry meetings, recalcitrant staff members and the complaints of parishioners. I suppose it might surprise some that there are a few folks who actually end up being ordained but never felt “called.” But I’ll leave that for another post.
What do I mean that I am called to write? Isn’t that a bit presumptuous? After all the book I am writing isn’t finished. So what. I’ve actually learned a lot these past few months that the process of writing is more important than the end result. Oh the end result will come. Eventually. But setting side a time each day to engage in the act of writing has revealed something incredible. A writer’s greatest challenge is the writing itself. Oh you knew that already? It took me sometime to understand but I am grateful that the Muse (or my subconscious?) finally decided to let me in on the secret.
So my journey continues. Do I feel qualified for this journey? Yes. Faulkner weighed in on this when he said: “A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination- any two of which, at time any one of which- can supply the lack of others.”- William Faulkner (from a 1956 interview with The Paris Review).
Thank God. I have all three of those attributes on my resume.
Until next time,
DP