What is something you wear that you are grateful for?
Several categories of clothing come to mind when I ponder today’s prompt: undergarments, socks; pants – jeans, specifically; nursing bras – if you’ve ever tried to nurse a baby in a normal bra, you get it; hair, or styling products; makeup…civilized day to day life would be less so, without so many of the items and products that we wear. However, after much thought I very easily have settled on one simple fact. I am hopelessly sight-challenged, and without my glasses I am nothing but a sad sack of confusion.
Yesterday was Election Day in the U.S.A. and normally, there would be some results by Wednesday morning – or by the afternoon, at least! True to 2020 fashion, this is not the case this year. I have been bracing myself since 2016 for the results of last night’s voter turnout. I stayed up far too late to find out much too little in the way of information and the future of American politics.
So, I will offer a story.
Technically, this happened yesterday but thinking about it made me smile today, too. I took my youngest son to vote. It was his first time voting in any election, and he was nervous. We got through it, and he beamed when he showed me his “I Voted” sticker. My Mama-heart burst a little.
When I went to vote there were no stickers. But I did get to vote without any of the fear mongering scenarios going down, so I consider that a big win. We went home and sent my husband out to vote. When he returned he teased me about voting for “that other guy” (aka, lies!) and handed me a sticker with a wink.
This memory was nice one considering we had a stupid but cutting argument this morning. He left for appointments and errands, and I rage cleaned the house to distract my ADHD brain. When he finally got home in the early afternoon, he apologized and offered to take me to lunch on a “real date” without other humans. It was fun. I’ve missed my husband, and he has missed me. Babies are great, but at the end of the day you cannot live your life for them any more than you can live your life for a stranger.
What is something that is different today from a year ago that you are grateful for?
When I ponder the changes my life has morphed through over the last few years, I am consistently taken aback by how naive I used to be. I was so sure that I had control over my outcome, and that very little outside of myself would affect my outcome – good or bad. If you had asked me a year ago what I thought today would look like, this is not it.
A year ago, we had no intentions of buying property. I had not yet written a novel – even if only a complete rough draft. I was not sure how much longer I would be able stay married. My baby was not yet walking, nor had any teeth. My cat hadn’t returned after 14 months lost in the wild. I still had hopes of returning to nursing school. I never could have imagined that I would be knitting so consistently by now. I didn’t have any children who had graduated high school, twelve months ago. I was afraid of the world, and a United States where hate trumps everything good. I had joked about a “zombipocalypse” for years, but I never actually imagined that a pandemic would shut down our lives for real.
When I try to imagine “one thing” that is different and for which I am grateful, I just cannot. The best answer is – everything is different. From the outside, that probably seems like a copout. It’s not. Every little piece of my life is so amazingly different than it was twelve short/long months ago. And I am grateful for all the valleys and peaks, and the ability to take naps when it all gets too heavy.
While it’s true I was taught by my grandmother how to knit as a child, I’ve only been knitting for real for about a year. I could occasionally figure out how to cast on over the years, but then I’d have needles sit with that row prime for a half decade or more before I’d slide the stitches off, defeated. I finally figured it out when I was invited to Knit Night & was patiently & excitedly taught — once & for all! — how to knit, and finish a project, by my three caballeras of Christ Church Willard: Lesley, Lori & Sue.
But much more than teaching me how to put my anxiety into something useful, you each taught me various truths about womanhood, motherhood, love in practice, perseverance, servant leadership, farming, patience, joy, sorrow, and how to live a humbly Christ-like existence. Thank you for the ears, the guidance, and the laughs. I am grateful for you.
This year has been so beautifully weird. I figured I’d jump on the gratitude wagon. 🤗 Honestly, November is so insanely busy with work & NaNoWriMo that I’m not sure how consistent I will realistically be able to stay. We’ll get through somehow. Day One’s challenge was to start a gratitude journal. I will be using social media & my blog as my “journal” during this practice. ✔😉
The idea of giving writing advice seems self serving to me, but alas we find ourselves at this place so I shall comply. The type of advice requested depends precisely on where in the process a writer finds oneself. There are stops along the way where I could actually have some potentially helpful advice. There are many more bullet points that I have not yet reached in my own writing journey. That said, I’ll share what has actually been helpful to me.
1) Just yarf it out.
No excuses necessary. Just grab your favorite method of recording – pad of paper, computer, audio transcriber – and spew that story. It doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t have to be complete. It doesn’t even have to make sense – yet. But you do have to get it out of your head and birth it into existence.
2) Read as much as possible.
Good writers, read – and broadly. Read the genre you want to write. Read a genre you have no experience reading. Read outside of your preferred age range. And while you are reading, take notes. Mental notes are good, if your brain works that way. Most people seem to have better luck taking actual notes to reference later. Notice how stories are constructed. Pay attention to how story and character development happens.
3) Find a mentor.
You are probably surrounded with people just like you. Many people think about “writing a book” but never tell anyone, and fewer still even bother to start. Put the word out and you’ll be surprised who jumps out of the woodwork to share their experiences. If you don’t have anyone IRL who can – or is willing to – be a mentor, find a virtual one. Twitter is a mine field, but there are a lot of talented and helpful people tucked away over there. Instagram has more writers camping out these days, and they are slightly more …friendly. If those options fail you, get a book by one of the Big Guns. I can personally recommend On Writing, by Stephen King – but there are others that a simple internet search can lead you to.
After many conversations with writers of all stages, I feel comfortable saying that most writers who want to get published believe that they want to be traditionally published. This is also true for me, to a point.
I am currently not in receipt of a project that I would consider finished enough to publish on any forum, much less to ship off to a publisher’s office. Additionally, it is (currently) enough for me to just say “I wrote something!” And then move on to the next project.
I have investigated self-publishing via several types of modes but not having breathing work to share is a deterrent. I know that when I get to a good place, I will probably self-publish initially. I have done enough poking around to know that traditional publishing isn’t really what it seems. With that in mind, I’m keeping my options open. Who knows what will be available when I get any of these dozen semi-close projects polished?
Today, I finished Get Over Your Damn Self, by Romi Neustadt.
It is a fairly quick read, if you’re in the self-motivation #wahm business. It was only slightly distracting how often she mentioned the perks of her company, but mostly because I was trying to figure out who it was that she works for. (*spoiler alert: they tell you at the end, in the acknowledgments) I found this book to be a little too heavy on the recruiting focus for my needs. I am in direct sales as a sales consultant for a group publishing company, but we don’t push recruiting. I listened to it on Audible and her speaking voice was grating at times. Not awful, mind you, but a little touch of “give me a break” occasionally. The tone of her writing was a tinge out of touch for the average person in spots. Overall, not a bad read. I don’t regret reading it. I just didn’t get as much out of it as I had hoped.
P.S. I guess this is an unofficial review. Take from it, what you will.
We just bought a house and moved, so realistically my writing goals are actually pretty low on the priority list right now. Once I get my office set up, I would like to recommit to writing daily and get the plot points and basic research done by October 1st.
KH Sprague 