To Hope

I am loving the creative class I am taking on Thursday mornings! We have studied art, poetry, letter writing and art and poetry ABOUT letter writing. Such rich material. I am reminded of something my friend, Joel Lindsey, who is a very successful writer, used to say..."If you are having trouble coming up with something to write about, then it is time to feed the lake!" A silly fishing analogy, but it speaks volumes to the struggling writer! Watch a great movie. Read poetry. Go to an art museum. Look at old photographs. Re-read your favorite novel. Inspiration is waiting to be found.

Today we were encouraged to think about writing a letter to an inanimate object. This form of writing is called "Apostrophe." To my forks and spoons, to my exes, to the Yeti (we studied that poem today!), to my 20 lbs, etc., you get the idea.

We also talked a lot about hope, so that is who my inanimate object letter is to:

To Hope

I have lost you as often as I have found you

Deferred, you have made my heart sick

Re-discovered, you have made it soar

You are a glimmer, deep in the heart of the cynic

You are the last remaining sign of life

in disappointment's flat-line

I often hear that you float, 

but I have also seen you sink

like a doomed ship

waiting patiently to be mined 

as hidden treasure on the ocean's floor
 

I tell the white lie to my little one, 

as long as you believe in this thing or that, 

it is real

but I applaud you for being no less real

when I am plagued by doubt

Once A Writer........

Always a writer. Over the course of my life so far, the drive to write has been a blessing and a curse. On the best of days, it has left me with a great feeling of accomplishment. It has given me great pride to have created something. On a bad day, when the blank page has taunted me or when writing itself seems like a distant memory, I am defeated. The pendulum swings wide and the emotional roller coaster ride is both exhilarating and terrifying for me....and for most writers.

I now know how it feels to NOT write for a long period of time. No song, blog, short story or scrap of an idea has ventured forth from my troubled mind in over a year. And I did it on purpose. I turned my back on it. It just didn't seem practical and it certainly wasn't going to pay the bills. It was a busy year full of more than our fair share of changes. I worked hard on my cooking business and on being a supportive wife and mother. The occasional well-crafted song or beautifully written blog made me feel a little wistful, but not enough to do anything about it.

And yet, here I am revisiting my blog. So, something did happen to end the drought. It was nothing dramatic. It was talking about writing over coffee with a songwriter friend.  It was the fledgling song ideas that started to pop in my head. It was the "creative group" that I joined last week. It was the announcement in the church bulletin about the "worship writing workshop." I probably won't finish my novel or have "2 a day" songwriting sessions anytime soon, but you can bet I will be writing something.

I am going to write because I am a writer. Whether it seems practical or not. Whether I ever make another cent or not. My writing muscle is out of shape, but the drive (and hopefully the talent?) is still in there. Yes, the pendulum will swing wide and the roller coaster will careen out of control at times. But another thing I have learned about writing is that it is not for the faint of heart.