Reactions
How many times have you been asked what you do and have had the courage to say “writer?”
I say courage because there are times I have seen the eyes roll, and the judgment hang in the air like the smell of a rotten egg on a hot sidewalk. “So you don’t really work,” I once had someone say. “No, I don’t consider it work,” I said, although I knew it was meant to be a put-down, I meant it to be a great thing. Then there are those that fane happiness for you; all the while they secretly hate you for doing what you love, because maybe they wish they also had the courage to follow their dream.
Polls have shown that 81% of Americans say they’d like to write a book. Unfortunately, the polls don’t list the percentage that only got that far and then spew the litany of excuses to prevent themselves from doing it. Beginning is often the hardest part- staring at the blank page and forming it into words that flow from your gut.
Everyone can easily make the excuses of no time, I have bills to pay; the odds are against me, and on, and on. I believe everything boils down to two things in life, love and fear. If we create from a loving space within, it can only be good and do well. It is when we allow fear to freeze us up like a dish of water left outside in a Wisconsin winter that stops our creativity (and us in general) cold.
What is your reaction when you hear someone say they are a writer? Do feel envious? Do you think, ‘must be nice!’ or do you find the time to go to your keyboard and start writing, because if they can do it, so can you? Although you may not think of it as work, any writer will tell you it is, but it is the reaction you have to what you know you want to do that makes it hard or a joy, a dream, or a reality.
What are your reactions to these thoughts? I’d love to hear from you!
© March 18, 2008 Marie Boyum
I have many friends who are artists, and will often say that I am not one, because I don’t draw or paint or sculpt. But I write. And, is not my “art” my words, and my words art?
I have a writer friend who will say to me in converation “people like us”, and it always takes me a moment to realize he means “writers” and that he is including me in this statement. He is a published author pursuing his dreams and I find it hard to see myself in the same light. But he sees me as a fellow writer; a compatriot. It is about time I see myself as one.
Comment by S'zanne M'Chel — March 20, 2008 @ 3:50 am
I have had the good fortune to retire young. I am now age 52. I recently entered college.
I can relate to the reactions you get when you reveal you are a writer. I get similar reactions from friends and others when I tell them about college.
I have made many observations about people since I retired. One of my conclusions is that because the educational process really does not inspire people to think independently, the masses are in effect cloned for the sole purpose of keeping “the man’s” machine running. Most people do not question anything. You can see this behavior throughout our culture. Too many chickens that need to peck. I see it as an externalization of their own insecurities.
Comment by R D Koval — May 2, 2008 @ 10:15 am
I SO agree with your observations, R.D.
I have said way too often we have been creating “sheep in a box” for way too long. It is very scary that not many people notice it. Maybe, partially because not enough people read the older books; many of those sci-fi tales have come true.
I am working on changing that so we don’t end up as the robots we are being groomed to bee. I call to writers to speak of these observations and help wake up the sheep.
Comment by thriftynaturalist — May 3, 2008 @ 2:38 pm