One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
Dale CarnegieHave you known people who were always going to write a book, or always going to take that trip to Europe? Some of us spend so much time planning what we are going to do someday that we never seem to get it done.
I've heard the term "writer wannabe" spoken of people like me. I have that book in my mind, but can't get focused on the actual theme and how I will tell my story.
Do I zone in on the depressed child no one understood?
Should I disclose my anger and feelings about a father I thought didn't know I existed or that I sometimes wanted to disappear? Or begin with the misconceptions I had about my father, and go on to describe my journey down a winding road that ended in the mountains of NC. A place where I discovered something inside myself, something that made all the pieces of my life's puzzle fit on the page.
Shelley Lieber offers a four week teleseminar I'm very tempted to take. Perhaps she can help me find my focus and get me started writing the book. For years I've postponed, procrastinated, made excuses and overscheduled my life so that I just couldn't get this book written. My most recent excuse has been "I'm too old to publish this book," and "my time is better spent taking care of my beloved who needs me."
I will shortly be turning over the leadership of
NCWN West to the capable hands of
Kathryn Stripling Byer. I have found a wonderful young woman who helps me with much that has taken up my time in the past.
Joan Cannon who is 80 has written and published two novels in recent years.
I have no more excuses.
If I can get all my ducks in a row, I hope to have a poetry chapbook published this year. That has encouraged me. Maybe it is not too late.
By George, I think it is time I got on with it.