Scribblous

Today I was reading through a successful author’s blog. They told the story of how they got their first book sold. It was an amazing story. They hadn’t written in years, the story just came to them, they wrote it in only a few months, and against all odds it was sold to wild acclaim.

Now… at the risk of sounding whiny… why doesn’t that happen to me?! I want a story to just come to me, to flow out of my fingers. I want to send it in and have an agent call ME to request to represent me. I want to have others read my writing and love it.

After reading this web page, I got a little bit down for a little bit. I think I can write, I think I can do this book. But reading that page made me feel like I would never have that kind of luck. So I say this: NO! I will not give up. I can make it. If I don’t get lucky, I can still work hard. So, I return to the grind stone to try to write that next page.

Oh, and at my husband’s suggestion, I’m listening to Pandora Radio, which is very inspirational and helpful.

I came across a note I had written, probably while listening to a wonderful and fantastic talk. I don’t remember who was giving the talk, nor the main topic of the talk, but I gained something from this unnamed talk.

 In everything we do, there is a measure of uncertainty.    

I love that. I like to look at my whole life through that lense, but particularly my writing. I want my writing to be loved, appreciated, and most of all, read, but I understand there is an uncertainty it will ever be seen by anyone other than my husband and myself. Does that mean I shouldn’t write? No way. Uh huh. Nope. 

I can go through my life, only doing the things I think are “sure bets”… but the greatest joys can be found in taking a risk. Getting married is a good example. My husband is a sure bet for happiness, but marriage is still a leap of faith. I could have stayed single, which would have been a sure bet to unhappiness, but I took a leap and I’m happier for it.

Writing is the same way, even on a daily level. When I sit down to write, there is a level of uncertainty… the writing I do that day may be my best ever, but it also might be my worst. I still have to do it; I still have to sit down and write.

There may be uncertainty in everything we do, but that’s what makes it worth it. 

Coco Chanel — a famous designer and founder of the women’s fashion company, Chanel — stated:

Women of a certain age talk to me openly about having their faces lifted. A face of 50 should show something. If it looks like 20, empty without a line of experience, it looks moronic. Should Lincoln have had his wrinkles removed? We are born with one face, but laughing or crying, wisely or otherwise, eventually we form our own lines. A good face is composed of thoughtful laughter.

It’s interesting to me that this quote comes from a lady who worked in fashion, and made it her career to make women look and feel beautiful. So many people are concerned with lines on their faces. I was reading a book the other day that kept talking about people getting face lifts, or wrinkle remover, and I started worrying that I should be worried about that.

When I read this quote, I had to laugh. First off, I’m not “old” yet, so really, I shouldn’t worry about it. Second off, if my lines are the lines of laughter, I should value every one.

Sometimes I worry too much, and I’m afraid I’m forming lines because of that. In 50 years I don’t want to have lines from worry, so all anyone sees when they look at my face is how much I worried. Instead, I will laugh more, and throw off my worries, so my face is the face of one who loves and laughs.