I walked home this morning in the rain rolling across the city in hard, pounding sheets. With my umbrella overhead, I navigated the large puddles commandeering the intersections, but by the time I arrived home my sandals were soaked through. I didn’t feel like singing in the rain, but a smile spread across my face nonetheless. I remembered the days of my childhood, walking home from school in the rain — too stubborn to wear my yellow raincoat — and arriving home with my clothes damp and cold against my skin. Today, despite the rain, at 7:30 a.m. the air was warm and humid. We’re in for another sticky day.
Yes, the sky is a dark grey, and it’s not a day when you want to venture outside unless it’s absolutely necessary. And if we let it, it’s a day when it’s easy enough to slip into a bout of self-pity. While the rain falls outside, there is sunshine all around me. You see, it has felt like I’ve been in a long season of drought. Each morning I get up and put pen to page, beginning with my journaling and then moving on to a current writing project. I remind myself each day to focus on making art and not on making it, but it’s not always easy. Like many artists I hope to see my projects in the public domain. I know that famous artists have struggled to have their works published (Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was submitted twenty-two times before being accepted for publication), or have had years pass without publishing anything, and that provides little comfort because I fear that that may happen to me. I keep at making my art, one day at a time, but then I become discouraged and wonder if I’m on the right track.
Last Wednesday (June 23) I opened my e-mail to read a message from the managing editor of a literary review based in Alberta announcing that my short story, “Velocity,” had been accepted for publication in the fall issue. I was ecstatic. A short story I had first crafted in 2004, I was unsure that I would find a home for it. It has been through several major rewrites. At times I shoved it into a file folder and left it there for months uncertain as to what to do next. But I never gave up.
So I am encouraged — that hard work and perseverance yield results. Today, I again have the courage to keep on keeping on.
Yes, the sky is a dark grey, and it’s not a day when you want to venture outside unless it’s absolutely necessary. And if we let it, it’s a day when it’s easy enough to slip into a bout of self-pity. While the rain falls outside, there is sunshine all around me. You see, it has felt like I’ve been in a long season of drought. Each morning I get up and put pen to page, beginning with my journaling and then moving on to a current writing project. I remind myself each day to focus on making art and not on making it, but it’s not always easy. Like many artists I hope to see my projects in the public domain. I know that famous artists have struggled to have their works published (Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was submitted twenty-two times before being accepted for publication), or have had years pass without publishing anything, and that provides little comfort because I fear that that may happen to me. I keep at making my art, one day at a time, but then I become discouraged and wonder if I’m on the right track.
Last Wednesday (June 23) I opened my e-mail to read a message from the managing editor of a literary review based in Alberta announcing that my short story, “Velocity,” had been accepted for publication in the fall issue. I was ecstatic. A short story I had first crafted in 2004, I was unsure that I would find a home for it. It has been through several major rewrites. At times I shoved it into a file folder and left it there for months uncertain as to what to do next. But I never gave up.
So I am encouraged — that hard work and perseverance yield results. Today, I again have the courage to keep on keeping on.
I am so proud of you!! Let me know when it hits the stands.
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