How My Dance With Words Taught Me To Embrace Life
For as long as I can remember, I have had a love affair with words. In good times, we hid under the covers playing footsies in tune to one another’s needs. Other times, words became my elusive partner whom I raved about even though I could not produce him at will. Over the years, we have been friends, foes, and something else in between; but just like all seasoned relationships, we have something many do not. Longevity and Patience.
Time has taught us (words and I, that is) that while we love frolicking in the pond together, it is okay for one of us or even both of us to exhibit bear-like tendencies when needed. Patience has shown us we both play a dual role and must often become the cajoling mother and the stern father to motivate the other.
The truth is, I have come to realize that being a writer and writing is not as mutually exclusive as I once thought. You know what I mean. You probably experienced it too. If you are a writer, then you are a writer. That is what you do and nothing else. You and I have both been told to write in the morning because that is when inspiration hits. Carve out blocks of time (like hours) to perfect your craft. To be great, we must imitate the greats and willingly suffer for our art.
And for a while, I succumbed to the hype, contorting myself to fit a mold I was clearly not meant to fill. I felt stifled, locked in a death grip dance with writing, two stepping to a beat I just couldn’t keep up with. I would like to tell you I came to my senses and corrected my course earlier on, but the truth is, there have been times I have been distracted by who I thought I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to do, that I forgot my love (words) and myself altogether.
If you are like me, then you know we do not have time (even though we may wish it) to curate our own Walden and whittle the days away reading and writing because we wear many hats. Too many hats! You see, I must battle the dragons that threaten to devour the two princesses (who are five and seven), bewitch and keep spellbound the countrymen (high school and college students), and juggle grub (grocery shopping), duty (jobs and homelife), and King (husband) while playing nice with comrades (colleagues).
Despite all of that, my awakening is here. I, too, have been unplugged from the matrix and chart my own path to writing success. My journey is ongoing. My love (words) and I are in a dance, but a fluid one that is ever changing, ever expanding, ever evolving and will continue to do so as my role as a mother, wife, employee, entrepreneur, and writer become more defined. And so will yours!