More specifically, she wants to know what inspires me to write. That’s one of the prompts for this week’s writing workshop. Both are easy – and hard – questions to answer. I write because I love it, even though it’s painful at times . I write because its part of my being. Sometimes I need to write like I need to breathe. I write because I enjoy the creative process. I write because sometimes its easier to say what I mean on paper than out loud. I write because its who I am and who I’ve been since the age of eight. I’m inspired by stories, mine and others. I’m inspired by events and experiences. I’m inspired by issues that are important to me. I’m inspired by beauty in the world around me. I’m inspired by each and every friend and family member who cheers me on and asks, “So when are you going to write the next great American novel?” Why do you write? What inspires you? … [Read more...]
The Tragedy I Haven’t Moved On From
“I don’t know how to get passed this.” I uttered those words through the phone to my sister. She tried to comfort me by explaining how she’d had a hard time when her co-worker’s mother passed away. It wasn’t the same. I had no bar, no past experience to measure this grief by. I had lost a friend. Tragically. In a way that no rational mind can understand. And it hit me hard. But what made it harder was that she wasn’t really a friend, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. She was a Facebook friend, a former grade school classmate who I knew through mutual friends. I hadn’t even seen her since high school, hadn’t interacted with her then and hadn’t thought about her since. Then she sent me a friend request. Here was this girl, who had been her class president, had been a cheerleader, had been popular, had been all the things I wasn’t in high school, requesting to be my friend on Facebook.I was exhilarated and intimated all at the same time. She posted a lot and I … [Read more...]
