Love, Joy...Patience
Three of the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5), those are. Why am I writing about them? Well, I shot my mouth off on Twitter and said: "Oh, I have a blog! You should, you know, read what I wrote a few months ago!" I also said somewhere else that this is my website -- which will bring a lot of the same thing: people showing up expecting stuff.
So, I wanted to take a moment, and reiterate what my hope is for this blog: this is a place for writers and people who are alive to find Love, Joy, and Patience. And hopefully all the others, too.
First, the Love: it takes a whole bunch of us to help the world go 'round. We're all on journeys, even when it doesn't feel like it. Some of us started earlier, some of us got a little boost right out of the gate, some of us have nothing but obstacles (more on that later), some of us thought we were doing okay and learned that we weren't. I love you all. I love that you're trying. I love that you might be failing, not because I'm vindictive but because I hope, pray, and believe you'll learn. I love every time you draw closer to being who you were meant to be, whether it's an inch or a mile. I will not love when you are beat down, withheld, restrained, oppressed, mocked, taunted, ridiculed -- and will especially not love when you accept those voices as your own, as the truth, and try to walk away from your journey. So don't do that.
Joy. I was told once that "I could be the artist and starve, or have a job and a comfortable living." Well, respectfully, screw your comfort. Jesus said that He came that we might have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10) -- but just so we don't get confused, He also said "life does not consist in an abundance of riches" and "life is more than food, and the body more than clothes" (Luke 12:15, 23). It becomes a little frustrating to me to read all these quotes and articles about how hard writing is -- that agonized author, slaving over a manuscript, dripping soul-sweat all over the vellum, courting depression and anxiety, terrified of a blank page and physically sick over a full page. Maybe people want to hear that, to know they're not alone. I'd rather not. I would much rather we talk about how awesome our craft is, how words flow out of us like a fire hydrant, the blank page is bursting with promise, and the full page an iron-bound oath fulfilled that others will one day read it and rejoice, weep, think, feel, live. Even if it doesn't seem true right now -- live in the future! Look to where you're going! I run much further on joy than on commiseration. Find your joy and share it, bubble over with it. Be weird. Don't fit into a dark, depressing world. We are craftspeople, building and shaping entire worlds -- revel in it!
Patience. Maybe you're one who is just starting out. I was there. I wrote my first story when I was 8 or 9. I started writing fantasy at age 16, and took 10 years to write my first full-length book -- it took 17 years from writing the first line to self-publishing it. Book Two is in Beta version, looking to release it late this year or early next. I started writing it about 5 years ago. I started Book Three earlier this year and it's already at 15k, 20% finished -- look for it either summer or fall next year. It gets easier. Keep reading. Keep writing. Once you find your voice and your method of writing, it goes so much faster. You'll have more opportunities for publication than you might be thinking; you've got a lot of years ahead of you -- and if you don't, write anyway. Leave something behind for the rest of us; you might be the best writer someone has ever read. Don't seek the world now; be patient.
I love all you beautiful people. This is the Year of the Bear; and this is your year. Let's live it.
So, I wanted to take a moment, and reiterate what my hope is for this blog: this is a place for writers and people who are alive to find Love, Joy, and Patience. And hopefully all the others, too.
First, the Love: it takes a whole bunch of us to help the world go 'round. We're all on journeys, even when it doesn't feel like it. Some of us started earlier, some of us got a little boost right out of the gate, some of us have nothing but obstacles (more on that later), some of us thought we were doing okay and learned that we weren't. I love you all. I love that you're trying. I love that you might be failing, not because I'm vindictive but because I hope, pray, and believe you'll learn. I love every time you draw closer to being who you were meant to be, whether it's an inch or a mile. I will not love when you are beat down, withheld, restrained, oppressed, mocked, taunted, ridiculed -- and will especially not love when you accept those voices as your own, as the truth, and try to walk away from your journey. So don't do that.
Joy. I was told once that "I could be the artist and starve, or have a job and a comfortable living." Well, respectfully, screw your comfort. Jesus said that He came that we might have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10) -- but just so we don't get confused, He also said "life does not consist in an abundance of riches" and "life is more than food, and the body more than clothes" (Luke 12:15, 23). It becomes a little frustrating to me to read all these quotes and articles about how hard writing is -- that agonized author, slaving over a manuscript, dripping soul-sweat all over the vellum, courting depression and anxiety, terrified of a blank page and physically sick over a full page. Maybe people want to hear that, to know they're not alone. I'd rather not. I would much rather we talk about how awesome our craft is, how words flow out of us like a fire hydrant, the blank page is bursting with promise, and the full page an iron-bound oath fulfilled that others will one day read it and rejoice, weep, think, feel, live. Even if it doesn't seem true right now -- live in the future! Look to where you're going! I run much further on joy than on commiseration. Find your joy and share it, bubble over with it. Be weird. Don't fit into a dark, depressing world. We are craftspeople, building and shaping entire worlds -- revel in it!
Patience. Maybe you're one who is just starting out. I was there. I wrote my first story when I was 8 or 9. I started writing fantasy at age 16, and took 10 years to write my first full-length book -- it took 17 years from writing the first line to self-publishing it. Book Two is in Beta version, looking to release it late this year or early next. I started writing it about 5 years ago. I started Book Three earlier this year and it's already at 15k, 20% finished -- look for it either summer or fall next year. It gets easier. Keep reading. Keep writing. Once you find your voice and your method of writing, it goes so much faster. You'll have more opportunities for publication than you might be thinking; you've got a lot of years ahead of you -- and if you don't, write anyway. Leave something behind for the rest of us; you might be the best writer someone has ever read. Don't seek the world now; be patient.
I love all you beautiful people. This is the Year of the Bear; and this is your year. Let's live it.
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