Lit-folks galore

Yesterday, I woke up and went to work. For me, work is wherever I’d like to bring my laptop and sketchbook that day. Quite often, just like this day, it was the library’s Central branch. I arrived at 8:58 and expected to look like the biggest book worm in London, sitting alone, waiting for when I was allowed to go in. As I rounded the corner in Citi Plaza, I’m sure my eyes popped out of my head. There was a huge sea of people waiting for the doors to open. I had no idea that there were this many people excited about going to the library.

But what were they in a rush to go do frantically in there?

As I sit here now, just as I did yesterday, I am looking around. There are people writing in notebooks; people on their computers; people reading magazines and newspapers; people perusing the shelves for the perfect book to hunker down with. Nobody is in a huff now that they’re in. It struck me:

They were in a rush to have a good morning.

They are in a rush to be in an environment where relaxation and enjoyment is the key to productivity.

 

Man, I love London.

Here is what I want.

Thus far, this blog has been about a few things…

To begin, it was about me trying to find what I was passionate enough about to make a career out of. After realizing that writing about my life on this blog was the most exciting part of my journey, I began to explore the world of literature and everything that surrounded it.

Now, I feel as though I’ve got a good grasp on the field I’m entering into, so I’m actually going to enter it. I know I already have the magazine and that makes me part of the scene. But, I’m ready to take another step towards my life of full-immersion into the literary world.

Here are my ultimate career aspirations:

• To become a book cover designer and illustrator
• To continue my work at Writtle Magazine and grow the business
• To have my writing published (in other publications as well as in the form of a large body of my work)

So, another element has been added to this blog. I am still going to write little article-lettes, if you will, about the literary industry I’m still exploring and getting a feel for. But now, I’m also going to blog about my personal journey into a career.

Stay tuned, friends, it’s bound to be a fun ride!

A

The conversation

HIM: How are things?

ME: Good! Busy, busy though.

HIM: Ah, we’re all busy. At least it’s doing something we love, huh?

It caught me off guard and rejuvenated my sense of purpose just as quickly and effortlessly as he said it. It’s not everyday you hear someone say something as profound as that so nonchalantly. After all, what is a more profound lesson than one that concerns your happiness? I suppose if we’re going to be running around all the time, we may as well be running from one place of joy to the next.

Is writing payment enough?

I was standing at the front desk of a store when a man came up and asked the receptionist if the owner could give him a call. He was an employee and had just realized that he hadn’t been paid for a month and a half. He went on, casually requesting that when she got around to it, if he could get his checks.

Do you love writing enough that you could pen your heart out and forget about getting paid?

If not, perhaps you should get lost in your imagination for a while and rediscover the beauty of the craft.

Eat your words, push down the fear

Some of us will never send a piece of writing into a publisher, a newspaper, or even the very magazine I speak on behalf of. In order to be successful, you have to take the fear of whatever it is that’s stopping you from submitting your talent: be it rejection or judgment or anything else, and push it way down until it is buried.  We have to tell the fear to never resurface so we can get our words out there.

After having received an email submission from a woman, I wrote back to her letting her know that she’ll be hearing from us regarding our decision. I told her that her poem was beautiful. She got back to me shortly after I sent the message. She said that she was appreciative of my kind words about the poem as she was unsure about whether or not she was going to send it in. It was the first poem she had ever written.

This woman had never picked up a pen and paper and written anything that resembles a poem before. What bravery it took to not only write it, but to muster the courage to send it in to a publication. One that she most likely had no idea was just as accepting of emerging writers as well established ones.

Some of us will never send a piece of writing into a publisher, a newspaper, or a magazine. Not even this one.

I hope your words are read by eyes a-many because I’m sure you have something far too interesting to keep from us.

What color are your panties? (And other personal matters)

As I scanned the ‘Book News’ section of my favourite online newspaper, I wasn’t finding anything that struck me as unique enough to post on my various social media outlets. Then I saw it – a slideshow showing an inside peek of famous writer’s homes. I immediately guided the mouse to the article and clicked, mouth salivating like I was about to devour the most delicious meal I’ve ever had.

Here is, in what my Life Coach Training (oh yes, I did that) we call the bottom line: People love to get personal.

It’s why we buy celebrities’ teeth and shoes and other miscellaneous objects that, really, have no meaning or relevance to our lives. We want to have a piece of the lives we admire. We want to be a tiny part of it. Well, we want to be a big part of it, but sometimes that’s just not going to happen. For example, readers, you will most likely not marry Megan Fox or Brad Pitt. But, for a pretty penny, you can buy one of their fingernails. In my world, it’s unlikely that James Frey will ever want my number, but I may very well bid on one of his white cotton t-shirts.

Here’s a thought that’s worth contemplating:

Rather than pining over successful folks’ beautiful lives, why not spend less time buying a slice of theirs and make our own? (And, make it personal. People will buy a slice of you.)

A Lesson in Perseverance

As I watched my daughter get from her belly to her hands and knees after a dramatic fit of frustration, she looked up at me with a wide, gummy grin and said, with only her eyes “Ta-da!” It is a brilliant revelation she’s had. Someone told me the other day that an infant hitting a milestone (crawling, walking, speaking) is as revolutionary as us learning how to fly. It’s completely foreign. Yet, time after time, if you leave them to themselves to figure something out that they have never done before, they’ll do it. Some quicker and more elegantly than others, sure, but they get the job done.

Are you trying to write a poem? Short story? Sentence? Novel?

You write the heck out of it. You write until you’re at the brink of insanity. And then, authors, it will happen.

Professional Fist Pump

Time for an alarmingly optimistic viewpoint from the bottom of my floofy heart:

It’s a profoundly satisfying feeling to know that you are doing and being exactly how you want to be. It’s neat how when you are on purpose, everything falls into place and it almost feels like people are actually working to make your job easier. It feels like cosmic placement – you need a mentor from the publishing world? BAM! Here ya go, we’ll just walk one right through the front door. Need a writer to contribute to the magazine? BAM! We’ll just plop him next to you for the seminar. Beauty, beauty, beauty.

I may be beating a dead horse here (what a morbid expression to mean someone being so lively about a subject), but I am so grateful to be right where I am.

Are you in a place of alignment?

Gratitude,

A

Beautifully Small

I can’t comprehend why the things going on in the world are often times terrifying and downright soul deafeningly tragic when everybody I talk to is trying to save it. 

Everybody has a remedy: “Step right up, folks, this is going to be the one to change everything”. The world is crying wolf. I have written about me doing the same thing in my life alone – y’know, dreaming big and falling short – but I can’t help but feel its gravity when dealing with matters involving all of humanity.

The magnitude of the masses of everything – people, water, land – on earth is overwhelming and can make you feel beautifully microscopic. You are part of this great sleeping giant that is waiting to awaken to compassion and beautiful moments.

Start with just that: a beautiful moment. I propose that we begin small and see what the seed flourishes into. Promise to help one person first, and then work your way up to the enormity that is the global community.

Detox

One year ago today, I experienced a major shift in my being.

It was one of those moments when a powerful chorus of angels singing comes on full blast and a celebratory fist pump is done as you walk strongly away from the damning situation – like a burning building or a really mean girl you finally stood up to.

Letting it fall to ashes behind me, I got in my car and drove away. I had never felt more in control (something that was a major  struggle for me then). My cell phone rang and rang as I drove further and further away from the toxicity. There was no way I was answering it, no way I was turning around. Finally, release.

That was the day I started living my own way. It was my first step to living an independently beautiful life.

So, to that burning building I have since watched deplete: look at me now. I have risen in your stead and will not fall. There is no way.

Amy