March of the Mama Writers
How we go through almost as much as penguins in
the Arctic to get our careers off the ground!
Over the holidays, I watched the documentary
"March of the Penguins," which one of my husband's students gave him as a gift.
The night after Christmas, we three snuggled up on the couch with popcorn and
sparkling cider to watch the documentary on my mom's laptop computer. We were as
riveted as we would have been watching a feature film at the
cinema!
Actually, considering that
quality of many feature films these days, maybe I should say were
more
riveted than we sometimes are at the
cinema.
Afterwards, I couldn't help
thinking: What a great metaphor for what it takes to start a writing career.
I know, I know, the metaphor is a bit
facile. Nurture a new life, nurture your writing new career, but, I think anyone
who has seen the film and has managed to get a writing career off the ground
will easily see these
similarities:
• Despite the
rigorous, although, not necessarily life-threatening, challenges of a writing
career, those of us who are called, dutifully heed the call and "march" to a
drummer that no one can see.
•
Many others, with the same--or a similar call--join in, and together we crunch,
crunch, crunch across the frozen tundra of our consciousness, searching for a
safe haven to hatch our first
conception.
• It takes two. If
you are in a partnership and your partner is not willing to share the load of
daily responsibilities with you, it is doubtful you will be able to carry your
writing career to term. If, in fact, your spouse or partner is antagonistic or
indifferent to your dream, it only makes that dream that much harder to rear.
And let's face it, some already won't make
it.
• Given the harshness and
indifference of the professional arena, aspiring writers had better snuggle
together to sustain each other, because the publishing industry ain't gonna care
whether or not we make it. No offense
intended.
• It is devastating to
witness another's offspring falling prey to the elements or predators, but are
we going to let that stop us from protecting our
own?
• If someone with a
shattered dream lunges for ours with malicious intentions, we need to seek
protection from them, until they have come to their
senses.
• It's not just "Only the
strong will survive," it's those who heed their strong instincts, tend their
dreams conscientiously, ask for and seek sustenance in the group, and know when
it's time to give their fledglings the boot, who become
prolific.
• And finally,
something that really struck home for me, we need to remember that those
"fledglings" can have an independent life of their own. After a five year
maturation period, they too feel the call and
march.
More than anything, watching
this march of these penguins, I remembered that humans are organic and our
writing careers are too. When we can be gentle and allow what is natural to
unfold, the whole experience is a lot less arduous, despite the rigorous
environment.
So off I go, march, march,
march...
Posted: Sat
- January 7, 2006 at 10:05 AM
