Friday, August 19, 2011

Beginnings--Kids and Writers, Too


My two youngest grandchildren, Jordan and Cole, started school this week. Their dad snapped this picture this morning as they headed out to the school bus just before 7 a.m. It's a definite milestone as now both children will be in school all day. Jordan is a second grader and Cole starting his school days--kindergarten. Mom took him to school on the first day, but today he's riding the bus with his big sister and lots of other kids he knows. A new beginning in his life.

We've all had those 'beginnings' in life. First it was grade school, then high school, maybe college and then a full-time job. Moved on to starting a marriage, being a parent for the first time, and later beginning the wonderful world of grandparent-hood. There were misgivings and anxious moments along the way each time a new phase of our life turned up. Even so, we met most of them with the anticipation of the good things to come.

Our writing life is much the same. Do you remember what it was like when you had those beginning moments? Had you set goals that were impossibly high? It took time to learn that you have to go in small steps to reach that Great American Novel status, didn't it? Maybe you started writing feeling like a fish floundering on dry land. Or maybe you had the attitude that you'd learn this craft bit by bit. Whatever your outlook was, you added something to your profile. You experienced one more new beginning in your life.

Beginnings--they're a first step on a long and, hopefully, positive journey.

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