Focusing on the here and now ....

I recently wrote a blog post of being blessed on my birthday ten years ago.  About how God had been there for me by answering my prayers, sometimes before I had even asked them.  I did a bit of remembering, and let some of my anger and self-pity show through in that essay.  Still, I thought that the message was really about how things got better for me after I left a bad situation, with God's help. 


Coincidentally, after I posted that, I learned about an organization that was looking for writing submissions on going through a divorce and being divorced.  I sent them my blog post, and they said that they could maybe use it, but that it was too long.  Did I want to edit it, or could they?  I said, go for it.  The other day I received an email saying that they couldn't use it after all, which is fine with me.  I was having second thoughts about the whole thing myself.  I told them thank you for looking it over, and that I realized that it was a blog post and not a concise story, and that it did need a lot of work.


The part that interested me about their email was that they said my story had too much about God in it and not enough stuff about me and what I did.  The whole point of the story was about how God had helped me that week.  What did I do?  I prayed and asked for his help and was open to what happened next.  I don't see how I could have edited any of the God part out, and am glad that I did not labor on a re-write.  


I was told that their organization appealed to people from all walks of life, and that some of those women were not religious, so that they did not print articles that included God in them.  To me that is sad.  In trying to be politically correct, their organization is excluding a lot of stories that would be of interest or help to many, especially to those women who are in a very bad situation and who are tied by religion to stay married.  I am sure that there are other organizations out there that are supportive to believers experiencing divorce, so it probably all evens out.  Know that God loves you even if you get divorced, ladies. 


This is one of the verses that helped me through that time of my life, by the way:

"I waited patiently for God to help me; then he listened and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path, and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him. Many blessings are given to those who trust the Lord and have no confidence in those who are proud or who trust in idols."    

Psalm 40:1-4



The other thing that I have been thinking about is where do I want to put my writing energy?  Do I want to focus on the past, and bring up the pain, rejection and anger that went along with getting divorced in order to write a good story?  Some of my best writing is about those times, because I can still remember the feelings that went along with them.   But, I do not really want to immerse myself in the past and remember all of it again.  That is over with, done with and dealt with.  I am so much happier these days, focusing on the many good things in my life, my relationship with Cary, and I don't want to go backwards.


Do you guys have any thoughts or comments about living in the here and now?  Do you use your past hurts in your writing and/or do have your characters experience them?  How does all of this work?  Do I even really want to write?



It is just so much easier to take pictures.


~ Kathy

Books on Writing Books:

The Papa Bear Book:

Remember, the other day, when I began reading this book by Oakley Hall?  I was so excited.  I said that it was going to be hard, though, like going to school.  It was/is difficult for me to read.  I only read around 10 pages and then put it away for later.

The Mama Bear Book:

Then I remembered that I had this one, from 20 years ago.  It is a great book, written in 1938 by a wonderful woman.  It is fun to read and very inspiring.  I am going to re-read it shortly.

The Baby Bear Book:

In a snap decision on Friday, I visited the new location of the St. Vincent de Paul in Mayberry for the first time.  I had been thinking about how hard the Papa Bear book is.  All those new terms thrown out here and there, excerpts from those masters that I am supposed to know about.  Well, I had heard of most of them and read some them, but they are not my first choice for everyday reading.  That book intimidated me.

When I walked in to the St. Vinnies, there was a library section near the front door.  On the left.  I am always a sucker for library sections.  The cheapest place in town to buy books is at the La Pine Library Book Nook, which is open on Tuesday mornings and Saturday afternoons, by the way.  Anyway, back to my riveting story.  This book, "On Writing", by Stephen King was placed there just for me, and my eyes zoomed in on it immediately.  I will count it as a God thing.  It was in brand new condition, and cost me only $3.00.

I love reading it!  It was written in 2000.  Steve (as I now call him) spends the first part of the book writing essays about his life, and how he came to become a famous writer.  The second part is how to improve your writing.  For me, everything he says in this book goes straight to my heart, and is very encouraging and inspiring.  It is funny too.  I even want to go to Steve's website and tell him thank you for writing it.  I'll put that on my list of things to do right now.

I have gathered my writing books, journal, legal pad, pens and pencils and placed them in to a big leather purse/bag that I got from my step-mom Jill, and am now carting it around all over the place.  I am really getting serious about my writing now, and I don't want to miss an idea, forget a conversation, story or awesome phrase that I can use later on.  


So, now, I leave the house with two camera's in my purse (3 if you count the one on my cell phone, but I haven't figured out how to get the pictures off of there yet) ... and my "writer's bag".  I am prepared for life documentation of all sorts.  It's funny, but it wasn't so very long ago when I was carting around a large diaper bag everywhere I went instead, and children were my focus and passion.  Things do change over time.

The other thing I am going to do is start writing down my memories and stories in addition to what I put on my blog.  I just want to sit here at my computer all day long and write, write, write.  It has suddenly become a passion, like my photography.  Practice has to help.  My pictures have gotten better over time, and I believe that my writing will too.  I hope so!