Mom is Just a Nickname

One of the things I started late last year was a new blog called My Muse Speaks Softly. I wanted a place dedicated to writing fiction. I figured I’d do a prompt each day and go with it. So, for the first week or so, I started out with a new prompt each day. Several of the things I wrote then were just beginnings. One, An Unexpected Reunion, demanded more than just a days’ worth of writing.

The prompt for that story was:

Write a scene where a man and woman bump into each other some where. The thing is, this couple was once a hot number in high school. They thought they would get married, grow old together, but something tore them apart. Now, face to face, after so many years, how do the react to each other, what do they feel that they don’t say? And when they agree to a cup of coffee, or have to stand at the bus stop together, or share a cab, or something that keeps them together for a while, what do they talk about, and what happens when it’s time to say goodbye?

In the end, I wrote 17, 136 words for this story and can easily see it developing into a longer, novel length story. I’m thrilled with it. It challenged my abilities to draw out deep emotions, to craft an engaging story, and to make characters with depth. The plot itself challenged me in more ways than one. More than once, I felt like moving on to something else and forgetting about this story. I couldn’t see a way to the end, and even when I did see a way, the end kept morphing!

In any case, I have had fun writing it. I invite anyone who sees this to hop over to my other blog and read it. Comment lots too! I love comments…even constructive criticism. Share with friends, tell them to comment…ok, now I’m shamelessly plugging my site. Sorry! In any case, I’m looking forward to the next story. Maybe All For the Sake of Some Chocolate will get developed next!

New beginnings….new beginnings. Actually, if I were to make New Year’s Resolutions, they’d probably be the same as any other year: better diet, better budget, more exercise, etc. There’s the goal to work on my writing more, and the goal to finish the crocheted blanket I started years ago. There’s the goal to keep my house cleaner, to finally get the garage cleaned out, to not waste so much time on trivialities.

Each of these things is important, but none are new. I guess my Resolutions are more Re-commitments to goals. Kind of like the smoker who has to try to quit, give up, try again, give up, and try again multiple times before finally succeeding, so I think we all often have to try and “fail” before finally succeeding. I don’t count it as a “fail” though as long as I keep on trying.

I learned something from one of my driving instructors: Driving is a series of making mistakes and correcting yourself. Steering is just a matter of constantly correcting your direction. So, I think, is life. I constantly have to correct my course in life, to re-evaluate my direction and recover from mistakes. There’s no shame in making a mistake, I just fix it if I can and move on. Apologize when necessary. And try to learn something new from a mistake.

Today, Toph is back to work and J is back to school. X and I are home, back to our routine. I have laundry to do, “undecorating” to do, and tidying up to do. I also have writing to do.

Here’s to a new Year, new commitments to old goals, and to learning from past mistakes. May the New Year bring blessings to everyone.