Like many, 2022 was a tough year for me. I’ve never had so many people say to me, “I can’t wait for this year to be over.” Maybe it’s due to this covid world we will probably have to live in for years to come, or maybe it was because we lost a loved one, or a famous TV star or athlete we like, or maybe…just maybe, it was because we were done with 2022, and were ready to make a fresh start in 2023.
I didn’t write anything close to what I wanted to in 2022. And because I let life get in the way, I started to lose inspiration. Heck, even last fall, I questioned myself if I would ever write regularly again. Over the Christmas holidays, I was desperately searching for a reason not to give up, and five very simple words arrived in my head, “Just pick up the pen…” Everything came to a screeching halt, and the words of the James Nash song “I can see clearly now” began to stick in my head.
So, what happens when you pick up a pen? Yeah, I know that there are some who would say, “Well, I would just throw it at someone I don’t like…”, but more often than naught, if you pick up a pen, and happen to have a piece of paper close by, the pen starts to write words on the paper, and within only a few minutes, you have become a writer since the paper is full of words. And I don’t care what anybody says; writing of any kind (even if it has profanity in it that is used in moderation to make it funny or illustrate a point) is beautiful since it has come from the mind of someone inspired to write it.
Just a couple of weeks ago, those five words were still in my brain when I attended a reading event put on by my writers’ group (Triangle Association of Freelancers, aka “TAF”) at Quail Ridge Books here in Raleigh where a group of talented writers recited their stories that had been published in TAF’s latest omnibus book. It was incredible, and as I sat there, I had this feeling of a two-by-four hitting me square in the back of my head, and a voice that sounded a lot like my own yelling in my ears, “You know, the next time they do of these events, there’s no reason you can’t be up there reading a story that you wrote and had published in the book!” My favorite literary agent friend Lisa was there, and that ominous voice once again yelled in my ears, “She’s always loved reading your blog stories, so…give her something to read! And how about your second mom, Mama Donna? She’s been dying to read something new from you! Stop blaming life and just pick up the pen!” Right at that moment, something happened that hasn’t in a long time: the muscles of my left hand began to morph like a pen was being put in it.
We are all writers, artists, actors, and creators of some kind, and if you didn’t utilize your talent in 2022, don’t sweat it, but don’t let 2023 go the same way, let your talent come out and shine! I finally found the inspiration I needed to “just pick up the pen”, and not only does it feel really, really good, but it’s time to let the pen fly and write some more!
Rumble's Rumblings 