Thankfully perspective

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Lassen National Forest, California; our trek eastward took us along this route, trees not surviving a firestorm now markers of what used to be.

I enjoyed a brief chat with a fellow author this morning via Bluesky, just my reply to his post from over a week ago, then his appreciation for my musings. Which is always lovely, interacting with other writers. I responded with this not quite three hundred character missive:

It's merely in my acceptance that a theme/message written now or ten years ago isn't tied to this/that point in time. And being brave enough to follow the muse/spirit, not letting expectations (mine or anyone else's) deem what is valuable in the creative process. Aging/maturity helps. (With a smiley face inserted right afterwards.)

Sometimes off the cuff remarks can be incredibly....Valid. Brilliant. Insightful, ahem, speaking for myself, lol. I took a screenshot of that reply because I wanted to remember it without having to go back to look it up later. And not only remember it, but study it, absorb it, then definitely pass it along. Because society is SO USED TO wanting the instant gratification, the quick fix, the here and now injected into our bloodstreams and constantly pumped through our heads as if waiting more than five seconds for anything is torturous.

So for a little context: The author wanted to know fellow writers' biggest challenges and greatest triumphs. I proffered that last year I'd written four books, and this year it was all about publishing novels, and maybe next year I'll write something new; that was the challenge. Triumph was accepting books from the past can be novels of the future, perspective and patience being the keys. I'm considering The Hawk, over a dozen years old but soon to be packaged like new. But there's more to it, in the willingness to at times let novels (or other creative outlets) simmer slowly, be that in walking away from the endeavor and letting it breath like a fine wine, or not rushing the editing process, allowing revisions to hone a rough manuscript into the proverbial diamond.

Or a mix of those, which is indeed The Hawk. Or a quilt like Alexandria. Or some part of life that needs space to grow or rest or enact the smallest change(s) that somehow transforms it into whatever makes you, the creator, ecstatic! Or pleased that you have brought this project to whatever close is right for you.

I will freely admit to publishing my earliest novels far too soon for my grasp of the craft. However.... If I had not released them when I did, I would not be here in Nevada celebrating Thanksgiving with my son. If that sounds a little farfetched, well, who knows what might be my life if I hadn't zagged when I probably should have zigged. In adding that to the equation, I don't mean to denote everything previously said. Only to assert what is IS what is. I can't change the past, but I can learn from it. Or have marvelous lessons dropped onto my lap as if from creative heaven. If nothing else, Present Me used to be Future Me, and thankfully Future Me back then was smarter than Past Me WAY back then. Which leads back to Me of the Here and Now on Thanksgiving Day 2024, feeling pretty dang good about my authorial life choices, even if some were kinda dubious. Suffice to say, it seems to all be working out well enough.

I won't ponder what current Future Me thinks of all this; she's got her back to me, tapping her foot in a random pattern. Past Me is basting hexies, not going to bother her either. I'll simply conclude this post giving MANY thanks to Present Me for having the awareness and grace to embrace all that has been and all that will be because that's what I'm called to do. Be in this very moment, grateful as all get-out, for every little thing.

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