Creative Writing Class

Today's the day the Creative Writing Class begins at the library. I've been eagerly anticipating this day since I was asked to teach this course back in November. I looked back in some of my nightly journals, way back when I was a teenager, and amid the many ridiculous comments about boys I liked glancing at me in the halls and my frustrations with hairspray not holding my bangs straight up like a wall, I found entries describing how much I wanted to write and make movies and public speak when I was an adult. It may have been a long, circuitous road to arrive here, but I feel a deep satisfaction that I am on the road toward my dreams. I spoke to our Mothers of Preschoolers group in November about pursuing my dream of writing, and that led to a library board member hearing my speech and presenting the idea of a creative writing class for adults taught by me, and that led to today.

When I told my mom that I was going to teach this course, I blustered with a variety of amazed excuses about how I'm not a trained teacher, but I felt like I had so much to say on the subject of writing, and she reminded me that I have been teaching people to rubber stamp and make cards for the last 6 years. All of life's moving parts seem to be connected to each other. You don't realize it at the time, but when you look back with the benefit of a few years behind you, it becomes obvious that the path you were on led you to the next thing, and the next thing. Some paths were detours in the grand scheme, but if you listen to your subconscious, you'll feel if you are on the wrong track and make an adjustment. So much of how I've lived my life has been based on instinct, which I believe to be God, nudging me in a direction that will be good for me. The times I have been detoured are generally when I ignored that small nudge or was unaware of it.

I love that it is never too late to pursue your passions and your dreams. I'm a 37 year old wife, mother, newspaper employee, student, home business owner, community volunteer, and now I'm becoming a writer, which was the main childhood dream that propelled me into adulthood. I have always been pursuing writing, in one way or another, but needed to find my own voice in order to be able to succeed at it. If you don't know who you really are, it's hard to write (or express yourself at all) with any authenticity. There is no formula for this; you must walk towards your true, real self, accepting no substitutes, and then have the courage to say what you believe to be the truth. It won't mean anything to anyone if it doesn't genuinely mean something to you.

10 people are going to gather at the library tonight to pursue creative writing in one form or another. I want to build in them the courage to believe that they can write, that they must say what they have to say in their own voice, and that if they do not, the world will miss out on something special. To write, you must nurture your flame of belief in yourself, fan it, keep it alive. If you let it go out, it will be a long, slow road back to creativity. I will urge them to write something, every day, to keep the creative flow from atrophy. I can't wait for 7 pm.