Monday, June 1, 2009

Old, New, Surprise! Surprise!

I am an old writer. Not old in years - - well, not too old, anyway. But old in the sense that I've been writing for a long time. I began journaling at least 15 years ago. I haven't journaled everyday of those 15 years, but enough to have accumulated quite a few spiral-bound notebooks full of my random and not-so-random thoughts. The good thing about keeping a journal is it won't talk back. It won't give you its opinion or tell you what you are doing wrong. The bad thing about keeping a journal is it won't talk back. "People Need Other People" is an old song (yes, I realize I'm close to giving my age away). This song title says it all. We need each other. We need to hear the voice of reason from our best friend, or parents and yes, sometimes the voice of reason comes from our children. And we need to be hugged, or at least be affectionately touched. Scientific research has shown that every individual needs a minimum of 10 positive touches a day. So, go hug your kids. And your spouse. You will be glad you did.

Ah, but I digress.

I am a new writer. About 18 months ago, God spoke to me as I was reading His Word and journaling and He said I was to begin writing. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. I've always said "I'm not creative. When God was passing out the creativity genes, He passed right by me without stopping." But the thought would not leave me. I took four online creative writing classes and I've never looked back. Which leads me to...

Surprise! Surprise! Imagine my total shock when I received an email yesterday that one, possibly two, of the short stories I had entered into a contest had made it to the short list. I was, and still am, very surprised. To be this new in the writing arena and have one of the first things I wrote make it onto the short list of a prestigious contest is nothing short of amazing. To me, at least. But not to God. After all, He gave me that creativity.

(c) 2009 Edwina E. Cowgill

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