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Monday, July 14, 2008


It was a tough weekend. My childrens' dance teacher lost her father, and a friend lost her husband. One was unexpected, and one defied every medical opinion. Both changes, both part of life. Changes, yes, but unpleasant ones. Just call me Debbie Downer.

After I bawled my eyes out, I felt the need to put words on paper. Do something creative. Anything, really. And so I started another edit of my book. I had decided that one specific character needed to have a major change, which sent me off on adding, deleting and solving continuity issues.

In a totally self-centered way, making the changes in my manuscript made me feel better. I can't do anything to make my friends hurt less. Only time will do that. But changes, even uncomfortable ones, can lead to good things.

What changes have happened lately in your life ,or your pages, or both?


Nicole Maggi said...

Good for you for turning negative into positive. An old acting teacher of mine used to call that spinning our sh!t into gold. *s*
I think it's important to take our time to grieve and cry and rail at the world. But once we've done that, and dried our tears, it becomes about how we respond. Do we crawl under the covers and hide from the world? Or do we haul ourselves to the page (or the canvas or the studio) and use our creative talents to churn out something beautiful? It's the latter choice that keeps the world turning, I think. Bravo to you for making that hard, brave choice!
As for me, I'm in mid-haul. I haven't had any personal tragedies as of late (knock on wood), just a lot of life stuff - buying a house (yay!), moving, craziness at work, rehearsing a show, opening a show, etc etc etc! Lots of good things, but I let my creative well run dry. Now I'm restocking. I think part of the reason you were able to respond to these tragedies in such a positive way is because you kept your well stocked. Good girl! :-)

Gerb said...


That's part of being an artist, I think - channeling your emotions into your work. Creative types feel deeply and it can be debilitating if we don't find an outlet for it. (((Hugs))) to you and to the two women who have lost significant people in their lives.

I haven't had any tragic changes in my life recently, but I did connect with my heritage when I visited to Scotland this summer and it has sparked a keen desire to tell a story set in the Highlands.

Now if I can just get through everything I'm *supposed* to be doing so I can go play with my Scottish story, I'll be happy.

Ginger Calem said...

Julie--there are many things in our lives that we have no control over. But it is a sign of strength that we can take grief and sorrow and turn it into something productive...gain control over what we can and do something positive with it.

You set a great example. And HUGS for your losses.