MUSINGS - September 29, 2015

"It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer."

- E. B. White - 

I attended a literary conference this past weekend at Casper College. It was a delight to sit with other writers and artists and conceptualize what we do and the supposed reasons behind our doing it.

There is something to be said for conversing with people who "get" why I write, even if I'm not truly able to put it into words. They don't need my words to know why I write. They write for the same reason.

There is something powerful that happens when I connect with "my own kind" even if we write in different genres. I get filled up and inspired, and I leave with the fortitude to keep writing.

I am blessed with many friends, and I connect with them in different ways. For some our connection is writing, but with most of my friends writing is not the reason we connect. We connect in other ways, whether it be through yoga or playing music or healthy, yummy food or spiritualism.

With each friend, I find something to hold on to, to honor and love, and each connection motivates me to move toward who I can be as a person, because my friend's example of doing so inspires me.

But I have to say, I don't always get the opportunity to mingle with writers that are truly in it for the craft, to appease the compulsion in their soul to do it. Most writers I run into these days are more out for making money that writing can potentially bring rather than the craft. I'm not so inspired then.

I so appreciated the conference and the opportunity to meet other writers in my community, to broaden my circle.

Mostly, I'm continually grateful for those I cross paths with that write and love the craft of writing, whether it makes them money or not. And I definitely met some of them this past weekend. Thank you.

Image Source

Elwyn Brooks "E. B." White was born in Mount Vernon, New York on July 11, 1899 and left this world on October 1, 1985. He contributed writings to The New Yorker and Harper's Magazine. He worked at The New Yorker for close to sixty years, having begun his career there in 1925. He wrote children's books and co-authored a book called The Elements of Style. Most may associate his name to Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. Of course there are many other books he wrote, such as: Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do; Subtreasury of American Humor; The Wild Flag; Here is New York; The Second Tree from the Corner; and The Trumpet of the Swan (this isn't a complete list).