Some Writers Ignore The Oscars

One day my books will be on a shelf like the one in the featured photo but I hope that if they look like they are worn it is not because of age but because of use.

You might wonder if this is connected to why I say some writers ignore the Oscars and I’ll nod my head and smile at you.

I’ll tell you about how I am listening to Carole King sing Home Again and say if you are very lucky you’ll have someone who doesn’t just listen, but hears that song with you.

There is something special, something magical about having that person who shares a song with you, doesn’t have to be one that anybody but you two can hear either.

The Reason I’m Not Watching The Oscars

It has nothing to do with politics or anything of import to anyone other than me.

The reason is I am ambivalent about most of the awards and am focused on doing what I can to make that dream I shared above into something more than just a dream.

That means I have to take the time to write and to do it when the words flow freely and when they don’t.

It means sometimes it is convenient and sometimes it is not. Success doesn’t come without some talent and some luck, but more than anything else it doesn’t come without hard work.

Put in the time, put in the effort and put in the hours and you position yourself for good things to come to you.

That is what I tell my kids, my friends and more importantly…myself.

The blog helps me provide proof of such things, if ever I doubt it I find evidence in posts like Who Knew That High School Would Be Connected To Retirement?

If we agree with King life becomes much easier and in my case I do, I write because it makes me happy.

It is the best way I know to figure out what I think, what I want, what I need and what I intend to do about it all.

When I flip through the pages and come across something like More Than Heaven Will Allow I smile because I see more than raw potential.

I see past and present moving to the future.

And I do that knowing some people will scratch their heads and wonder what the fuck I am talking about. Some will read these words and be infuriated for reasons they can’t figure out the same way others will be moved in a positive way.

Some will read these words and be infuriated for reasons they can’t figure out the same way others will be moved in a positive way.

That is the point, to move people, not just me, but you.

And to do so knowing full well that once you put your pen to paper and dump the contents of your head upon it you no longer have control of how your words will be interpreted and understood.

The funny thing about it is that your understanding can change too. Time, age and experiences impact it all.

It Doesn’t Matter If People Read

Carole has moved onto singing Tapestry and it occurs to me the first ten thousand times I heard this song I didn’t appreciate it.

I was too young, too this or too that.

But today, now, I am in a much different place and it touches me.

This is what my grandfather meant when he said you can’t screw an old head on young shoulders.

Life experiences make all the difference in how and why we appreciate or don’t appreciate some things.

An Intermission

It is why when my son asked me if I was going to do anything besides criticize him I laughed.

“Dad, it is not funny.”

“Sure it is, ask grandpa and he’ll tell you to suck it up the same way he told me to.”

“I don’t have to make the same mistakes you did.”

“No, you don’t. Be smarter than I was. Do a better job of managing expectations and don’t make me ask you 15 times to do what you already should have done.”

“Stop asking me.”

“I am not fucking around any longer. I am going to log into Verizon and turn off your phone. Then you can call grandpa and ask how I responded to that.”

“You didn’t have a cellphone. That is not a fair example.”

“Life isn’t fair. I love you which is why I am riding you about this. Get it done. Manage your time better. Be smarter than I was and you won’t hear from me about it.”

He glares at me, walks away and I know he is going to test me on this. I have to smile, because I would have done the same, but still I hope he proves me wrong.

End Of Intermission

There is always someone who knows better than you and I. Always a critic who will tell us how we should have done something and some of them might actually be right.

But then again they might not be.

We who wish to be taken seriously as writers can’t afford to worry about whether people will read our words.

We have to write. We have to write. We have to write.

Somewhere in between the periods and pauses we’ll look up and see someone has noticed our work.

Someone will respond and react.

That is my belief.

That is my approach.

Remember when I called myself a professional itinerant?

Well maybe that is tied into my having more adventures and experiences to write about. Maybe that is what I need to help push me into pulling out the write words.

Or maybe it is not.

Either way it doesn’t matter to me because I am going to write and write and write and rest assured that good things will come from that.