Then, I thought there was a trick to it. Now, I know better.<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, I was trying to lose this same twenty pounds. And ten years ago I was agonizing over expressing my art. I’ve lost and gained those 20 pounds again and again over these years.<\/p>\n
And I’ve wrestled and written and thought and written and avoided and procrastinated and started again with my writing.<\/p>\n
But with both, it’s the same. There is no trick to it. You just have to do the work.<\/p>\n
I’ve lost weight with fads, and I’ve lost weight on Weight Watchers. I’ve lost weight on my own and I’ve lost weight joining other people.<\/p>\n
I’ve read writing books, and I’ve joined writing groups. I’ve NEVER written for hours on end. I’ve just kept at it. I’m still breathing and I’m still writing. Because that’s what it takes. Not giving up, not quitting.<\/p>\n
When Miriam the Camel Driver<\/a> was published, my first book in my hands, I was so thrilled. I was so happy, I actually kept thinking, “I’d better be careful how I drive, because now I could die. THis is the thing I had to do before I died, and I’m still young!”<\/p>\n I didn’t die. I kept, as a matter of fact, writing.<\/p>\n And I kept developing as an author. The work of being on a diet is similar to being an artist, but the results are not. I am not still writing the same 20 pages.<\/p>\n I have writen more, and gotten better. These last ten years, the ongoing lifetime of my blog, have been well spent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Then, I thought there was a trick to it. Now, I know better. Ten years ago, I was trying to lose this same twenty pounds. And ten years ago I was agonizing over expressing my art. I’ve lost and gained … Continue reading