Creative Crossroads

Pink Think: "Just do what you do best." - Red Auerbach


Photo by Ereine on Flickr

Raining today and I am in a pensive mood. Feeling like I am in a creative crossroads.

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My article on a town throwing a surprise rally for a man battling cancer ran in the Deseret News today. Click here to read.

I heard about the planned rally Wednesday afternoon, interviewed the man at 6, went to the rally at 8:30 and stayed up until 5 a.m. writing the article.

My husband recommends that I be more efficient writing my pieces. I think at the rate I write these, I am probably earning a dollar an hour. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but still. He has a good point, and I suppose I can just churn out the pieces and shave off a few hours here and there, but I would hate to send something out unless it reflected my best effort.

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I never know what to expect when I interview someone, but I had an inkling this latest article might move something inside me. I met the subject two years ago at a community event, where he and his ballroom dance group were doing a waltz. I remember how debonair he looked in a tux. At any moment then, he and his wife were due to have a baby, a miracle baby because doctors had said he would become sterile from cancer treatments.

I sat with him again two days ago. And the change was striking. No hair; thinner, more frail, but his spirit still looked out at me from a direct gaze. Several times during the interview, I felt like I was sitting at someone's feet being instructed on how to best live life. Which is, no holds barred, seizing opportunities to improve one's self and others. I couldn't help but feel grateful that I could do my part of memorializing this man before he passed away. I hope his bone marrow transplant gives him a few more years with his family of nine children ages 2 to 24.

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I have done little towards novel-writing. Maybe a half-page or two. I've been summering with my kids and living.

Getting some journalistic exposure instead.

My article called Dungeons and Dragoons appeared in Filipinas Magazine this month. I wrote it over a year ago, and it's fun to finally see it in print. They have me billed in the magazine editorial box as a contributing writer, which is cool.

I am not sure where my writing will go from here. I really enjoyed writing about the man battling cancer. When I wrote it, I dregged up elements of fiction writing, trying to tell a story, trying to show not tell. I am intrigued by the thought that perhaps someday, I can try my hand at a non-fiction book, a la The Orchid Thief.

And then there's another creative outlet tapping on my shoulder: poetry and songwriting.