28 Sep Falling in Love with Books and the Library
Why I Write
I wanted to share a little about why I write. I have loved words since I was a little girl. Once I learned to read, I never stopped seeking knowledge. As I grew, I found joy in books and gravitated to the library.
My First Poetry Encounter
My first poem in second grade was read out loud to the class, and I was hooked on poetry from that moment. The elementary school librarian told me about Maya Angelou, and I fell in love with her writing style, life story, poetry collections, storytelling flair, and inspiring words. From that moment on, I thought I would be a novelist or a poet. I read everything in the school library by Maya.
Poetry Lives in My Heart
That little girl ’s love of poetry continues to live in my heart. After my eye injuries, I went into a spiral of loss, pain, fear, hurt, and anger. When I was at the worse point in my life, I turned back to writing poetry, prayers, positive affirmations, and inspirational prose. As I began to write the words flowing from my heart, the light returned to my world.
Supporting Others with Thoughts of Love
I found that I could help and inspire others, too, by providing personal notes and poems as unique gifts. With the new health challenges in my life, travel became difficult, and my funds we’re stretched. So I used my thoughts to hold the people I could not journey to support. Siri and Dragon Naturally Speaking transcribed what I could no longer see to write.
Writing Life and Love into My Family’s Hearts
I wrote: thinking of you letters, sympathy poems, remembrance letters, prayers for the sick, anniversary poems, and notes of encouragement. I also found joy in writing family history stories, and short stories to help distract my mind from focusing on the pain. Hearing the joy in my loved one’s voices as they shared the happiness my thoughts brought them, inspired me to think of ways to help more people.
My Father Speaking His Wishes
One day, as my father was hugging me goodbye, he squeezed me and whispered in my ear, ”Baby, I want you to publish something.” I said, ”Really?” He smiled, nodded, and I agreed, but did not give it too much thought. Then, he took ill and I remembered, his dream of me publishing a book. I have never wanted to disappoint my father and I knew that I made a promise.
Conveying Messages of Love
When I started listening to my catalog of prose, I was shocked to see how much I had already written. It was just a matter of selecting my favorite pieces, identifying a theme, getting an editor, and finding a book cover to convey my messages of love. I asked a few family members with good eyesight, if they would help me make my father’s dream come true, and they agreed. Once we put a small team together, I started listening to podcast and webpages that offered publishing instructions.
Figuring Out What to Publish
My initial thought was to publish my romantic novel, but I cLearly needed more help and better vision to organize something so big. A professor friend suggested poetry, as she was already sharing some of my writings with her students. She was convinced that I should publish a ”Chap Book.” That suggestion was the perfect way to quickly meet my dad’s wishes and something small enough that I thought my eyes could handle.
Helping People Heal
Over the years many people had spoken to me about publishing. But it was something different to hear my father speak his dream into me. So this us how my publishing journey began, and how my first collection came to be. I was surprised to see how much the people in my life supported me in finding a new purpose and fulfilling new dreams. I had written to myself for years and just kept pouring my heart out. All of the things that I had written to God seeking understanding, looking for my purpose and opening up my heart through my tears, ended up being perfect words to help others heal too.
Finding A New Purpose in Life
I am glad that God has given me a new purpose. It was hard not being able to keep my career, take care of my family, and even harder just trying to get through the daily pain. Sometimes I just can’t stop the tears from falling. My eye pain and impairment comes from Chronic Reginal Pain Syndrome (CRPS) also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) and often overlooked and misdiagnosed illness. I will share more about that in a later post.
Enjoy your day and remember your smile.