To Be Prolific

My life has been fairly stable. Rarely does an event “change my life” in any significant way. Marriage, children, one’s job. Of course, these alter one’s life course, but when I think of a life-changing moment uniquely mine ,only one comes readily to my mind, and it has greatly affected these past 13 years of my life. Since my early school days, I’d enjoyed the magic of words, devouring books and feeling pride in some stories written for my creative writing class. After marriage, I occasionally wrote Christmas song parodies, but it was not until the new millennium that my life took a dramatic turn. I came out of the writing “closet” and showed my few poems online! If I had to name the one most pivotal moment in this new era for me, it would be the day I commented to a fellow poetess how I wished I were as prolific as she. I’d see her every day posting poems while I had barely a handful to show for myself. To paraphrase, this is what she told me: My friend, you must make yourself write. If you run out of ideas, just find a contest or some kind of inspiration in a phrase, topic, or picture. Sit yourself down and start writing! You can do it! Well, I did just that! I joined clubs and workshops, subscribed to magazines and acquainted myself with people who motivated me to create. Thirteen years later, here I am, writing at least two to three times a week. My life has been enriched by friendships formed through poetry and by a feeling of satisfaction that I am growing as a writer so that today I can confidently proclaim: Like those poets once my mentors, I too can be prolific! 299 words/ For Heather Ober's Moment of Truth (PROSE or NARRATIVE)Contest