The original story was told by Aesop. I can recall listening to my parents read it to me at around age seven or eight. If I close my eyes and concentrate I can see the shiny red dust jacket of the book, the gold embossed lettering on the paper that reflects the reading lamp. Here I am four decades later and I’m still thinking about this tale. That is why we so lovingly refer to it as a classic.
When you read this title, what does it make you think of? The slow and steady tortoise, or the zippy zany hare racing across a meadow? I would say that in life, I have been a combination of these two characters; even at times now, well into adulthood. I find myself connecting situations to the dilemma that these two protagonists face. Parenthood has forced me to lean into my art as the tortoise. I have relearned how to move in my body, stand, sit, walk, roll from side to side with the growth, birth, postpartum experiences I was graced to carry for four years. Life is not a race kid, get in line and keep going. My father spoke wise words to me when he would repeat the following phrases, “Half of life is showing up, so show up and see what happens kiddo.” “I’ve learned that most people fall into two categories, those that do the work, and those that take the credit, line up for work one kiddo, it’s always shorter.”
For the last six years I have slowly plugged away as a writer. I don’t want to write that I was a “part time writer,” for a little over two years, because when is anyone working as part time anything? But, I digress. I enjoyed writing for two companies, one more than the other. The research component was mainly my favorite, the editing part was laborious and taught me a lot about being succinct and thoughtful when choosing the language in which I delivered information. My background as an educator for thirteen years led me to focus on writing article submissions for children’s magazines. I will admit that out of countless applications I received one potential second interview and a silly rhyming story. Invariably I received a decline and polite thank you for my submission. Here’s the thing though, I still get in line for work. I don’t focus solely on placing my eggs into one basket though. Instead, I created my own baskets. In 2021 I wrote bits and pieces of a story that would slowly unfurl like the leaves on the trees we watch transform in spring. A middle grade fantasy novel emerged from countless hours of walking around the neighborhood with a baby strapped to my chest and a toddler on a balance bike at my feet. Tread on, keep going I whispered to myself. The tortoise pace was difficult for me to settle into, but I got up and tried each day.
After a twelve week journey with Julia Cameron’s book, The Artists Way, I set forth in 2023 to write a novel. After a very special trip to New York to see friends and family I found inspiration in the city. I told myself that if I wrote 500-1000 words per day, I could get a novel completed in roughly one year’s time. I can honestly write and say that I achieved that goal. The editing process did not come any easier with rereading that manuscript. At the end of the year I had a few more ideas, but I felt my creativity begin to wither. It took a couple seasons of Earth’s rotations before I was ready to commit to a new novel idea. This time I veered away from historical fiction and decided to venture into contemporary romance. Is the process still tortoise certified? Absolutely. I am about half way through this newest writing endeavor and every day it is equally challenging and rewarding to show up and be the scribe for the characters in my imagination.
Why do I write all of this?
Today I received an email that sparked a thread of hope for sharing my voice, my writing, and this journey that began as a seed when I was a child, and began to grow with each piece I was brave enough to write. Putting pen to paper, typing the words, and just getting it out as imperfectly as possible has been the constant reminder that I repeat to myself. If you’d like to continue to read my work, please consider re-sharing it on Facebook or sending it to your friends to read and share, and “subscribing,” without any payment necessary on my substack here:
https://substack.com/@singrah02
I will continue to share my writing here for a time, but I will be moving over to substack within the next year.
Thank you.
startwithsparkles 