Way back in the old days, long before blogging officially became a thing, I had my own little corner of the Interwebs where I posted my poetry and short stories. These were the days when AOL and CompuServe ruled the vastness of our techno-community, a time just beyond the screeching connectivity of halted Internet service and not quite at the doorstep of the luxury of wireless anything.
It was a simpler time, friends.
I had a smattering of followers and even a site dedicated to poetry submissions so I could share the love of meter and rhyme far and wide.
Quite proud of my website designing prowess and writerly expertise, I shared my creations with my then-husband.
He quietly, oh-so-slowly read through my poems while I waited just beside him with star-bedazzled Anime eyes to reap the rewards of my brilliance.
"This is demented," he said, looking up at me with his Cro-Magnon forehead wrinkled, his face pinched. "Anyone that writes this kind of stuff has something seriously wrong with them."
Picture the scene, dear readers -- my tiny little too-full heart imploding in my chest, the now dull Anime stars falling from my eyes, my frame wilting beneath the weight of his words.
It wasn't long before I stopped posting my writing, and then stopped accepting submissions for my site. It wasn't long before I read and reread every word I wrote, searching for the delusional demon he saw hiding there.
It wasn't long before I quit writing entirely, not able to trust my own voice to float in a sea of his condemnation.
It also wasn't long before we divorced, but that's another story for a different day.
The thing about writing, about all art, is this: it's yours. You can put it out there for all the world to see, and they will definitely have an opinion.
Don't we all?
So some may hate it, call it demented, laugh at it, or completely ignore it. And that's perfectly fine. Some may love it. Some may need it. Some may take it and fold themselves into it and feel bigger and brighter and better just for having experienced it. And that also, is perfectly fine.
But at the root of it all, beneath the flowery expression that the world sees -- it is still yours. What truly matters is how you feel when you're in the act of making it. How you feel when it's finished and you stand back and breathe it in. What matters is what you learn in the process of each creation, and how you change because of it.
So keep creating. Throw it out into the wide world and say, "I made this. Enjoy. Or don't. You're welcome."
And then create some more.
Welcome to Every Day in May, where my incredible friend Crystal and I will be posting -- get this -- every. day. in. May. Some days we'll post on the same topic, some days we'll be wildly different. And that, as well, is perfectly fine too.
I hope you'll join us. Leave a link in the comments so we can find our way to your creation and tell you how wonderful you are.
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