Yesterday I spent some time reading through my two essay books, “Out of the Ashes” and “From There to Here and In-Between”. I had not looked back at any of that work in quite a long time, nor had I written many new essays for this blog in the past two or three years. Life had taken over my existence as I became more and more of a caregiver for a failing spouse. Even with his passing over two years ago, the desire and need to write had remained mostly dormant. So, when the urge to read my “old” work kept creeping into my awareness, I knew I needed to pay attention.
The years represented by the essays in those two collections are years which, for me, were years of painful inner reflection, acceptance of life on life’s terms, personal growth, and a response to an inner call to write as honestly as possible without fear of retribution, or rejection. Nevertheless, the essays in those two collections are a combination of wit, insight, reflection, and fun reads. “God’s Refrigerator” made me laugh again, “When Life Calls” reminded me that prayer is answered in many ways, and “Back to the Future” took me on a memory-filled trip to high school.
My path to writing was both unexpected and unintended. Yet, here I sit, some 13 years after I answered what I now know was a spiritual call, with 9 books and a blog.
What is my path now? Is writing still a part of it? Well life has changed dramatically for me. I fell in love with the man for whom I had unknowingly waited my entire life. As a result, I left the mountains I thought I would never leave, and where I produced most of my written work, for a home with him on the James River in eastern Virginia. And why did we buy that home? Because there was a “bait shack” down by the river that we both knew would be the perfect place for me to write.
And it is.
Life has taken me down a path that I never expected to walk, but a path that I am so incredibly grateful to be on. And I can feel the call once again to write, to create, to allow the Muse to inspire. I hope you will accept this invitation to once again accompany me on the journey. It’s going to be a doozy.