It's been too long! I have thought at least once a day for the past month "I should post on my blog," but then something else always supersedes it and then I forget. But after today, I need to write. So.
This week has been pretty insane, trying to get comfortable in my classes, establish a routine, and jump on the homework train once again. For my creative nonfiction class this week, we have been reading The Wet Collection by Joni Tevis. I have absolutely loved this book - not just a book; a journey; a literary experience! I love when I read books that remind me why I love literature so much. Anyway, I finished reading The Wet Collection this morning, which was timely because Tevis was coming to BYU today to do a reading of her work. I was looking forward to the reading, but when I sat down in my creative nonfiction class, in walks Joni Tevis! My professor had arranged for her to come to our class to answer questions before the reading. I'd never had the opportunity to meet an author whose work I loved, so having her in our small classroom was really great! And very inspiring. After our class we went to the reading, and it was wonderful to hear her read from her own book. After she read, there was period of question/answer, and then we went into another room and she signed books and chatted with us a little. From the whole experience, reading her book, hearing her talk about and read her own writing, I learned a few of what I consider to be important things:
1. I love to write, but it's always something that I have never felt brave enough to take on. She mentioned she had always wanted to be a writer, and at 19 or 20 when she starting thinking seriously about writing, she realized how hard it was going to be. But that didn't stop her; she took it on as a challenge. So instead of being intimidated by writing, I feel like I should go for it, and do it because I want to, and because I need to not be afraid to do hard things.
2. I was trying to convince one of my friends to start a blog, and she said "my life isn't interesting enough." I think that's such a myth about writing. One of the things I've learned in this class so far, and from Joni Tevis, is that you don't need to have the life of a rock star so you can have interesting things to write about. The most important thing is how you look at your experiences. She said "I write to make sense of my life."
Anyway. Not sure where exactly I was going with this, but here's my thoughts on the day.
It was an day/week that inspired epiphany :) and that's always nice to have.
Read Joni's book! The Wet Collection:
