I have had a list like this, and have thought about having a life list, but I never really started to live by it until this past year.
[By the way, Peg, I bought the List Your Self book too. Great for getting into characters' heads. And my own. Thanks.]
A year ago this Friday my grandmother died. She lived by the motto "Enjoy Life"--after working in a factory during WWII, losing her husband at age 43 and raising two kids alone, living independently until age 80--she never stopped loving life and doing the things she wanted to do.
When she got sick, I was working in a job I hated and was miserable. I had, however, just started writing a story I liked and had a conference paper accepted for a literary conference. I didn't want to find myself at age 80 with nothing to look back on but my paystubs and a lot of wasted youth. Not long after my grandmother died, I left my job.
Now, a year later, I have a new job that I love, I am taking English lit classes on my way to another degree, I write conference papers for fun, and I have 300+ pages of a working novel I hope to publish someday. Even if I don't, I'm happy. I hope I can keep it up--but if something goes awry, I will try and remember that my grandmother must have had bumpy times as well and didn't give up. I don't have a list yet, but I will soon.
So now that I have sapped up your LJ...I guess I will shut up.
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Date: 2003-03-05 08:30 pm (UTC)[By the way, Peg, I bought the List Your Self book too. Great for getting into characters' heads. And my own. Thanks.]
A year ago this Friday my grandmother died. She lived by the motto "Enjoy Life"--after working in a factory during WWII, losing her husband at age 43 and raising two kids alone, living independently until age 80--she never stopped loving life and doing the things she wanted to do.
When she got sick, I was working in a job I hated and was miserable. I had, however, just started writing a story I liked and had a conference paper accepted for a literary conference. I didn't want to find myself at age 80 with nothing to look back on but my paystubs and a lot of wasted youth. Not long after my grandmother died, I left my job.
Now, a year later, I have a new job that I love, I am taking English lit classes on my way to another degree, I write conference papers for fun, and I have 300+ pages of a working novel I hope to publish someday. Even if I don't, I'm happy. I hope I can keep it up--but if something goes awry, I will try and remember that my grandmother must have had bumpy times as well and didn't give up. I don't have a list yet, but I will soon.
So now that I have sapped up your LJ...I guess I will shut up.
Sarah