Monday, 21 September 2009

• A little encouragement

  Shall I begin by saying that I should really be in bed right now?  Right.  As you wish. 
  
  I should really be in bed right now.
  
  But I'm not. 
  
  Here's why:

  Before officially turning in, I caught a glimpse of my desk.  It was kind of a wreck.  That usually wouldn't bother me, but I'm spending tomorrow with a college friend who has never seen my house.  I don't think he'd judge me for it, but the thought of my desk--the very sanctuary from which I write...and facebook--being a mess bothered me just enough to provoke me to clean.
  
  When I cleaned up, I found this:
  

  "I am intimately acquainted with four in the morning.  We have never gotten on well, but, even in our disdain for one another, we cannot deny familiarity.  I am much better friends with eight, nine, and ten.  Four always insists that I get out of bed.  Eight usually lets me hit the snooze alarm once or twice."
  
  It's a very small part of a large creative nonfiction project that I worked on in graduate school.  It made an impression on a few people, notably one of the strongest poets in my program.  He came into work at the writing center--his shift coming just after my own--and told me that that piece struck him: that it was beautiful, something he would never think of.   He couldn't say enough about it. 

  I'm not as impressed by it as he was, but thinking about that conversation made me smile.  It's amazing to think of the power behind those comments.  As long as I have that paragraph, I think I will probably remember his words. 

  It's amazing how far a little encouragement can stretch, isn't it?

  • 11:57 PM
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