A WRITER’S JOURNEY, PART 5
When the people you work with are anywhere from eight to ten years younger than you, you tend to notice someone closer to your age who starts working there. She indicated she worked full time at an ad agency and this was just a second job to defray the costs of moving back home to Wichita, KS. I was immediately smitten with her. That turned into deep affection and finally love. I had to make a decision pretty quickly: it was February 1995 and she was moving in August.
It could have been nothing more than a fling, an affair akin to “Summertime” with Katherine Hepburn. But there was something tugging at the back of mind that I couldn’t let her go. By that, I never thought of keeping her in Boston. More like I might just have to follow. My dream as a youth of living and working had been fulfilled; now it was time to pursue new dreams.
If you know me (or you are just good at guessing), this is my wife I am referring to. We’ve been together for twenty-seven years, married for twenty-four. Now, this was a scary venture for both of us. I didn’t know if I would like Wichita; she didn’t know if I would like Wichita. What would happen to the relationship if I didn’t? Transitions are painful and require discipline and patience. I had the latter in abundance; the former was still being developed.
I did very little writing initially, maybe a poem here or there before or after work. The focus really was on developing this relationship, making sure it had meaning and a true bond. Readjustment can take a long period of time. I came across an ad for Project Greenlight developed and produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. This Boston guy was taken with those Boston guys. I learned how to use my wife’s computer and reworked an old screenplay. Unfortunately, I did not win anything but I did finally get off my duff.
Years went by and I did very little writing. I satisfied my artistic jones by doing some Jackson Pollock-inspired painting with cheap canvases and “oops” paint purchased from home repair stores for very little. It was a way of confirming a sense of creativity, even if it wasn’t in a discipline I felt completely comfortable doing.
I took the plunge and attended a meeting of the Kansas Writers Association and met local writers. I entered their writing contest and placed in a couple of poetry categories. I attended their conference in 2012. I entered the Pitchapalooza which was hosted by The Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, and apparently impressed a few people. The folks at K.W.A. encouraged me to attend the O.W.F.I. Writers Conference. My world, writing and otherwise, was about to get bigger.
NEXT: The world of fiction…and beyond!
