I Gotta Learn to Grieve

I just learned something I already knew. I have always admitted I don't do conflict very well. I am, as my wife says, an insufferable optimist, and writing real opposition and evil into stories is very difficult for me.
And that is what separates the great from the good, or perhaps the good from the mediocre. I have a wonderful imagination, better than most, but I am average at best in keeping tension, in prolonging suspense. This makes for sappy writing, or conflict resolution before the reader is able to acknowledge it as feasible. (Thank you, Tara)
This is so true in my own life as well. Even in seasons and situations where I have every right and even obligation to grieve, I find some way to find joy, to discover the bright side, and thus I rob myself of the true opposition that would make me a much deeper person. It seems cowardly, and perhaps that is exactly what it is. I don't like to think of myself that way, but maybe it is true...