Meet Me in the Margins

by Melissa Ferguson

total stranger had given me solace through the power of words, helped me escape the troubles of my world if just for enough time to get a much-needed breath, and even—through several quietly uplifting messages threaded throughout his fast-paced novels—showed me what it was like to pursue my dreams. Try new adventures. Dare.

The written word became my passion. And from that moment on all I knew was what an incredible honor it would be to bring that adventure, that life, that joy, that hope, that world to somebody else. To pen novels—to play any role in bringing fiction to life, for that matter—is to wield a superpower.

But then, as I hold the eraser of the pencil over the words, I hesitate. Because a part of me does want to know: What about me? What would somebody think of a person like me? Who, out there in the world, would think I was special enough to make the heroine in their story? Or am I to be only the protagonist of my own?

“And that’s where I wonder if I should correct you, Savannah. You may be loyal, but it doesn’t sound as if the rest of your family is loyal to you.” He sounds so harsh, as if editing my life.

But the sense of loneliness. Betrayal. And the requirement to put on a brave face and repeat my rehearsed lines through it all. Always.

For what it’s worth, you are a good sister and a remarkably thoughtful human being. You deserve the same kind of happiness you wish to bestow on them.”

Life is not simply some game where the person with the most plaques wins. It’s not about a perfectly organized home or acquiring degrees you’ll never use or the number of inches around your waistline or, most especially, counting steps. Life is about movement, and pause. Work, and rest. It’s about relationship. About valuing others and truly taking the time to show them they are precious. About valuing yourself, too, and your uniquely given, whispered-into-your-DNA goals and dreams.

Life is about making drippy pancakes on a Saturday morning, and leaving the dishes in the sink to sit down with Lyla at the kitchen table and talk about her new agent. It’s about making a bath and spending so much time reading in it that the water gets cold and my fingers go pruny. Yes, there should be fundraisers and shoebox drives and hard work, too, but it’s also about slowing down. Truly being present.

It’s about appreciating the miraculous gift that is existence. It’s about loving on others as much as you can. And yes, it is also about appreciating what organically mak...