Some of you may be familiar with the prayer that's been attributed to Mother Teresa commonly referred to as "Do It Anyway." One of the stanzas goes like this:
What you spends years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
I often think of writing when I read these lines. I think of the years I've dedicated to one manuscript, hoping it will turn into a wondrous book, and that someday, that book will sit upon a shelf. I think of the research I've worked on, gathering information for one article, writing, editing, and polishing the words only to find that the market I pitched is no longer interested. I think of that one essay I've poured myself into, and yet, the thoughts are wrapped up in a neat little document on my computer, because time after time, the essay's been rejected.
But I'm a writer, so I create anyway. And I send my creations out into the world, aware that failure is an option, that an editor or contest judge or publisher or even another writer might stomp all over my writing heart and soul. I try anyway. Because I know what Mother Teresa knew. Sometimes, success is waiting.
Yesterday, I heard from a friend who won a wondrous grant for unpublished authors. And I had an article accepted in a market that I almost didn't send to, because I thought I didn't have the credentials to get published there. I have another friend who's on a blog tour for her second romance novel, though she started her writing career with a memoir.
Keep creating. Keep trying. Success is an option, too.
(If you'd like to read the entire Mother Teresa prayer, as well as the original poem on which it was based, you can click here. As for the photo, that "V" in the water is called a "fish trap." Native Americans found (I suspect after quite a few failures!) that they could pile up rocks in shallow river beds, thereby trapping the fish. Success at last-and a mighty fine dinner!)
