Hmmm... Writer or Street Sweeper?

Hmm...Writer or Street Sweeper?

As happens to everyone from time to time, last week I had one of "those" days. You know, the kind where you're drowning in doubt, wondering why in the heck you even try to do what you're trying to do?

It didn't help that I happened upon a blog poking fun at the press release for my first book. I honestly don't know what they found so amusing, unless it was the synopsis of my book. And I figured if that was the case, I'd better stop trying to write immediately, and save myself years of suffering.

I was firmly seated on the pity pot, wringing my hands and worrying about what I could do to make my lot in life better somehow. Then while surfing the internet, I came across the following quote:

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Well... that really got the old gray cells working, and I decided that the best thing I could do to shake the blues was to do what I enjoy doing most. What I feel called to do. Write. Now I'm the first to admit that I'm not remotely on a level with greatness. I'll never be a Hemingway, a Steinbeck, or even a Margaret Mitchell, for that matter, but I've been told I have gift for telling stories. If I failed to use that gift, wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting I didn't appreciate it? I think so. And what if the only people I ever reach are my family and closest friends? Well, maybe that's what I was meant to do. Therefore, isn't it my obligation to myself and to those who devoutly read my work, to be the best I can possibly be at my craft?

I think it is, so I made a commitment to myself to learn something new about writing stories every day--or at least a few times a week. (Don't want to overload the circuits. The old memory banks aren't working as well as they used to be.*S*) Upon further observation, it occurred to me that for most of my life I've made a habit of only learning enough about anything to "get by." I suppose now that I'm all grown up, I should settle down and actually choose a focus in life. It appears that Gypsy fortune-teller thing I used to dream about isn't going to work out, and since I've already devoted a large chunk of my life to writing, it would still be my first choice.

If not... I guess it's still not too late to learn street sweeping. At this stage in my life, it may be one of the few occupations that I know absolutely nothing about. So what are the chances I'll become a great street sweeper? About the same as the chances I'll become a great writer. Still, I'd rather do something I love. As for what all the hosts of heaven and earth might say about me, I hope it's something like, "That woman loves to write, and she can tell some great stories."