Poised for the Final Act - Dayna Mazzuca

To be strong is to be balanced. The Bible talks about being "bold and stout-hearted" as the work of God. The finished work. That He delights in our strength. Our boldness.

This means reconciling the act of revelation (e.g. writing our best thoughts as they come to us through the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit) with the act of relating well to others. Of speaking bold, strong and true (e.g. finding our voice and trusting God with the rest). And then standing, as they come to the microphone to say, "Wow." or "Thank You."

As people come forward to say, "Congratulations," the goal is to stand tall. Do not demure or back away from what you put forward in faith. Stand behind your words.

This way the world will not only hear what you have to say from the front of the room. They will be able to receive what you have to offer face to face. The circle will be complete. You will have done your job. Yay!

This is what it means to balance the last bits of the writing life: the completed project with the congratulatory response, which can be unsettling and put you off balance.

The Final Act of the Writing Life: The words on the page read out loud to an audience. The message delivered. The truth spoken. The story told. Bravo!

Balanced with the Human Response to Praise (always a danger to an unsettled ego): The response to what you read and how you read it. The pats on the back. The flowers and champagne. The new outfit. The reward and hugs all around. Way to go!

To Write Strong to the end: we need only be true to the call of God on our lives.

To Respond Well to Others' Response at the end: we need only remember
God is pleased with us (too!).

This might sound like too much joy. Too many balloons floating against the ceiling. Too many bubbles in the bath! This might sound like a strange way to achieve balance in the writing life. But I believe that getting this part right will give us capacity and patience and endurance to do what we need to do to get to this point. This is where we want to be. In total Happiness Overload. Crazy successful on the page and off. With publishers and with people. But mostly—mostly with ourselves and with our God. The rest is all—as they say—gravy!

But I say - without the gravy, who wants to sit around and peel 100lbs of potatoes?! But with the gravy... bring on the peelers! bring on the writing schedule. bring on the writing/life balance along the weekly way - so we can get to the Good Stuff at the END: the Very Happy End!! - Where we nail the writing! nail the reading! and nail our response to others' (very positive!) response. That is GRAVY. BRING IT ON.

(or do you think that sounds a little crazy?)


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