We have a number of ant hills in our yard, so I often find myself watching these little critters on their daily journey. Sometimes I'll see one toting a load much bigger than itself. How in the world does it know where it's going?
Carrying out this 'I'm a writer' journey feels a bit like that. When I start on a project, I'm all gung-ho, but as I try to move forward, I become overwhelmed. Like that little ant, my project is so big, I can't see my path for the size of it. There I am, shuffling here, there, and everywhere, trying to find my way by feel alone.
When I get lost, though, if I'm smart, I put aside my grown-up, independent, I-can-do-this attitude, and take myself directly to the Master. There I'm reminded I don't need to know the path. I just need to keep going.
It's almost too simplistic to be true. Still, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 8:13
What were summers like when I was little? School was out and days seemed endless. I had no goals, no plans, no deadlines. I just played, or day-dreamed, wandered wherever my feet chose to take me. I watched, and listened, and my imagination soared. You can't do anything wrong when you're living your days like that.
What were summers like when I was little? School was out and days seemed endless. I had no goals, no plans, no deadlines. I just played, or day-dreamed, wandered wherever my feet chose to take me. I watched, and listened, and my imagination soared. You can't do anything wrong when you're living your days like that.
Can writing be that simple? Maybe we don't have to see where our feet are going. Maybe, we just have to Go!
And that, I think, will be my experiment this summer -- to write with the same abandon I had as a summer-freed child.
And that, I think, will be my experiment this summer -- to write with the same abandon I had as a summer-freed child.
