Thursday, April 01, 2010

Fall Back. Spring Forward. Fade Out.

by Paula Matter


Spring. My favorite time of the year. I love moving the clocks ahead, giving us more daylight. I love seeing the sun set later and later. Just seeing the sun brightens my day! After the awful winter I had, well, more on that later.




Although I don't know the names of all plants, trees and flowers in my yard, they're all bursting with buds. Two trees we thought we were going to lose last fall look happier this spring. And the grass is green! The daffodils (I do know what they are) are in full bloom.


Spring, glorious spring. A time for rebirth. Beginnings. I nearly shouted with joy when I saw my first robin a week or so ago. And a bluejay! Yeah, I know that little guy over there isn't a bluejay, but I'm kind of in a hurry and didn't spend time looking for the correct image.


I haven't seen any butterflies yet, but they can't be too far behind. And bumblebees! Their arrival means the flowers are in full bloom. 







Aren't these the prettiest pictures? So bright, colorful, cheerful. I chose them to make what I have to say a little easier for me. My blogmates and our regular readers know I haven't posted since last year. Instead I invited a bunch of great authors to appear on my scheduled days during the last three months.

I used those three months to weigh the pros and cons of a decision I knew I had to make. A very important decision. And today was my self-imposed deadline for that decision. Once I type the words here, that's it. I won't take them back. There are no do overs which is why I took my time coming to this decision.

Wow. This is much harder than I thought. Okay. Here goes. I've quit writing.

I'm just not cut out for it. Writing well takes discipline, perseverance, confidence, and talent. On a good day I might've accomplished one, two, maybe three of those, but there weren't enough good days. I know when I'm beat.

So instead of wasting my time agonizing over the right word, the right sentence, the right scene, I'm giving up. I have plenty of projects around the house to keep me busy. So much spring cleaning to do! Maybe I'll learn the names of all the plants, trees and flowers.

Thanks for reading. I wish you all the best.

11 comments:

Annette said...

Paula, this had darned well be an April Fool's Joke.

Annette said...

I think I meant to say this had darned well BETTER be an April Fool's Joke. But you know what I mean.

Joyce Tremel said...

Well, it is April 1st.

Jenna said...

Happy April Fools, everyone!

Norma said...

I snapped through to the comments to say how much we, and I mean me as well, will miss you at Pennwriters, but now I have hope! It IS an April fool joke, isn't it?

Carol Silvis said...

Paula,
You've been an inspiration to me over the years. I, too, hope this is an April Fool's joke.

Liana Laverentz said...

Just remember it's not an irreversible decision. I quit for many years and, believe it or not, became a better writer for it. May God bless you in whatever you choose to do, because it's your right to choose. Your heart will tell you if and when it's time to come back. Follow it and be at peace.

Liana Laverentz
www.lianalaverentz.com

Laurissa said...

Paula, I'm not certain if this is April Fool's or not. I know from what I've gleaned, here and there, you've been struggling with a decision recently, and a serious one, at that. So I don't know, if this was the decision you had to make, or if you're "fooling" us.

Personally, I hope it's April Fool's! If not, I can sympathize with having to make such a decision. I've recently made one of those myself, and it was extremely difficult. In my case, time will tell, if I made the right one.

For you, the wonderful thing about writing is, you can start again, whenever the time is right for you. It's not irreversible.

Again, I'm hoping it's an April Fool's joke.

M Pax said...

Hope you're joking. :D

Patg said...

Ahem! And it's that wonderful time for runny noses, sinus headaches and all those @#$%& ducks and geese screaming their heads off to breed.
Okay, I love the longer daylight.
And we didn't have a bad winter at all for the first time in years. I guess we all passed that east. And now I see the east got all 'the rest' of our rain, because though it is pouring 4 or of 5 days, we aren't flooding. Nor are houses and apartment blocks sliding off hills.
Guess it is great to be spring.
Happy April Fools Day. Quit writing, HA! Enjoy it while you can, that creeping, crawling, scratchy itch will come back sooner or later.
My word verification in INALE. That's a little different from inhale, it's when you snort beer.
Patg

Anonymous said...

What Jennie said! I've tried once or twice to quit, and it's pretty much how Patg described it.
:shudder:

Thank you the sweet and kind words & support, everyone. Much appreciated!

Paula