It isn’t very often that I wind up being inspired by a young writer’s inspiration while I’m buying socks, and yet that’s exactly what happened this weekend.
Saturday afternoon started out innocently enough, with a trip to the outlet mall in New Jersey. I went out there with Liz and my mother-in-law, with the two of them splitting off together, and me left my own devices. I needed a pair of sneaker and some a pair of work shoes, so off to the shoe stores I went.
But what started off asIt isn’t very often that I wind up being inspired by a young writer’s inspiration while I’m buying socks, and yet that’s exactly what happened this weekend.
Saturday afternoon started out innocently enough, with a trip to the outlet mall in New Jersey. I went out there with Liz and my mother-in-law, with the two of them splitting off together, and me left my own devices. I needed a pair of sneaker and some a pair of work shoes, so off to the shoe stores I went.
But what started off as just any old trip to Ecco shoes turned out to be an afternoon of inspiration.
The store was pretty much empty when I walked in, so the two counter girls–about 17 years old or so–both helped me out, clearly bored out of their minds. And who could blame them. But they were both very nice, and when I told them I needed a pair of work shoes, one of them–Erin–asked me what I did for a living.
I told her that I’m a writer, that I was a journalist for a long time and I now work in public relations, and that I also write novels, and will be heading off to Comic-Con in July to pitch my book to Hollywood producers. This is what Erin said:
"This is the best day ever."
She really seemed to mean it. Have to admit, I didn’t see that coming. Turns out that young Erin is an aspiring writer, and she thought that my being a writer was, well … pretty darn cool.
And her being somewhat awestruck that I’m a [i]writer[/i] reminded me of how important it is to find inspiration wherever you can find it, and how full of wonder and possibility we can have when we’re young. And that we don’t have to be young to be inspired.
For as much as I may have inspired her to some degree, she actually inspired me.
I don’t know what will become of young Erin, if she’ll pursue her writing, and if she does, where it will take her. But I hope that she follows through to find out just how much her writing means to her, whether she ever finishes a project, gets published or becomes a financial success through her words. The best part of being a writer is the [i]writing[/i].
All the other stuff–getting published, garnering attention for it, making money–they all have their place, and [i]believe[/i] me I’m hoping to make a long, fruitful career of it (I’ll take that best seller money as soon as somebody wants to write me a check). But for those of us who have a calling to write, who simply[i] have[/i] to write, just because, then the writing itself is its own best reward.
So this blog is dedicated to Erin and all the aspiring writers like her, who reminded me just how important it is just to be passionate about anything, and let all that follows as a result be the gravy.
