As a young student, my days were filled with learning Math, Science, Geography, History, Penmanship, Spelling and English.
The obligatory essentials of every young student!
I loved English, mostly because we were able to read many different books and write creative stories. We also had grammar and sentence structure and all the technical stuff that fell under the “English” studies, but my absolute favorites were reading and writing.
What better place to escape than in the pages of a book?
Reading was great because I separate myself from everyone and enter the world of stories. I was fascinated by how words could make up a grand story, a simple story, a funny story, a biographical story and even a scary story.
My favorite author was Beverly Cleary. I real all her books.
Forget Yeezus! MY inspiration was Beezus! Beverly Cleary created such a great character–one of the reasons I love to write is because of Cleary’s books!
From childhood into my early teen years, I enjoyed Cleary’s writing so much!
Beezus was my imaginary bestie! Henry Huggins was that annoying boy next door!
Cleary’s books about the frustrating life of Beezus and her pesty little sister, Ramona, made me want to get a pen, paper and never stop writing!
When I entered this world, I never wanted to leave. And when I DID leave, I knew I could write an epic report about it!
I looked forward to writing reports about the books I read. It was my chance to give an opinion. My opinion and nobody else’s!
Whenever we had to write a “Composition” or “Essay” or a “Theme”, my heart beat just a bit faster because I knew I would shine. That “A” would be mine!
Like Jean Shepherd’s “Ralphie”, I could not wait to write a “Theme”, or essay or composition!
Throughout my school days, my imagination and creativity came into view by writing.
My writing skills were still alive during my days working on Wall Street. I was lucky enough to work for a Vice President who trusted my skills enough to compose his letters and memos. Perhaps the writing wasn’t creative, but it still offered me a chance to get my thoughts across with the written word.
Later on, as a stay-at-home mom, I kept at my writing skills by offering my opinions to local newspapers and magazines. I was happy to see quite a few of my opinions and thoughts in print!
My letter in the Wall Street Journal…..
…my opinion in The Trenton Times….and..
….my thoughts in Allure magazine.
My most recent writing endeavors consist of being a contributing writer to FrenchEntree. It’s always fun to write about my adventures and misadventures during my travels to France—and it offers me a way to allow others to see those trips through my eyes.
I was thrilled to learn that my article would make the jump from the online FrenchEntree to the actual magazine!
It really is a thrill to see an article in print!
My other endeavor, my blog, came about when I became unemployed on the last day of the last year.
My First “Real” Blog Post–A Weekend in Brooklyn!
I always thought about starting a blog, but didn’t exactly know how to approach it. Being unemployed created all sorts of anxiety for me. Would I ever work again? How can I keep up with my skills? The longer I’m unemployed means the less my chances are of becoming re-employed. Nobody wants to hire someone who isn’t in their twenties……
My blog became my form of emotional rescue. When I’m feeling stressed, I write. When I’m upset, I write. When I’m happy, I write. When I’m sad. I write. When I have something to say, I write and I try to do so with a touch of humor!
I write because I like it. I write because I want to make people laugh. I write because there is a lot of wrong in this world—and if I can give someone—even one person, to escape that wrong for a few moments, I’ve done my job—through words.
Write on…and read on!
Song for today. Emotional Rescue by the Stones. Just because writing is.
