Watching Things Grow

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I love watching things grow and take on a life of their own – whether it be a plant, an animal, a relationship, or an artistic creation, I find it all fascinating to witness what comes into being.

Some scare easily at the presence of a blank page or a blank canvas. They find it daunting – overwhelming even. People ponder over what to do with it. They fear screwing it up and making a royal mess of the whole thing.

Me, I find a blank slate exciting! The possibilities of what to do with it are endless – open to things I haven’t even yet thought of. I also find that often an endeavour of mine will take on a life of its own and I merely become the vehicle or vessel to let it thrive.

I’ve seen this a few times. In the early nineties I served as Editor of an economic development newsletter “Venture Visions.” As I worked on its very first issue (a tiny-baby-yellow-double-sided-one-sheet publication) I had no clue that it would so quickly gain a global readership and in this case I’m talking pre-internet, pre-email, pre-pdfs, pre-ebooks, or anything of the sort. The support and affection that grew for Venture Visions astounded me and it wasn’t long before I realized that I needed to get out of its way and just let it thrive the way it was meant to. Sure, I was technically pulling things together, but the ideas, the articles, the enthusiasm, came from endless sources. Developing business owners wanted me to interview them and write about their ventures, local stores in our tiny town (fewer than 3,500 people) carried it with prime spot display. It got added to people’s mailing lists (snail mail that is) and when government bureaucrats decided to cease its run (because frankly, it had become far more popular than the provincial government’s own same themed newsletter) there was such shock, disbelief and outcry for it’s return, but to no avail.

Then in ’97 “A Little Insight” – my Indie anthology of poems, propelled itself into expressing beliefs and convictions that I had never dared to articulate to anyone before. Yet there they sprung, page after page, at times leaving me feeling completely naked before the world. By publishing standards in 1997, if an Indie book of poetry sold 500 copies, it was considered a #1 best seller. Again we’re talking “pre-net.” All my sales were done in person; at events; at craft sales; and word of mouth. In the end, sales for A Little Insight came in slightly under the 500 marker, not counting gratuitous copies given to media and book reviewers. From time to time I still get asked about its availability, but since an “Origin of” was included for each poem, and much has changed in my life since, I am not at all comfortable making it available to anyone any more. But might there one day be “A Little Insight – From A Different Prospective” or “A Little More Insight”? Perhaps….. one day.

So now, now as I write my very first post for DisabilityPride.net” I’m smiling with excited “an…tic……a………pa……..tion” to see where this newest venture will take me; will take you; will take all of us. What will become of it? How will it develop? Lets see, shall we.