When Writers Grow Up

As a child, I remember being a rather philosophical thinker.

I thought about deep things.

What made the sky blue? How did roosters know when it was time to crow? Were there really pots of gold beneath rainbows? Why were some folks wealthy and others poor?

I pondered the more simple quandaries, too.

How come the Avon lady only visited our home during lunchtime? Would I really reach China if I dug deep enough? Why did “Miss Louise” insist on bringing the same thing to our church dinners? Didn’t she know that little kids hated salmon patties? And didn’t she realize that taking three pieces of my mama’s fried chicken were two pieces too many?

When adolescence found me, my head almost hurt from so many churning thoughts.

My mind raced with newfound knowledge. I knew everything about everything, and I knew everything about everyone.

I knew that some adults were not as smart as they claimed to be.

Ahh…

And then teen angst arrived and wrapped me in her ill-fitting coat for a season or two.

I cringed at injustice. I cried for love lost. I surrendered pent-up emotion to the tear-stained pages of my makeshift diary.

And just when I was convinced that I was the only intelligent soul left on planet Earth, something miraculous happened.

The fog lifted and the blinders fell off.

Despite my doubts that it would ever find me, adulthood did.

It was a bittersweet revelation and one that I didn’t acknowledge lightly. I recognized that life juncture as part of God’s master plan and I saw the bigger picture.

I grew up.

I’m still growing.

Still stretching.

Still reaching for new possibilities.

Remembering the past, yet contemplating the future.

As we mature, we learn to analyze life a little differently.

We understand that being a philosophical thinker doesn’t make us a know-it-all. And if we do know a little more, it certainly doesn’t absolve us from knowing the right thing and still doing the opposite.

I think about these things as I write.

It’s not as important that I wax eloquence as it is that I’m “real.”

I want my characters to be thinkers and doers. And if they learn some life lessons along the way, then I’ll know I’ve done my job.

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