Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Success . . .

. . . is joy.

. . . is can't wait to get up in the morning so you can . . .

I don't have the exact quotes for above, their from the 2009 remake of Fame. Toward the end of the movie, one character does a monologue about success. The main point: success isn't about accolades, but about joy/love of what you are doing.

I love writing.

Yeah, I want the whole publication thing.

I love writing.

I get stressed out thinking about querying, finding an agent, blah, blah, blah.

Success is about joy. It doesn't matter whether I'm published or not if . . . I don't have joy in what I do.

How about you? Do you have joy in what you do? Do you love what you do? Are you writing what you love or what you feel you need to write?

S

On a side note - I'll be in and out of the blogsphere a bit more sporadically over the course of the next few weeks, probably non-existent next week due to being out of town for a work conference. This past weekend I was glued to the television - no writing, no reading, only watching - as Mother Nature whomped the heck out of Middle and Western TN. The onslaught of heavy rain, unending, over and over and over again, was unreal. The aftermath - flooding beyond my comprehension - is unreal. We were lucky - no flooding or damage at our house. Some friends of ours had flooding and minor damage. Again, we were lucky, they were lucky, but others in TN not so much. Opryland Hotel - huge, huge, major hotel - was flooded and will be shut down for months. This is a major source of revenue for Nashville, TN. The football stadium, hockey arena, symphony hall, and many more businesses in downtown Nashville and outlying areas have been flooded. The economic devastation, not to mention the property loss, is unimaginable right now. We're on mandatory water conservation due to one treatment plant being flooded. So, my mind has obviously not been on blogging or writing. I can't begin to express how unreal this all still seems, especially as the aerial shots of the flooding are shown.

So, if you don't see me commenting as much, or posting as much, it's just because I haven't had the energy to devote to those things right now. I will be back, probably a bit later this week with something more in depth. Take care.

S

3 comments:

SJDuvall said...

I struggled all last year trying to write what I thought I should write. I tried three books. And I never got further than 10,000 words into them before I dropped them. Then, I gave myself permission to write what I had been dying to write for over a year. And it felt wonderful, exhilarating, blissful.

I've learned my lesson. And, as always, I love writing, but I also like having written. :)

Elana Johnson said...

I had no idea about the rain down there. So glad you're dry.

And I think success is finding happiness without reaching a destination.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

I can't believe all that flooding. It's crazy. And what's crazier is the lack of attention you're getting from the news media. I'm so sorry to hear about it, and I hope the recovery time is quick. Please know you're in my prayers. I'm glad your property was not damaged.

I certainly count success as JOY in what you're doing, and that is a beautiful message you've shared with us, thank you. Publishing Smublishing. None of it matters if you don't love what you do FIRST.