What Did You Learn in 2007?

I’d been planning to make this list for a while now, but then completely forgot about it. I was reminded of it when someone posted theirs on a message board I frequent. So here’s my list of things I’ve learned in 2007.

-> I have learned that some of the worst things that happen to you will, with time and the right attitude, seem like some of the best.

-> I have learned that life is not black and white, actions never right or wrong. My biggest enemy may be your most loyal friend. We’re all shades of grey.

-> I have learned to compromise on many things, but never to compromise on honesty– whether in giving or receiving.

-> I have learned that as scary as it sometimes is, I have to be willing to walk away.

-> I have learned that inflicting pain on others will not make your own pain go away. Any infliction of pain on you is a cry for help. Help if you can, else get out of the way.

-> I have learned that admitting your mistakes and shortcomings doesn’t make you pathetic; it makes you strong.

-> I have learned that when you do your work with peace, patience and dignity, good things find you automatically. (Thanks to Mr. Rupesh Srivastava of Mahila Paksh for teaching me that one by example.)

-> The most important lesson I have learned: When in doubt, dance. (Thanks to a special someone for teaching me that one. Also by example.)

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Also check out this brilliant list by fellow group member Rachel C. Weingarten:
http://coolquotient.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-i-learned-in-2007.html

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Rating: * * * * *

Comments: If you’re a writer and haven’t read this book yet, get it NOW! It’s one hell of a book, and I think every writer should read it once a year. At least.

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From the Book:

Toni Morrison said, “The function of freedom is to free someone else,” and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Get it all down. Let it pour out of you onto the page. Write an incredibly shitty, self-indulgent, whiny, mewling first draft. Then take out as many of the excesses as you can.

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But then I remembered that whenever the world throws rose petals at you, which thrill and seduce the ego, beware. The cosmic banana peel is suddenly going to appear underfoot to make sure you don’t take it all too seriously, that you don’t fill up on junk food.

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Funny how that happens. I finally smiled, remembering something I heard Ram Dass say on the radio once, about somebodyism– how most of us are raised to be somebodies and what a no-win game that is to buy into, because while you may turn out to be much more somebody than somebody else, a lot of other people are going to be a lot more somebody than you. And you are going to drive yourself crazy.

Dallas Woodburn

“She’s the author of two collections of short stories, 3 a.m. and There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose, is a student at the University of Southern California and maintains a nonprofit foundation, Write On!, to “encourage children to gain knowledge and have fun reading and writing.” Her publication credits include a column for Family Circle and works in Writer’s Digest, Justine, Writing, and Cicada magazines as well as in books Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul IV, Chicken Soup for the Girl’s Soul, and So, You Wanna Be a Writer?, among others.

“She was a featured guest at the first annual Jack London Children’s Writing Camp, chosen as Cosmo Girl! magazine’s “Girl of the Month,” and was awarded the Jackie Kennedy-Onassis/Jefferson Award and a Congressional Award Gold Medal for working to increase literacy awareness through her “Write On!” foundation. She received a silver medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and won first place in both Byline magazine’s “New Talent Short Story Contest” and the Gulf Coast Writers Association’s “Let’s Write” literary contest. She was also recently a moderator on a panel discussing young writers at the 2007 Santa Barbara Writers Conference.”

Oh, and she’s 20 years old.

Here’s an interview with Dallas Woodburn, a colleague and friend, on Writing World:
http://www.writing-world.com/foster/foster15.shtml

She blogs at http://dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com/

Birthday Wishes

Apparently, this wishing-for-stuff-on-your-birthday thing actually works. So in the 26th year of my existence, I’m hoping I’ll be …

1. … less judgmental of people’s choices.

2. … more forgiving of their mistakes.

3. … less focused on their achievements.

4. … more accepting of their love.

5. … at peace.

Begging the Question

I call her my lost-at-birth twin sister. And she obviously got the grammar gene, because the guys over at NPR interviewed Julia Temlyn a couple of days ago to explain the correct meaning of “begs the question.”

You can listen to the segment here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17246007

And if you’re still confused about it, as I was, she explains it on her blog:
http://www.temlynwriting.com/blog/

Interview on The Urban Muse

Susan Johnston interviewed me this week on her blog The Urban Muse. Check it out here:
http://theurbanmuse.blogspot.com/2007/12/5-qs-with-mridu-khullar.html