Dear Reader,
Well, I'm just going to sit here today until I break through this silly thing I've got going on in my mind. I'm stuck and it's driving me nuts. I know there's a lot of great copy inside of me, but sometimes it's a real struggle to get it out.
"Gee Suzanne, the really good stuff in life usually doesn't come easily, so why do you think it should be any different with writing?"
Do I think I'm just gonna sit down and the words will come spilling out--right on the money--the first time, every time? Sure, sometimes a column comes pouring out of me--I'm so inspired that I can't spit the words out fast enough--and it feels so good when that happens.
"Oh, how I long for that place. Why can't I get there all the time?"
Years ago, I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan two days before Christmas--stuck in a hotel room--because the Cleveland airport I was connecting to was shut down. It was 3 a.m. and when I switched on the PBS channel, comedian Adam Sandler was being interviewed. Sandler, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, was talking about his experiences on stage doing stand-up.
When he first started, some nights went good, and others, well, not so good. But after a not-so-good night, which he admits to still having sometimes, he said that he just reminds himself that he gets to try again tomorrow. It's not the end of the world. And then he said there are those nights when, "I'm in the 'zone' and it feels good." Everything is lined up, his delivery's right on the mark--he knows it, and the audience feels it.
And when I heard him say, "If I could only find that place every night," I jumped out of bed and yelled out loud to the television, "Yes!" Because I know the feeling, and that's exactly where I want to be all the time, too. Why, oh why, can't I get to that place each and every time I write?
Oh well, I know it's in me. I can try again tomorrow.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
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