Dear Reader,
Every year I receive so many outstanding entries in the Write a DearReader Contest, it seems a shame to only publish the three winning submissions. So I like to choose some Honorable Mentions I also feature at the book club.
Today, it is my pleasure to share with you one of the writing entries awarded Honorable Mention this year, written by Betty C. Eng. Thank you so much Betty for sharing your story with us.
Life as Maintenance and Wonder
I wash dishes, I wash dishes, I wash dishes, and then, I wash dishes. Clean dishes are important and essential, but there is the relentlessness and seemingly despairing nature of it that tempts the use of paper plates. Washing dishes, brushing my teeth, taking my medications, doing my exercises, answering “what’s for dinner”, sorting for garbage day…. I Wonder: Is this all there is?
I make lists, I make lists, I make lists. Lists for groceries: apples, bananas, milk, bread…. Lists for Tasks: pay bills, appointments for the dentists, tune-up for the car…. Feeling smug when I have completed each item until I realize each list is primarily for maintenance that keeps me standing in the same place and does not seem to be advancing me forward.
I write, I write, I write and I write. It seems all I have are my words. My words are gathered into stories that become a book. And Wonder: The book is published. The stories are family narratives that are reclaimed to honor and celebrate the legacy of my mother and father. They are stories of immigration, seeking Gold Mountain, what we found and who we became.
The stories that became a book remind me that the routine and repetitive nature of maintenance can fortify and renew to prepare me for something wonderful. The rhythm and pace of these daily acts sustains and nurtures. Washing dishes, washing dishes, washing dishes becomes meditative and the cleaning becomes cleansing for the soul and spirit. The simplicity of the repetition is reassuring, affirming and inspires me to be patient, to listen and to feel and hear the power of silence. The quiet heartens me to be kind, to be grateful and to Wonder with hope.
– Betty C. Eng
Honorable Mention, 2022 Write a DearReader Contest
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
* This month's Penguin Classics is Metamorphosis by Ovid, a sensuous and witty poem in an accessible translation by David Raeburn. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.
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