The richest person alive

My first official long weekend got off to a great start last night when I found out that one of my blog posts (a poem entitled, “Just look at her”) would be featured on the front page of Here Women Talk, a lovely site I discovered thanks to Sharon Greenthal of Empty House, Full Mind.

There’s a part of me that’s always a little stunned when I find that someone other than me or my loved ones actually wants to read what I’ve written, and, in some cases, takes steps to see that others will read what I’ve written. And when I learn that the words I’ve chosen to combine together into an expression of my own voice has actually elicited emotions in strangers who know nothing of who I am, I am tremendously, profoundly humbled.

I don’t fool myself into thinking that I am a great writer, that I could somehow earn a living from whatever raw skill I’ve been given and choose to develop. But I do have dreams of some day being able to supplement my regular income with my writing, and wonder every day what I might do to move myself further toward fulfillment of those dreams.

Yet when I receive heartfelt thoughts – whether from family, friends, acquaintances, or strangers – written by people who say my writing has touched them in some way… well, it may sound trite, but that feels to me like a treasure, a payment far greater than gold. I store up those comments and kudos and shared fragments of feeling and believe that I am the richest person alive.

And I keep writing.

Thank you.