A Group of One's Own

So Suzanne beat me to this blog entry, but I still want to do my own. "Late but Great", as the family motto goes. ;)

The PWG (Petaluma Writer's Group--we've never quite managed to come up with something more clever and precious like, say, The Inklings) has just celebrated its 1st anniversary. One year! One year of regular (yet loving) accountability, of unconditional support through frustration, of laughter, connection, and shared interest. We were complete strangers when we met, and how random it seems now, looking back, that we ever gelled as well and as quickly as we did. Little did I realize, a year ago, how important (dare I say crucial) Suzanne and Rebecca would wind up being to my fledgling efforts to move back to/reclaim my writing life. I literally don't think I could have come as far as I have with the actual accomplishment (just under half a novel) nor grown as much or as confidently in my creative process without these gals.

So in other words, I think that for me (I won't venture out on a limb and say this applies to other writerly types, though I suspect it might), A Group of One's Own has been almost as vital to the creative process as having A Room of One's Own (not that I've ever really had that, but I can see how it sure would be helpful and just plain luxurious). Maybe it's a writer thang, maybe it's a girl thang, maybe it's an extrovert thang (or maybe it's just me), I don't know--but having other people who show regular, informed interest and offer thoughtful commentary on my artistic output has been incredibly helpful. Knowing that they're not only expecting me to write (in general), but actually interested in what I'm writing (in specific), helps get me through the stuck or fallow times, when my own self isn't convinced of the worth of continuing and would really just like to take a few months off and watch TV or something equally passive. I've never been a proponent of the "solitary writer/artist" stereotype--I'm just not the loner type, for one thing, and frankly I believe that art is in many ways an ongoing, embedded response to one's era, one's community and one's life, all banging around in one big happy stewpot. (Woah I'm mixing metaphors now, look out!)

Ahem.

I'm proud of us, all three of us. Despite the overwhelm of our NASA-like days (where just balancing the needs of work and home can be as complicated as trying to schedule the space shuttle launch), we have all made the commitment not only to our own writing, but to each other and to the writing process. That commitment in and of itself is something rare and special, and deserves a shout out and affirmation.

I feel blessed, truly blessed and smiled upon by the Universe, to have had this opportunity for creative growth gifted to me in this form. I've received some creative kicks in the butt from the Universe before (most notably, being diagnosed with cancer led directly to my taking up painting), but this one is as gentle a one as I could have hoped for. I will not take this for granted.

I will not take this for granted.