"Where Has He Been?"

With writers there is a question, always of “Writers’ Block.”  Everyone knows about that.  But there’s another, related, question:  What does the writer write about?  In order to write, a writer has to first experience—unless s/he’s going to simply write about the inability to write.

I admit it:  I’ve just been busy these last few months.  For some reason, starting in April, everything seemed to be happening for me all at once:  My day job, the writing club, my family—one thing after another.

What I can’t quite figure out, looking back, is how I ever managed things ten years ago.  At that point, I was facilitating four different groups:  South Bay Writers, Amnesty International Group 35, the South Bay Poly discussion group, and South Bay Circles (the local pagan ritual group).  How on earth did I ever manage to come up with agendas, recruit people to help out, and simply stay sane with all that activity?  I can remember earlier times when I also served on Unitarian church committees in Virginia or here in California; when I helped out with CUUPS (the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans), when I was a regional coordinator for Amnesty.  How did I ever sort everything out?  And I continue to be a legal minister/priest for the Covenant of the Goddess (although I’m not responsible for facilitating any meetings).

At this point I’m down to running the poly group—which involves just one meeting a month—and South Bay Writers.  But in two days—on July 1^st—my term as president of South Bay Writers ends.  And presumably I will have more time to…write?

But my point is, a writer shouldn’t really just sit around writing.  A writer should be doing something worth writing about.   A writer ought to be involved.  True, a writer can sit by her/himself all the time and write about the world around him/her—but is that interesting enough to be worthwhile?

I’m glad I’ve been involved in social groups.  I’m also glad to be reaching the point where I don’t feel obligated to run them all myself.  I’m looking forward to thinking a little more about…my writing.