2008-02-09 - 7:33 p.m.
Wow. I did something last week that was unexpectedly transformative. I’ve been writing a series of autobiographical essays for a book (titled for now ‘Punk Rock, Ivy League, MS, and the Search for Love: How I Went Back to College with Multiple Sclerosis at Age 28 at Brown (After Starting at Harvard at 18), Developed a Visible Disability Along the Way, Broke Up with My Longtime Girlfriend, Wondered If Romance Was Behind Me Now, Started Dating Again, Graduated, and Re-Met My High School Sweetheart Right After’ – bit of a long subtitle and it no doubt will change, but that lays out what happens pretty well) in hopes of becoming the next David Sedaris.
Last Thursday, I submitted the first one (an early draft of the final section is here) to a couple of creative nonfiction writing competitions. The competitions wanted a paper hardcopy, so someone from school went to a street mailbox and physically dropped in my submissions. There was a big snowstorm that started that afternoon, so I’m not sure if they actually got picked up to be postmarked in time (I know “neither rain nor snow… will keep these carriers from their appointed rounds” and all, but personally I wouldn’t want to brave the storm for anything).
But I really don’t care if they got postmarked in time. I don’t even really care if I win (not that it wouldn’t be nice). When I was told that my entries had been put in the mailbox, I realized that in a flash I had magically been transformed into a Writer. All the essays I’ve been working on and even this blog can be seen as no longer just a hobby but an actual purposeful avocation. Wow again. Thank you all for reading. You (I mean you) have shown me that I can tell a story well. For that, you the Man/Woman!
© 2008 Geoff Gladstone
If you’ve ever enjoyed my writing, please donate to the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis and/or the Montel Williams MS Foundation.
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