I am sitting from a distance, watching my kids do amazing things.
Maybe it’s amazing to me because I know what they’ve been through, what their struggles were/are, and yet, they have overcome to achieve things I would have never guessed.
As a parent, I can ally and guide, but what lies beyond—that is a mystery. I don’t think I would have it any other way—not knowing—in good and bad. I need to remember that the sweetness is in the journey—and the occasional looking over the shoulder and exclaiming,
“Wow, that went by in a blink.”
I received a sweet note from my literary agent this past week. In a handful of words, I felt seen. I am known. My life as a writer isn’t just this secret hope-to one day, it’s part of me in a permanent way. I might fail and win within this life of crafting words, but I am doing it—I am here, with much overcoming behind me, and the journey continually before me.
It’s good to be known over the stretch of growing time. Even if sometimes as a writer, I look over my shoulder and say,
“Wow. This is taking so long!”
Maybe the ability to look back is why I am in constant wonder as I raise my kids. I see their whole stretch of growing.
And as a writer, it’s good to have colleagues and friends remind me how far I’ve come—how I am growing, even if the journey is a mystery sometimes.
Angie Dicken 