Staring into space – creativity at work?

The Rockville 8 is proud to welcome multi-published author Maggie Toussaint as our guest blogger this month. Read on to get an insight into her creative process - and share your own!

By Maggie Toussaint


The other day a friend mentioned she stares into space as she works on inventing her next work of fiction. I found myself nodding my head in agreement with her about how useful that was. Most days I’m on a mission to get so many words written or edited, that the simple joy of drawing words from the ether done onto paper gets lost in the translation. Writing like this, for me at least, becomes the busyness of business.

Additionally, my friend’s comment triggered a memory from my previous career in science, one where a colleague was criticized for not “working” when his peers were visibly at the lab bench busting a gut trying to solve the problem. But, in the end, the “thinking” person saved the day. He came up with the right answer, and he might have missed it if he didn’t respect his process.

Knowing what works for your creative process is invaluable. For instance, if you respond well to competition and deadlines, set up weekly goals and challenges with peers; if you write best in isolation turn off the internet and get going.

In my opinion, staring into space is one of many valid, creative techniques. Let me share another creativity enriching experience with you. Recently, I needed to slow down a scene. As it happened I was a bit under the weather and was too tired to fool with sitting up at the computer. Instead, I hand wrote the scene while resting, knowing I could type it in the document later.

What flowed out my pen and onto paper was moving and poignant in way that doesn’t transfer naturally from my fingertips to cursor. And in doing this, I remembered that all writing is not created equal. Some is richer and deeper. I’d just forgotten where I put the richer and deeper.

So, whether it’s staring into space or taking the time to form each letter of your words, creativity is as unique as each person. It’s as unlimited as your imagination. Best of all, it’s right at your fingertips.

Chime in and share your creative solutions. I’d love to hear from you!

Maggie Toussaint

Coming this October: MUDDY WATERS

… a sleepy southern town … a lost inheritance …
Will Roxie and Sloan find the treasure or will their enemy prevail?

http://www.maggietoussaint.com/
http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/

A Writer’s Tribute to Dad: The 5 Invaluable Lessons My Dad Taught Me

The father of one of my dearest friends died on June 1, 2010. This tragedy brought back memories of my mom’s death almost twelve years ago, but it also made me realize how fortunate I am to still have my own dad around. As an aspiring author, I continue to look for a home within the ranks of the published, however, the tools my dad gave me over the years have been invaluable to the success I’ve found thus far and, I have no doubt, will serve me well in the future.

Dream the Impossible Dream, Then Do It

My dad taught me more about dreaming than anyone else. He has always encouraged me to talk about my dreams, to reach high, and never compromise. He’s been an advocate who did everything in his power to support my fledgling dreams. If you can imagine it, you can do it is a mantra that still rings in my head from childhood. It’s this mindset that sent me back to graduate school and has encouraged me to work toward a career as a writer.

If You’re Generous, Courage Will Never Fail

My father led by example. When he found himself a nineteen-year-old father back in the late 60s, he stepped up to the plate and embraced the role of father, husband, and provider. He never wavered. He’s always been one to give generously of his time no matter the situation. He helped rescue people during the Johnstown Flood in 1977. He stood beside the hospital bed of my dying mother for almost five months straight when there was nothing else he could do to show his love and support. He’s proven again and again if you give, whether it’s your time, energy, love, or support, your courage will never fail.

He taught me to never back down, no matter what life throws your way. Face life with courage. Give everything you’ve got. Each and every day I face the task set before me. I refuse to back down when life is hard and when things aren’t going my way. Life is unfair. That doesn’t give us an excuse to behave badly.

Does it take bravery to write a novel? You betcha. It’s a scary journey that’s not for the faint of heart. There’s more of me between those pages of fiction than I’d ever like to admit. And it’s even more scary to get those rejection letters as I try to find the perfect agent to represent me, because, somehow, it seems like they’re rejecting me, not my idea, not my writing, not my story. But that’s okay. One day I’ll find the right one. Until then, I continue to give it my all. Live generously. The wellspring of courage hasn't run dry yet.

Show Up Every Day

My dad has always worked harder than anyone I know. Born the second son to an auto mechanic of German descent, my father didn’t go to college until after both my brother and I had gotten our degrees. For all the years I was at home, he worked as a coal miner. He operated a drag line, then other heavy equipment. He had his back broken when an I-beam fell on him. And yet, once he healed, he continued working. He never gave up. He showed up every day.

This strong work ethic is ingrained in my DNA. And I’m forever grateful. Why? Because it allows me to be productive, to produce page after page of writing that will lead to novel after novel. I show up each day. No, I don’t have to do the back-grueling work my dad did all those years ago, however, writing is still hard work. To understand your craft takes time. To write a novel takes dedication and stick-to-it-iveness, and a certain expertise.

Time Is A Precious Commodity

When I was a teenager with a curfew, my dad’s motto was, “If you’re a minute late, you may as well be an hour late.” He didn’t tolerate tardiness. I know, this sounds strict. It was. And it still is by most standards. But what I learned from my father’s rule is that deadlines are meant to be kept and being early is preferable to the alternative. And, in the real world, there are always consequences for being late.

How does this translate to writing? Deadlines are hard. They’re not soft. Editors, agents, and teachers have all imposed deadlines for a reason. Those rules are there to maintain order, to help me, and facilitate less stress for everyone concerned. By respecting those deadlines, I become a better writer and a better publishing partner.

Outlast, Outwork, Outplay

Finally, my father has taught me that perseverance is strength turned inside out. If you’re strong enough to stand, you’re strong enough to outlast, outwork, and outplay the competition. If you can do this, you’ll eventually be rewarded. The validation you need comes first from God then from yourself. Self-respect and self-confidence go a long way in helping you hold your ground.

And if that doesn’t work? Reinvent yourself. Figure out how to make your situation work for you. For the past two years my dad has been unemployed in a bad economy. He hasn’t given up. Life is not playing fair with him now that he’s in his early sixties. Who wants to hire a sixty-two-year-old man when they can hire someone straight out of college? Not many companies. He’s taken the lemons life has given him and he’s trying to make lemonade. Again, he hasn’t given up. He renewed his real estate certification in a brand new state and he’s working hard to drum up business. He’s convinced good things will come his way if he remains steadfast and works hard.

What a great lesson for aspiring writers. Publishing that novel you’ve written could take years. Don’t write it and sit on your laurels. Get started on the next story. And if you haven’t found your niche yet, think about different directions your writing could take. So many novels seem to cross genres today, figure out where you could blur the lines and appeal to a new audience.

My dad is an avid golfer. He can outplay the best. Any writer can take this lesson to heart, too. Knowing when to work and then knowing when to play is an important skill. Recreation and time away from work makes you a better worker, a better writer, and a better person.

So wherever you are today. Thank your dad for the invaluable lessons he taught you over the years. Hug him. Tell him you love him. Give thanks that you are, in part, the person you are today because of his guidance.

Happy Father’s Day!

Justification

I am happy to report that I've been making progress. I passed the whole book out to my wonderful critique group a while ago, and finallyFINALLY finished that round of edits. Which meant---dun-Dun-DUN---that it was time to start the query process.

Argh.

The query process is like looking for a job. It makes my stomach hurt. It makes me question my abilities and my work and my worth and . . . it's not pretty.

But I am fortunate enough to be a member of WRW, and to be able to attend their fabulous retreat where, in April, I met with 2 great agents who requested partials. One of them (my favorite, naturally!) recently requested the full manuscript. Yay!! I've also got the full out with another agent, who I "met" through an online query contest.

Getting those requests did me a world of good. But they also forced me to think about what I'm going to work on next.

And thinking about what to work on next forces me to think about how I'm going to "find" the time.

At the RWA conference last year, I heard the same thing from several speakers about treating your writing the way you would a job. Giving it the same amount of attention and priority. Would you just skip your job? For days on end? And expect it to still be there when you got back around to it?

I thought I got it then. The need to be more workmanlike about my writing. But I just recently got the other part of that equation . . . that since I already have a full-time day job, when I'm working consistently on my writing I am, essentially, working a 2nd job.

Sounds so simple, doesn't it? And you're probably all smarter than I am and didn't have to "figure" that part out. But I did. And when I did, it was a revelation. When I had two kids in college I, like a lot of people, took on a second job. And I never just skipped it. I would never even have considered just skipping it.

But I also never wondered why I had so little time for myself. Because the answer was obvious. I was working two jobs.

So why, when I am being consistent with my writing, do I still try to keep up with everything else? Still try to keep up with seeing my friends. Still try to keep up with all the television shows I love. Until just recently, the obvious was escaping me.

By devoting myself to my writing, by digging into it the way I really need to, I am taking on a second job. And in order to keep up with that second job, I need to let other things go.

It's all about the choices. And choices, like medicines, all come with side effects. They don't just lower your blood pressure, they also increase your potassium levels, and that puts a strain on your kidneys and . . .

Yeah. Every choice has a shadow.

For example, choosing to lose myself in the Vampire Diaries means I am choosing not to write for an hour. Choosing to meet friend after work for dinner means I am choosing not to write for at least two hours. And, truthfully, I will be tired when I get home from dinner and instead of opening my file, I will turn on the television and lose myself in Justified instead---which means choosing not to write all evening.

Which is not to say that I shouldn't be choosing dinner with friends. Just that I should be making that choice with full knowledge. Fully consciously.

And so, I am choosing not to watch So You Think You Can Dance this season. And I am choosing not to watch Burn Notice, or The Royal Pains, or Nurse Jackie. All of which I really enjoy.

And it hurts. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, I can catch up with most of those on DVD some day, if I really want to watch them. But I won't be able to discuss them with people who are watching them as they air (which is something I genuinely enjoy). And of course, as soon as I decided to cut So You Think You Can Dance from my viewing, my twitterstream was all abuzz with how wonderful it is this season . . .

Argh.

But would I really choose to keep up with So You Think You Can Dance INSTEAD of writing my book?

No. Not when I put it that way.

So--what do you choose? And what are the side effects? Or am I truly the last writer to get this?

All I needed to know about writing I learned with Mary Kay

I would not be where I am today if I hadn’t jumped off a cliff and signed up to become a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant 8 years ago. Over the course of a five-year period of active participation and training, a whole new world opened up to me and I’m not just talking about what lipstick shade goes best with gray shoes.
You wonder what writing has to do with skin care and color cosmetics? Not much. But here’s a list of the transferable skills I picked up: money management, time management, goal setting, prioritizing, how to make a sale, how to close a sale, positive self-talk, leadership, vision casting. I could go on and on.

Today I wanted to expand on three areas that I think are of particular importance to a healthy and active writing career: setting priorities, setting goals, and making a plan of action.

Priorities

Mary Kay Ash’s credo for her company was always: God first, Family second and Career third.

1) If you are a God person, then you probably don’t need more of an explanation for why this is the number one priority. For those of us for whom God is not our go-to person, let me submit this: I think of this priority of a proscription to get right with oneself. You know the phrase “if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”? It’s true. If you are not well, be it mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically, you’ll have a more difficult time being true to priorities two and three. Think of this of being on good terms with your soul, the spark within you that makes you unique.

2) Family second –Your family, born or made, can help you stand or fall. They act as your barometer, letting you know if you’re doing alright or need to go back to priority one for a realignment. The best of these people create a positive feedback loop so the giving and receiving of love and support becomes amplified. A writer’s life can be a solitary one. It’s important to keep connected.

3) Career third – Third???!! Yup. Third. Not first or second, before you and your loved ones. And not, as the oath for new MK consultants says, “thirty-third, behind the laundry.” So, if writing is your career – or you want it to be your career – you need to treat it as such and bump it up the scale to number three.
Now, this isn’t to say one has no other commitments in life. We all have things pulling at our attention. But when you look through the lens of these priorities, you can cut through the muck a bit more easily. Ask yourself the next time you’re in doubt about where to spend your time: Does this fit in with my priorities? If not, you may need to say NO to whatever is trying to pull you away.

Goals

Before Mary Kay, goal setting was a complete mystery to me. Not sure I even knew what a goal truly is. Goals can be defined as: a quantifiable dream with a deadline. To put it in perspective:

Dream: I want get healthier and lose weight.
Goal: I want to lose 20 pounds by the end of the summer.

For a long time my dream was to finish a book. Last year I put that in the form of a goal: I want to finish Honor Bound so I can submit it to the Golden Heart contest.

After ten years of being in Romance Writers of America, I finally made a goal and I hit it.

The one other thing about goals? You need to write them down. There is something about getting them in black and white that makes you more accountable to the whole undertaking. And don’t be afraid to share you goal(s) with others – knowing they’ll be asking about your progress can be an effective motivating tool!

Planning

Plan your work and work your plan.

We all can feel overwhelmed at times with the amount of stuff that we need to get done. Where do I stick the JOB, the kids, the significant other, the writing, girls’ night out, the pool date, the quiet time??
Pull out your calendar. I suggest doing this for the next three months so it doesn’t feel like too much, but if you know dates further out that you’ll be busy go ahead on mark them down.

1) Ex out the time you know you are busy (day job, church, after school sports chauffeuring, etc). Ex out the birthdays, family dinners, weddings, vacations.

2) Look at the time left and plan the hours when you will write. Plan it. Put it down on paper (or Outlook, Gmail calendar, etc.).

3) Make sure you have ready access to your calendar. And check it daily. Daily. Dare I say it again? Daily. Because writing is what you’ve determined is one of your top three priorities. It may be that you can’t write every day. That is okay. But you can anticipate your next writing block and be ready to rumble when it come around. Making a time budget, like living within a money budget, can actually be freeing. Because you know where and how you’re spending your time, you’ll be able to take time “off” without feeling guilty.

Do you have any helpful tips about setting priorities and goals? Do you have a nifty way of tracking your time and being accountable? Can you buy into my list of priorities above or do you have a different take on it?

Keely

My Brush With Rejection


I painted the kitchen the day I gave up writing. Anything to keep me from the stories nobody wanted to buy. Rejection letters were pouring in like rain, and I was drowning.

I don’t remember the exact date I reached saturation point, but it was at least five years after my last sale. I’d had two books published by Silhouette Intimate Moments in the early 1990s, both containing as much mystery as romance. Since they were the second and third manuscripts I’d completed, I thought I was on my way.
Boy, was I wrong.

So I painted the kitchen, then I took on the living and dining rooms. By the time I got to the upstairs halls, even the possibility of rejection was preferable to throwing on another coat of paint!

I had an idea for a romantic comedy, a completely new genre for me. The story flowed from me; then I wrote another. And another.

Within a year or so, Harlequin Duets called with an offer for the first story. In November of 2000, almost exactly seven years since I’d last had a book on the shelves, FORGET ME? NOT was published by Duets.

That’s not the end of my story.

I kept selling – to Duets, Dorchester Love Spell, Avalon and Harlequin Temptation until finally landing at Harlequin Superromance. AN HONORABLE MAN, my May 2010 release from Superromance, is my 29th published book. My 30th book will be out in October, also from Superromance.

Ironically, I’ve come full circle. I may go back to comedy some day but AN HONORABLE MAN contains a mystery, just like my early books from Silhouette and some of those rejected manuscripts.

So if anybody out there is feeling rejected, take some time to wallow, then keep on writing. I wouldn’t have made sales three through thirty if I hadn’t persevered.

Man, am I glad I hate to paint!

www.darlenegardner.com

Reading for Writers

A rainy day, a pot of tea, and a good book... Life doesn't get any better than that, does it? Not if you're an avid reader. And not if you're a writer, either.

I love to crack open a book that's new to me. Heck, I love to crack open my old favorites. After all, what better way to learn to write a novel than to read one?

Writers, I believe, should read two types of books: good ones and bad ones. The good ones can highlight what you're doing wrong. The bad ones can confirm what you're doing right.

Within those two types, writers should read three kinds of books:
1. Books within your genre
2. Books outside your genre
3. The classics of yesteryear, not just new releases

Whether you're a beginning writer or a twenty-novel veteran, reading with a critical eye can help you push your craft to the next level. By critical eye, I mean ask yourself what about the book makes you marvel. Then, ask yourself how the writer made that aspect of her work so awesome.

Maybe a writer's dialogue blows you away. Maybe it's her description. The element you admire most may change as your skill set changes. In any case, your bookshelf can be a never-ending classroom. Here are the top ten books that have taught me.

Nic's Top Ten Most Influential Books

10. Sue Grafton's A Is for Alibi
Grafton bent noir without breaking it. She made the genre into something else. In doing so, she made it her own. And I admire her for it.

9. Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters
This high Victorian serial caught Charles Dickens' eye. And no wonder. The symbolism is sometimes blatant, sometimes
subtle. But it always works hard to carry a larger message.

8. Carla Negger's The Cabin
Now I get it: Peanut butter is to chocolate what romance is to suspense!

7. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Need I say more?

6. Jane Austen's Mansfield Park
Structure is the object here. In a sense, this novel is a story told in duplicate. Each character, each motive, each setting has its equal and opposite counterpart. Together, these parts tell a poignant tale, delivered to the reader through structure.

5. Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man
This Depression Era novel packs a punch even by today's standards. How? Hammett can convey a dark truth in a single sentence. You get the whole picture in just a few words.

4. Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night
Sayers is a study in theme. Like all of her novels, Gaudy Night's theme is constant throughout - and can be summed up in one word. In this case, that word is "love."

3. Robert Crais' L.A. Requiem
Crais is a master storyteller, working point-of-view not just to
gradually reveal the pertinent facts of his mystery, but also to naturally trigger an emotional reaction from the reader. Joe Pike, I love you from the bottom of my heart.

2. William Gibson's Pattern Recognition
My heart sings each time I read this novel. While the book may seem topical, its characters are really on the universal quest
we all pursue. To my mind, that's the most beautiful thing a novel can do.

1. Frank Herbert's Dune
I first read this book when I was fourteen years old. And it rocked my world. Published in 1965, Dune is an amalgam of messages that seem to sum up where we've been... and where we're going. I can only hope my work will do half as much.

The more I write, and the more I read, the more my list changes. I hope you'll keep reading while you keep writing, too. In the meantime, tell the Rockville 8: Which are your favorite books? What do they teach you about the craft?

The Magic Ring of Myth: The Stories We Tell and Why We Tell Them

“Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.”

~ Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Last weekend, I sat and watched Leap Year which had been newly released to DVD. Okay, so I didn’t just watch it once. I replayed it probably half a dozen times or more. As I studied Amy Adams’ and Matthew Goode’s unlikely courtship on the screen, I tried to figure out why I loved this story so much. Especially since critics had panned the film. The movie had a shelf-life of, what, three days on the big screen? Finally, it struck me late Sunday evening why I’d fallen in love with Leap Year. Something about the romantic comedy tapped into one of my Ur-Stories. These are those myths that are at the core of each story we read, listen to, watch . . . or write. They help us understand the random events of our lives.

I’d first heard of the Ur-Story last summer when mystery writer S. J. Rozan spoke on the topic at Seton Hill University. She addressed the stories that fiction writers tell. Not just the mystery, romance, fantasy, horror, or science fiction dramas you see played out between the pages of so many genre books these days, but the deeper myths that lie at the core of those stories. “Life is what it is; fiction tries to tell you what it’s about,” she said. “The Ur-Stories behind crime fiction, the myths on which it’s based, are two epic battles: between chaos and order, and between good and evil. . . . The stories that interest me, though--the pieces I lift out and present to you--are the ones where order is a mask for evil, where for good to prevail the world has to explode into chaos and not everyone finds a happy ending. That’s like life, and amazingly, it echoes the process itself; the writer’s job is to make order--fiction--out of life, which is chaos.”

What did Leap Year tell me about my own Ur-Stories? I still didn’t know. So I pulled out my copy of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces to figure it out. How could I be so wrong about Leap Year? I loved this movie. It’s the modern-day self-actualized Cinderella who goes on a quest to an enchanted land to propose to her Prince Charming only to find she’s been mis-cast. She’s really more a Beauty who heals the Beast she finds along the way. And, well, Prince Charming doesn’t really love her. He loves the idea of her as Cinderella. Okay, these are archetypes I enjoy. Cinderella. Beauty and the Beast. But so what?

That’s when I stumbled across Campbell’s discussion on the monomyth and the role these myths play today. He says, “In the absence of an effective general mythology, each of us has his private, unrecognized, rudimentary, yet secretly potent pantheon of dreams. The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of Forty-second Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change.” So this myth at the core of Leap Year spoke to me. It resonated with the private, secret myths I clutch close to myself as I journey through life. I explore these same messages of transformational love and healing, and enjoy using archetypes like Beauty and the Beast, the tortured dangerous hero, the feisty empowered heroine in my own writing. No big surprise then that I’d discovered such an affinity for Leap Year.

Does everyone do this? Seek out stories that affirm their core beliefs? Or is it just me? I started to look around at the people who surround me. Yes, they did it, too. It’s why I write romance novels and why my best friend reads fantasy. It’s why my eleven-year-old is drawn to the lyrics of Owl City’s Fireflies and my scientist father-in-law loves Asimov and old science fiction movies. We’re drawn to these myths like magnets to an invisible electro-magnetic field. You don’t have to look far to see the evidence. It’s there in the books we read, the music we listen to, the DVDs we watch, the fairy tales we tell our children, and the stories that we as writers write. So why are these myths so important? And how did they get there?

Myths capture our imagination. And without even trying, we seek them out. Myths help us order our world, manage chaos, and draw meaning from what appears to be random occurrences. We find kernels of truth in the myths that populate our lives. But what’s their ultimate purpose? Joseph Campbell says these myths help us cross difficult thresholds, allowing us to transform the way we think, both consciously and subconsciously. They help us arc and overcome the barriers in our own lives that hold us back that keep us mired in the muck. They’re the stories that remind us of our past and inform our future. They keep us from remaining static. They spur change. “It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward [to] counterac[t] those constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back,” he says.

So where does that leave writers? Do we try to shape the myths at the core of our stories to get across a particular message? I’m not sure we can because our privately held myths have shaped us. Our stories rise from this magical spring of myth, whether we like it or not. We can’t help it. The words that spill out of our mouths when we speak and from our fingertips when we craft our stories are already part of our personal mythology. It’s individual truth made universal in our characters and novel themes. Writers are what Campbell calls the “artist-scientist: that curiously disinterested almost diabolic human phenomenon, beyond the normal bounds of social judgment, dedicated to the morals not of this time but of his art. He is the hero of the way of thought--single hearted, courageous, and full of faith that the truth, as he finds it, shall make us free.”

As writers and scholars of humanity, we need to understand the role of myth. How our past has shaped us. How myth draws an audience to a certain underlying story within a specific genre. If we can identify the story behind the story in our own work, we will better understand what rings true for our characters and their struggles. We can even begin to help our agents and editors know how to market our books. We’ll begin to piece together why Jane Q. Public loves a Regency-set marriage of convenience story while she stays far away from the roller coaster ride of modern-day suspense. But more than that, as writer-readers, when we begin to analyze what our literature says about our generation, we can tune our ears to the heart cry to which we’ve grown deaf. By reading popular fiction (mystery, thriller, suspense, romance, YA, science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels) and the lyrics of our modern-day poets, singer/songwriters, we can become adept at translating life chaos into orderly, saleable fiction.

So how does this help me understand why I loved Leap Year while no one else liked it? I understand the myths that have shaped me and I’m able to track my own personal journey as a writer. I see my overriding Ur-Story. My characters always experience a life-transforming love that makes them want to risk it all. They choose to leave behind their controlled comfort zone in order to grow and change. And because they risk it all, they always find their happy ending.

Does knowing this make me a better writer? I think so. Not everyone cares to reflect on life, to grow, or change--in real life or fiction. Change is hard. But I choose to be one of the heroes Campbell mentioned who believes that knowing the truth will set others (and me) free. So I will listen. I will hear the mythos of our generation as it echoes through our popular fiction because I care to know where we’ve been and where we’re headed. And as Mary Chapin Carpenter’s lyrics say so well, yes, each of our hearts does know the way. “It’s worth it all learning at last . . . The future begins with the past . . . We’ve traveled so far to be here.” Will you open your ears? What does your Ur-Story say to you? I think it matters. How about you?

We’ve Traveled So Far (excerpted)
by Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Age of Miracles

I found myself wondering today
Why do some go and some stay
Do each of our hearts know their way
Through valleys of sorrow and tears
Across oceans of longing and years
And the sound of it all in my ears

I traveled
I traveled so far
I traveled so far to be here

It’s worth it all learning at last
The future begins with the past
Step out of the shadow it casts
And let the sun shine on your shoes
Kick ‘em off in the rain if you choose
There’s nothing like nothing to lose

We traveled
We traveled so far
We traveled
We traveled
We traveled so farWe traveled so far to be here