T.S. Eliot called April “the cruellist month.” Here, in Canada, that has certainly proven true with the weather. One day we are basking in sunshine and summer temperatures, the next an ice storm, or snow, or rain comes barrelling down, flattening flowers, breaking tree limbs, knocking out power lines and damaging roofs.
Added to the cruelty of the weather is the uncertainty swirling over financial markets and world affairs. A ceasefire is announced and then broken. Medical workers and journalists in a war zone are killed. In Canada, we are in the midst of an election.
In the publishing world copyright issues, Artificial Intelligence, tariffs, and book banning create an unprofitable and frightening world for authors. Many wonder if they should continue to pour love and effort into fiction — especially romantic fiction.
Writers must each answer that question for themselves.
But, for encouragement, I offer this bit of philosophy. I just finished reading a book with a very tangled and convoluted plot. People fell in love, or out of love. Parents and children and siblings had difficult relationships and unhappy lives. What seemed good often ended badly. What seemed wrong turned out to be uplifting. When I finished the book I had to reread it to find all the dropped threads and tie them together. But — the “moral” of the story was “love is love.”
As we struggle to find our footing in this shifting cultural landscape, I think it is worth remembering that “love is love.” When we ask “what’s the point?” Love is often the answer. Sometimes that is “boy-meets-girl” kind of love. Sometimes it is “the -lost-is-found” kind of love. Sometimes it is finding self-love in a damaged life. For some, it is finding, and receiving, the love of God. For writers it may mean finding or rediscovering the love of craft.
It seems to me, that the heart, in the end, is what drives our living. If the turmoil of our world is overwhelming, look deeply into your heart. There you will find an essence that offers solace. There, behind the baggage and disappointments of the mind, is peace.
If you are a writer, write stories from that place — offer your understanding and your love to the world. Love is love and can heal even the most flawed of human beings.
P.S. The cat pictures in this post are just to make you smile, and maybe remind you that pets offer their own form of love.
Views: 0
Recent Comments