Pat Conroy Inspiration

In My Reading Life, Pat Conroy speaks of the courage and insecurities writers face.  He also speaks of the necessity of solitude that I most definitely relate to.  Solitude allows me to replenish my soul.  Conroy’s words make me want to write.

            

Have you ever noticed how much noise there is in our lives?  Right now on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning, our next-door neighbor is mowing his lawn, a single bird is chirping in a nearby tree.  I hear a car engine racing too fast in a residential neighborhood sounding like a lone car racing around a track.  There is also an incessant hum or buzz or rush of air surrounding my ears with constant and close noise.  Occasionally, I hear a train whistle on the tracks along the 91 freeway and a jet as it rides the invisible sky road to Orange County airport.  This is why our trips to Montana are so glorious.  It’s actually quiet there and while there is noise, it’s the racket of a leaf falling from a tree, the breeze pushing it away from its home.  It’s the soft background babble of the creek next to our campsite; kids playing catch in the meadow near enough to be seen but not so close as to interrupt my mental peace.  Sometimes, hiking a trail, we’ll stop—“Sh.  Do you hear that?  It’s silence.”  It’s so quiet it refreshes my ears.  It’s so free of cement, traffic, people that my eyes relax and soak up the greens, browns, blues, surprises of reds and yellows.

            

I want to write.  I want solitude in which to do it.  I want nature outside my cabin window inviting my words from their hiding places.  I want my pencil always sharp so when words become clear, my pencil can cut them and weave them into something that is meaningful.  I want to write so that I can leave a part of myself behind when God calls me home.  I want my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to know me as a writer.  To know who I was in words only I can express.