Sometimes I grab a notepad or turn on my AlphaSmart and then turn to Anthony and ask, “What should I write about?”
You know when your child sits poised with a red texta and the back of an A4 sheet of paper that’s printed with the last few terms and conditions of a flight you took some time before they were born, and they ask you, “What should I draw?”
So you suggest a snail. A turtle? A dinosaur then. They settle with their own idea of a rainbow.
And you stop yourself from saying, “Why’d you ask?” and you tell them it’s a beautiful rainbow. Because it is—it doesn’t matter how many times rainbows have been drawn, painted or sung about—it’s fridge-worthy because that beautiful rainbow is their own creation.
What should I write about? There’s nothing I can write about that hasn’t been said before. It’s not what I write about, but how I write about something that counts.
The fact is that I have to write.
Paulo Coelho said,
“Don’t expect to get anything back, don’t expect recognition for your efforts, don’t expect your genius to be discovered or your love to be understood. Act because you need to act.”
I write because I need to write; I cannot not write. It’s not about getting blog comments or likes on Facebook or getting published one day. It’s a strange, hard-to-describe, irresistible call to write.
And Paulo wasn’t only talking about writing. Send a gift because you need to send a gift, whether you receive thanks or not. Mop the floors without leaving the mop in the trough in the laundry so that your husband will see it. Mop because you need to mop.
The school holidays are over. The ‘Back to School’ ads, shop signs and catalogues will now apply to us. For the first time.
Tomorrow is Elsie’s first day of school.
I’ve been labelling. It’s kinda fun, like something school mums do.
Elsie is super-excited, as Maeve would say (she likes to use ‘super’ to add emphasis where it may or may not be required: ‘my Dad is super-big’ and boogie boards are ‘super-fun’).
I guess tomorrow I won’t have super-trouble thinking of something to write about.
Writing by Larissa Patton 
Haha your super funny Larissa!
I cant wait to hear what you write about tomorrow after Elsie’s first day at school, she’s going to love it. Hope your not as teary as I was on Tuesday with Stephanie =).
Give her a SUPER big hug from us!
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Thanks Tara! I wasn’t teary until Anthony started… But that was only once the bus pulled away and we waved but she couldn’t see us and we couldn’t see her (too short to see out the window!). I followed the bus and she was very excited at the school and waved goodbye as the new preps and the Grade Ones sat in a circle with their lovely teacher. Hmmmm. Now what?
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Haha I had that same feeling…..what do I do now? I guess my house will be moderately tidy from now on with all this time on my hands lol. Maybe I’ll do some of those paintings I’ve had floating around in my head for years? hmm or maybe I’ll just take a bath haha.
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Larissa….I have been saying something similar to that quote of Paul Coelho’s for years without realising someone other than myself had said it!!! Hahaha….Oh, I understand most people need to be needed, need to make an impression on others to feel good about themselves, etc. But in Christian circles, speaking to those who profess to know the Lord and His Word, or at least the principles implied, and who claim to live for Him, I meet so many who just can’t shake off those needs and put their trust in God for His rewards. What Paul has said is a biblical principle Larissa, which God showed me at some time years ago…because I was one of those needy people…not that I would show it, but inside I was needing approval from others in most areas of my life, and when it didn’t come, I would struggle internally trying not to let it bother me. Sometime in the past 31 years of walking with my God, and reading His word, and wanting to please Him rather than man, I lost that need, because He became my everything, and only what He thought mattered anymore! I was very excited to read this little article, and Paul’s quote…thankyou so much. Even if I can’t find the scripture to back it up (there is something in there, I know!), I will be using that quote! Love Bev.
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It’s a good one, Bev, isn’t it (actually there aren’t many quotes that are bad). He’s a Brazilian novelist. I’ve read one of his more famous books ‘The Alchemist’ but mostly it was just a quote I came across that really resonated with me. Glad it did with you too xxx
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