• About
  • Recipe Index
  • Daddy Oh

an everyday life

an everyday life

Tag Archives: Annie

Tomorrow

21 Monday Dec 2009

Posted by Janell in Life at Home

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Annie, Christmas Letters, Everyday Life, Tomorrow, Writing

I began the Christmas letter while at the beach last week.  But words became  forced.

So rather than use forceps, I put it all away.  I didn’t exactly throw in the towel, but I did reach that elusive state of holy indifference where it didn’t matter any more.  If words eventually came, then fine — I would write them.  Or if words remained locked in the quicksand of my mind, then I gave myself permission to NOT write a Christmas letter this year.  Either alternative was fine by me.

But as my girls were looking through my collection of Christmas greetings yesterday, the question of my own slightly delinquent greeting surfaced .  Rather than talk about quicksand and the state of holy indifference, I heard myself say that the letter was at the top of my ‘to do’ list tomorrow.

What WAS I thinking?  Tomorrow?  Where DID those words come from?

Tomorrow… as in bet your bottom dollar, tomorrow, there’ll be words.

And then, hedging my glib words, just in case no words showed up tomorrow, I reminded anyone who was listening that there were twelve days of Christmas, implying that I had until at least January 5th to deliver the goods.

End of story.  Nothing else was said.  And I thought no more about it…. until this morning, about 4 a.m., when words starting coming.  The dam had broken and it was time to deliver the goods.  So I did what any unreasonable writer starved for words would do.  I got up, no questions asked.

Yet…rather than sitting down to write, I put the muse off, just in case she was toying with me again.  I made some spaghetti sauce and meatballs… tempting the muse to leave.  Then I made some home-made vegetable soup.  Then some coffee.  And the muse continued to hang in there until finally, I settled down with my computer.  And before I knew it, I had a way ‘in’ to the letter and the words began to flow and I didn’t look up until half the Christmas letter was drafted.  And soon I had an entire draft.  Just like that.

Did I deliver the goods?  Well, if it’s like all the other Christmas letters I’ve ever written, probably not.  But the important thing is that the letter has been delivered except for the clean up.  And I’m saving that for tomorrow.  Just  like any created thing, I’m giving it a little rest to see it all with fresh eyes in the sunlight of  a new tomorrow.

Funny that yesterday’s questioner use to love the movie Annie.  But then’…what’s not to love about that little girl with such dogged determination and eternal optimism — who had probably never heard of that Ignatius catch phrase of “holy indifference” in all her young life.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow, you’re always a day away…

“Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? — every, every minute?”

-- Thornton Wilder, "Our Town"

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts.


prev|rnd|list|next
© Janell A West and An Everyday Life, January 2009 to Current Date. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given.

Recent Posts

  • Queen of Salads
  • Sweater Weather
  • Summer Lull Salads
  • That Roman Feast
  • Remodel Redux
  • Déjà vu, Déjà Voodoo
  • One Good Egg

Artful Living

  • Fred Gonsowski Garden Home
  • Kylie M Interiors
  • Laurel Bern Interiors
  • Lee Abbamonte
  • Mid-Century Modern Remodel
  • Ripple Effects
  • The Creativity Exchange
  • The Task at Hand
  • Tongue in Cheek
  • Zen & the Art of Tightrope Walking

Family ~ Now & Then

  • Chronicling America
  • Family
  • Kyle West
  • Pieces of Reese's Life
  • Vermont Digital Newspaper Project

Food for Life!

  • Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome
  • Manger
  • Once Upon a Chef
  • The Everyday French Chef

Literary Spaces

  • A Striped Armchair
  • Dolce Bellezza
  • Lit Salad
  • Living with Literature
  • Marks in the Margin
  • So Many Books
  • The Millions

the Garden, the Garden

  • An Obsessive Neurotic Gardener
  • Potager
  • Red Dirt Ramblings

Archives

Categories

  • Far Away Places
  • Good Reads
  • Home Restoration
  • In the Garden
  • In the Kitchen
  • Life at Home
  • Mesta Park
  • Prayer
  • Soul Care
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Writing

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • an everyday life
    • Join 89 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • an everyday life
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...