Last night in class, we were discussing who the class can invite to share during our Women Writers symposium that my Women in Literature class is sponsoring on Nov 28. (Everyone welcome, by the way!).
We were struggling to think of some who would be A. Willing to come to Belmopan to share a piece of their work B. Have not shared a piece of their work in the Women Writers symposiums in the recent past. Our list was too short and not growing when I posed the question "Why don't we invite some female writers we know, but do not have work published and need the exposure?" The question was well received. To my surprise, my lecturer looked straight at me and asked me to share something. Me?! What an honour.
You see, I have waited to be a writer since before I new what a writer really was. I remember being pre-school aged and watching TV in my northern California home with my niece Sara while my big brothers under the care of my big sister Melinda. My brother's were at school so Sara and I were freely surfing the few channels my family had. I can't remember what show we were watching. I don't remember the context of the show. All I remember is the word "author". Since then I was hooked. I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be an author.... whatever that was.
The other day I was having a phone conversation with my big brother T. T is eighteen months older then myself and I have recently learned to embrace, not hate, the little sister adoration I have for him. I love this man. Seriously, if I was a superhero fan, I would have a Super T shirt.
The conversation we had was really eye opening. We talked about loving our jobs and what we do. Living without regrets, and basically knowing what career we are meant to have. He told me about changes he plans to make and let me talk about what I want to do. I told him I want to write a book. That I already see the book with the name Elizabeth Andrus-Reimer on the cover, not the pseudonym that I always planned since I discovered the word pseudonym.... but I signed, what is a writer suppose to do in Belize? The economy is tough here and people don't just write for a living. They writer and teach or write and do journalism (which a different game altogether). Bottom lines is, they cannot truly enjoy doing what they do because necessity forces them to bog down with an alternative career. I personally am tired of alternative careers. Don't get me wrong, I loved teaching, but I was not very good at it. I loved connecting with my students, but I found the other roles of a teacher stressful, bogging, political, and just plan hard. I started to whine to my big brother that he had it easier then I did.
Super T came to my rescue. He facebooked and emailed me several links to You Tube clips of other writers, and successful people. He made me really believe in myself. Funny because now I am developing this fear that no one will be interesting in anything I have to say. I have never had that fear before. I think it is interesting how the enemy toils with our minds if we let him. As one fear dissipated another comes. Oh if Super T can come and fix that too.
So on November 28th I will be sharing a few pieces of my personal writing. I am thinking about doing one poem and one prose but I am not sure yet. This is a very big deal for my ego. I have never been publicly acknowledged as a writer. I think I have been to dyslexic for that!
We were struggling to think of some who would be A. Willing to come to Belmopan to share a piece of their work B. Have not shared a piece of their work in the Women Writers symposiums in the recent past. Our list was too short and not growing when I posed the question "Why don't we invite some female writers we know, but do not have work published and need the exposure?" The question was well received. To my surprise, my lecturer looked straight at me and asked me to share something. Me?! What an honour.
You see, I have waited to be a writer since before I new what a writer really was. I remember being pre-school aged and watching TV in my northern California home with my niece Sara while my big brothers under the care of my big sister Melinda. My brother's were at school so Sara and I were freely surfing the few channels my family had. I can't remember what show we were watching. I don't remember the context of the show. All I remember is the word "author". Since then I was hooked. I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be an author.... whatever that was.
The other day I was having a phone conversation with my big brother T. T is eighteen months older then myself and I have recently learned to embrace, not hate, the little sister adoration I have for him. I love this man. Seriously, if I was a superhero fan, I would have a Super T shirt.
The conversation we had was really eye opening. We talked about loving our jobs and what we do. Living without regrets, and basically knowing what career we are meant to have. He told me about changes he plans to make and let me talk about what I want to do. I told him I want to write a book. That I already see the book with the name Elizabeth Andrus-Reimer on the cover, not the pseudonym that I always planned since I discovered the word pseudonym.... but I signed, what is a writer suppose to do in Belize? The economy is tough here and people don't just write for a living. They writer and teach or write and do journalism (which a different game altogether). Bottom lines is, they cannot truly enjoy doing what they do because necessity forces them to bog down with an alternative career. I personally am tired of alternative careers. Don't get me wrong, I loved teaching, but I was not very good at it. I loved connecting with my students, but I found the other roles of a teacher stressful, bogging, political, and just plan hard. I started to whine to my big brother that he had it easier then I did.
Super T came to my rescue. He facebooked and emailed me several links to You Tube clips of other writers, and successful people. He made me really believe in myself. Funny because now I am developing this fear that no one will be interesting in anything I have to say. I have never had that fear before. I think it is interesting how the enemy toils with our minds if we let him. As one fear dissipated another comes. Oh if Super T can come and fix that too.
So on November 28th I will be sharing a few pieces of my personal writing. I am thinking about doing one poem and one prose but I am not sure yet. This is a very big deal for my ego. I have never been publicly acknowledged as a writer. I think I have been to dyslexic for that!
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