How's my summer? Wow! Don't know how to answer that. My summer started out trying to help out a friend on the brink of homelessness. This has been followed by deception, pregnancy, murder,assault, a crime spree and a suicide attempt gone wrong. Sure, this sounds like a great book, but in real life . . . it sucks. I prefer my drama to remain in books and movies. But sometimes this stuff isn't cooperative enough to remain confined to artsy entertainment.
Although I'm not directly involved with any of this, I am closely intertwined with someone who is. Out of respect for the victims involved and subsequent legal issues, I won't go into detail with what I know, but I can tell you one thing. My world has been turned upside down. My faith is being challenged, my world view, my personal goals, political view . . . everything is being viewed in a different light. Although my faith remains strong in God and Jesus Christ, my faith dims weaker in human beings.
I don't know if all of this will make me better or worse. Right now I'm feeling pretty bitter, disappointed. Not sure how I can actually come out of this as a better person. Everything I believed has gone oopsies! Where have I always found the greatest comfort? (I'm not going religious here. I'm only speaking in secular ways) Stories. For me, it has always been stories. In times of difficulty I've devoured books, spent way too much $$$$ on movies and poured out my soul via my own attempts at novels. I've always wanted to be a positive influence in the world. It seems like all of my best intentions end up with zero results. But even if I never make the kind of difference that I've wanted to, maybe at least I'll have a worthwhile story to tell someday. That's a hope I have. Maybe somewhere, somehow, I'll be a positive influence. Maybe one day I'll have a story worth telling.
Until then . . . tell me, how has the upside-downs and Oppsies of life changed your story? What do you have to say and tell? What hope to I have? More important, what hope do the victims of random violence have? How have you known books to have a positive influence on life? I'd especially love to hear from those who are published authors. Can our writing really make a difference?
