February Theme: DISCOVERING THE WORLD by Irene Latham

What I love best about writing is that I could have written a dozen posts for this month's theme. And all those posts would have at least one major element in common:

DISCOVERY

 1. Discovery in research. The writing journey has taken me to 1932 Gee's Bend, Alabama, to the 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee on the island of Martinique, into the future of a world called Inbetweenland, into the bowels of a shipwreck, behind-the scenes of a contemporary zoo in my next novel DON'T FEED THE BOY, and currently into the world of rock-n-roll. I love spending time in museums and poring over pages of notes and photographs.

2. Discovery of other people.  I love how writing a book is like starting a conversation. Being an author allows me to connect with other authors and book-lovers and quilt-lovers and history-lovers and everyday people like the UPS man. And I get to hear their stories about quilts and family and disaster and dreams and encounters with wildlife and all sorts of ordinary life experiences that are somehow not ordinary at all, but special, and sacred, and completely a gift in this world.

3. Discovery of myself. I love how the writing process ferrets the corners of my heart and reveals myself to me. I get a peek inside that girl who's still a mystery, that woman who knows things she doesn't even know she knows! Somehow, through writing, I learn more about myself than anything else. And being an introspective, soul-full kind of person, it's like meditation, massage, therapy. FOR FREE.

Wishing all you wonderful discoveries as you continue your journey, writing or otherwise!