Yesterday, a neighbor and I were chatting. She’d gone overseas to visit her daughter who is in the Peace Corps. We both agreed that seeing how others live is a humbling experience…particularly when we live in a county with so much. Yet, even some in our own country struggle with daily life way more than they should, and we, the average citizen, take our lives for granted.
I take that back. We, the average American Joe, focus on the negatives, on the lack of, on the trifling little quibbles that are meaningless to so many other of our fellow humans.
My first real exposure to this came from a book back in my preteen years. A little novel titled Mrs. Mike highlighted the inequities that some may face and the perseverance and joy with which they face them while others can only focus on the minutiae. Case in point, Mrs. Mike lost her children in the Canadian wilderness only to return to find her mother’s boarders quibbling over burnt toast.
I wonder how many times a day I quibble over things as small and inconsequential as burnt toast. Scratch that, I don’t want to know.
Especially after receiving a beautiful email chock full of inspiration and giveaways for readers and writers.
Queena is a young lady vibrant and full of life. She had her future in the palm of her hand. Then, she was brutally attacked, a senseless act that left her blind and broken. Physically broken. Her spirit, however, is kept alive through the love of her family and the generosity of many she has never met.
You see, Queena had just dropped off a stack of books at the library when she was raped and beaten. And in the true kindness and community that is beloved by the literary community, both readers and writers, Queena has inspired a literary giveaway of epic proportions.
All writers and aspiring writers can bid on writerly services from big name agents and editors to techy stuff that make writing easier or more manageable. Readers can find amazing books and book packages by gifted authors or their publishers.
In the workforce, a common phrase is often bandied about: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
In the writerly world, our phrase is pay it forward. The writing community is truly inspiration in the generous way we reach a hand backwards to help pull up the writers behind us. We share wisdom, experience, services and hope.
Please head over to NA Alley and see Queena’s story of survival and perseverance. Then, check on the list of items up for bid in this legendary auction.
How do you focus on the important things in life and steer clear of burn toast quibbles?
Curious minds want to know.
Words from the Woods 