▸ Birth. I did say obvious
▸ First day of school
▸ First job
▸ First day of college
▸ First career
▸ Marriage (or equivalent)
▸ Birth of a child.
And here the cycle repeats within our lives as we watch each of our children go through those very same beginnings and more. Then there are the dreaded or much awaited years of the empty nest. Which is of course, another beginning as we face another change in our lives.
Then there are beginnings that we don’t really choose. Loss of job, death, divorce, etc. These are the result of life, fate, circumstances, whatever you choose to call it. This is where I am now in my cycle of life. I published my first books starting in 1996, which was a very exciting beginning for me, something I am reminded of by the many new authors on a list that I am part of who are so excited over their first sales and first covers of their soon-to-be-published books. Yep, nothing like that very special beginning and I remember my 'firsts', especially now, as I am about to relive many of those with new covers for my books.
You see, my life took a different route for many years while building my writing career. My mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and needed to come live with me and my husband. Life changed for me as I was faced with the beginning of taking care of a parent. There were choices to be made and priorities to be adjusted.
Whatever it took to keep my mother interested in life became a priority as I opened a shop in order to have access to cross stitch patterns and supplies which helped keep her going. And talk about strange acts of fates, when she switched to knitting, the economy forced me to close my shop. Something I just now realized! I guess I no longer needed to have my shop though that was a painful ending!
Back to my mom. I’m so proud to say that she beat this difficult cancer. Six months has become seven and we have entered our eighth year. By the way, our relationship as mature adults living under the same roof was another beginning
So, now that the stress of that time of my life is over (yes, there is a blog to be had there) I find myself starting over, facing new beginnings as I jump back into the writing life.
To that end, my agent sold my back list of titles which had all gone out of print so now I’ve begun a new beginning as a Carina Press author. My books will be rereleased in E-Format starting November 21st 2011. Now,after twelve books, this should be old hat for me, but that would be too easy!
So yes, you've guessed it, another beginning has dropped into my life: that of figuring out the E-pub industry, the promotion that will be the most effective and creating an online presence through Twitter, Face book, and yep, blogging. I'm being dragged into a whole new world.
So with all this said, what do I think of beginnings? Are they hard work? Is there pain? Are they necessary or a necessary evil?
First, let me say that I love beginnings. You should see all the knitting and cross stitch projects I have in progress, not to mention a partially painted kitchen
We all feel this, just think about Spring and the new life that unfolds after a long winter. Beginnings give hope. After all, if I had nothing new to look forward too, nothing new to learn, what would be the point in living? I’m looking at that big neon arrow that is pointing me in my new direction.
Beginning can and do mean hard work, and unfortunately, there can be pain but if growth is the outcome, and if we tweak our attitude and embrace beginnings, then our lives will be rich and fulfilling. At least I hope so.
So what do you think? Are you experiencing change? Is it necessary or a necessary evil.
Susan Edwards
Magic, Myth & Wonder
Http://susanedwards.com
White Series/SpiritWalker Series
White Dawn~White Dusk
White Shadows~White Wind
Nov. 2011 Carina Press-Digital Format
