I suppose I should have always known that I was meant to write. Since my very first story was published in my school newsletter at the ripe old age of five, I have sought every opportunity to put pen to paper. Funny, I suppose, that it never occurred to me until much later in life that this might just be my calling. Writing is what I love, it just never felt like a job to me. No matter what else I tried, nothing fit. I always came back to writing. It continues to be the only place I feel at home.
What I have learned about myself, through much trial and error, is that I am a humorist. In life, sometimes you have to laugh if only to keep from crying. I can find the humor in just about anything, and I hope that everything I write brings to mind love and laughter, in one way or another. The world’s richest man is the one who goes out laughing.
In life, I am not what people consider funny. Most of my life has been what I would call a comedy of errors. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong for me in a big way. Huge, as in epic fail. Yet, in my darkest hour, I can always find some reason that it is funny. It was in one of these dark moments, shortly after a devastating divorce, that I sat alone on my living room floor, not sure how things had gone so wrong, and somehow the humor of this sad situation had me laughing. Laughing until I cried. I wondered how many other women were right where I was at that particular moment. It was a cleansing moment in my life, and the last day I cried over my divorce. In true form, I put pen to paper. I was alone with two small kids, a pile of bills I had no way to pay, feeding my little ones grilled cheese sandwiches because that’s all there was. No woman in her right mind would be laughing. But as I wrote that night, it occurred to me that I was not alone, and that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed. There were still good times to be had.
My life looks significantly different today. I’m about to finish college. My babies are grown and starting lives of their own. And I am embarking on a new journey of self discovery.
If there is one thing I want a reader to take away from my writing, it would be to embrace every bit of life. Even the bad moments. Especially the bad moments. Those are the times that often give us the most strength and empowerment. Live without regret. Don’t waste even a moment on self pity. Enjoy every minute that you have.
M.Kizer Author's Corner 