I Swagger

Today we are participating in this blogfest and re-posting a post. We give you one of our first posts from October 2011. Check out other top-notch re-posts by bopping to the other sites listed at: http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com/2011/11/deja-vu-blogfest.html


Swagger:
to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence.

 

Swaggerer Jon Egan circa 1980's

 A few years ago, I hardly swaggered. I more or less staggered.

When at my husband's work functions, people would ask what I did for a living. I would stammer, “Oh, I'm a stay-at-home mom.” On occasion with a couple drinks in me, I might even blurt out, “I write sometimes.” But the follow-up question would leave me staring like a deer in headlights, “So, what have you published?”

At that time I had published a poem in a children's book ( http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Glimpse-Michigan-Kevin-Kammeraad/dp/0971269297 ). I had attended conferences, belonged to a critique group, was writing my first novel, and had written for as long as I could remember. But I had no confidence in myself as a writer. I didn't have any credentials to call myself a writer.

All of that changed though.

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant with our third child, an opportunity came into my inbox from the Highlights Foundation ( http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/ ). For years, I had been getting their newsletter about workshops for writers and though I really wanted to go, I knew it wasn't a financial priority. But I decided to apply for a scholarship. I was working on my second YA novel and I figured it couldn't hurt to try. Despite my collection of over 50 rejection letters from publishers, I applied.

It wasn't long before I received an e-mail that invited me to Honesdale, PA, for a YA Novel workshop with Rich Wallace ( http://www.richwallacebooks.com/Home.html ). The foundation covered most of the cost for the workshop. I was elated. Someone aside from my husband believed in me as a writer. So we scraped up enough money for a plane ticket and I was off.

 Swaggerer Rich Wallace

Needless to say, I found my voice. And I learned how to be confident in it.

I made life-long friends that believed in me, encouraged me and inspired me.

After my third daughter was born, our family experienced a traumatic event
( http://thegortfamily.blogspot.com/2010/03/elizas-first-day.html ). It changed us all, forever. But the one thing that remained intact was my voice. I wrote my way through grief, and two years later I am still writing.

Swaggerer Melissa Kline

In fact, I am doing more writing than ever and I am doing it with swagger. It is something no one or circumstance can take from me. 

I challenge you to find your voice and swagger, too.
***
The Guilt of Honesty  


Looking over a cliff
and if I don't take the first step
I will fall
or be pushed by circumstance
into the jagged rocks below.

Swaggerer Kim Van Sickler

But if I jump
calculate my velocity,
I will hit
the cool water
below,


where I can swim

uninhibited,
free.  
Maybe even bask on a rock

Swaggerer Kathy Cannon Wiechman

cleansing in sun and water,


before I climb
back up the cliff face
inch by inch.


And onto the path
that leads
Home.

Swaggerer Graziella Buonanno  

by Regina Gort

Swaggerer Juliet Bond (second pink shirt from left)

Swaggerer Regina Gort