Lately, I've realized that, given my childlike nature, I live more "in the now" than I was previously aware, and that whatever is (in the now) seems eternal to me. So change, I guess, disrupts that, briefly, until it resettles into whatever is (now).
Some people who know me might not realize I'm that way, just as I didn't realize it, because I am also stable, reliable, responsible, and always ticking things off a to-do list and looking ahead on the calendar to plan, to be available, to get the job done, etc.
I imagine many of us are aware of balancing the now with the oncoming future, the linear of our lives with the swirling nonlinear of it. But I think there are degrees of awareness, and mine must be acute (now) in this area. (And I'm aware that I'm unaware in other areas!)
This musing reminds me of a wonderful blog post on "growing up backwards" by Natalie the Singing Fool in her blog, The Cat Lady Sings. What a great name for a blog, eh?
And that brings me to poetry and the September 1 tally in the 100 Rejections project! I heard about it from Brett Elizabeth Jenkins-Braun at her wonderfully funny blog, The Angry Grammarian. She started on September 1, and so did I, so here's where I am now:
120 packets sent since last September 1
64 rejections
34 acceptances
25 packets pending
gray area of math challenge = 3* (right?)
*some had to be withdrawn for technical reasons, etc.; some might be leftovers from before tally
So, as you see, I failed to reach 100 Rejections. Somehow, of course, this is good! It means I had more acceptances! Also, I did manage to exceed 100 submissions, which is the point. I will carry on with this till the end of the calendar year, tally again, and then, perhaps, just keep going, but without counting.
"And since no counting had begun / We lived a thousand years in one." --Leonard Cohen, "Half the Perfect World," as sung by Madeleine Peyroux!
I can't believed I've sullied Slattern Day with my tidy tally...
I'm impressed with the sheer number of submissions you sent out - When I tally my results in December, I know I won't have that many!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen. Trying for the 100 Rejections in a mutual project helped a lot, the moral support, the stick-to-itiveness, etc.!
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty great, I tell ya, all those submissions...you go, girl!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the now/the later is sometimes tricky for me. Lots of time zones at once.
Amazing! In my count, I've found those acceptances to be a real problem, mathematically. After all, the same item can be rejected countless times, but once it gets accepted, you have to go write something else. And that's, like, hard work, man!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, congratulations on 126 packets of hard work and talent, and 34 instances of some smart people recognizing it.
Congratulations on exceeding your submission goal! I'm terribly afraid of rejection, so I admire your courage.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I know exactly what you mean about both liking and yet resisting change. Yep. Me in a nutshell.
You are amazing and prolific! Oops...I might be a robot, let me try again.
ReplyDeleteThanks, all!
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to this project! Back in 2010 and 2011 I had over 100 submissions, and I think I was close to 100 rejections those years. I don't simul submit, and I'm writing less so I think those are large factors in why my number of submissions are way down now. I'm kind of glad, in a way, because I am spending more time with the poems.
ReplyDeleteI love how you talk about the balance of the linear and the very non-linear in this. :)
Thanks, Jessie. I am slowing down, too. Which is good in many ways, including my inability to keep track while counting!
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