Blog RSS FeedUpheaval & other hobbies
We lost a tree the other day. We were painting our bedroom and stood waaaaay back in the corner to take a look, and when I turned around and glanced at the backyard, I noticed that a young pepper tree was leaning at a 45-degree angle. Turns out that it shouldn’t have been planted where it was planted. So we had it taken out. Luckily, we have plenty of mature trees in the neighborhood to cushion the loss. Actually, I find pepper trees insanely messy, so I’m not mourning that one.
Now I have a spot that needs something in it, though.
Isn’t that the way it always goes? Something falls over and we have to deal with it. Then we have to figure out what to plant in the blank space.
Between revisions (yes, I got another extension! ha ha ha!), trees, redoing my bedroom (I think some pod people actually sneaked into our brains during the furniture shopping trip during which the old stuff was acquired), going back to work, and various personal events, I am finding myself surrounded by freshly emblankenized (yeah, it’s a word… don’t look it up, though) spaces.
It’s scary, because when is change ever not scary? But it’s also a time for hope and a little faith and a lot of creativity. Sometimes your creativity has to be literal, like writing a new scene or deciding what color to paint the wall. Sometimes it requires legwork, like finding out what kind of shrub we can plant that won’t tip over and land on our fence. And sometimes it demands that you imagine that things will be different, and better.
There’s work involved, too. Painting, by the way, is hard work. Writing is also hard work, in its own way. And dealing with the challenges of life as a human connected to other humans might be the hardest work of all.
But when everything is said and done, you have a new plant, a new bedroom, a better book, a better life.
Like the Phoenix, which must burn itself to the ground to be born again, sometimes you have to embrace change, even if it means burning to the ground or hauling many heavy pieces of furniture out to storage when all you want to do is sit around and watch “Wife Swap” re-runs all day.
So here’s to upheaval, and to what comes next.
PS – Don’t forget to enter the contest!
PPS – Special shout-out to YA Books Central for making me their author of the day on Twitter. And to Laina for nominating me!
November 10th, 2009 Katie Alender
“And dealing with the challenges of life as a human connected to other humans might be the hardest work of all.”
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes.
And for the shrub – may I suggest lavendar? It’s hardy and pretty and fairly much weeklike in it’s ability to survive my black thumb. If it can survive my full sun, never watered bed, I think it will survive your environment.
Christy, that’s so funny–we have tons of lavender–”French” lavender, actually–and we didn’t plant any of it! It just flew in on the breeze and made itself very much at home. I love it, though. I’m sure if we don’t plant anything else, lavender will be what grows there!
Lavender is so pretty! I think you should just let the French lavender grow where the old shrub was, it’ll make your yard smell sweet (sweeter?). Good luck with your redecorating! LOL
I’m with you (and Christy) on the human-to-human connections. They are the hardest thing of all, though often the most rewarding.
You are right: so much of life is shuffling things about, constantly looking for the best possible arrangement, the most felicitous use of space. Writing is all about that.
There are a lot of pepper trees here! We had one when I was a little girl and it had been planted in the worst place possible, right near the driveway where the shallow roots could mess up the asphalt. I love them, though…
Too funny…yes, change is very challenging. I’m a turtle when it comes to change…I move incredibly slow making any life altering decisions.
Sorry about your tree, but at least it didn’t fall on your house.
Have a great weekend (and PS…painting is WAY hard work!).