A Wild Perfection

I went through a difficult time last April. The amount of stress was unbelievable. As a result, I got rid of about half of my library just because I had the impulse to have something change. I regret it now with all my heart. One of the many books that I got rid of and later regretted was A Wild Perfection: The Letters of James Wright. When I found that book, I immediately thought I could really learn something from it. I remember sitting in a comfortable chair at the bookstore and reading the first few pages. I immediately felt something towards James Wright’s work even though I didn’t know his poetry at the time. The more I read, the more it seemed that it would be a book that would make a difference in my life and in my writing. So why in the name of heaven did I get rid of the book? Like I said, it was an impulse thing I couldn’t explain then as I can’t explain now. The most outstanding thing was that through the confusion I was experiencing at the time, I seemed to have forgotten James Wright’s name so I couldn’t find the book without the title. I did a search on Amazon.com and came up with 23,000 hits. It was on the first page of the search that I saw the cover of the book and the title. I was so happy I let out a yell in the middle of class (my students were working quietly on a task).

Another thing all together different… you should check out 37days. The website is kept by a writer, Patricia Digh. She is full of wonderful advice and insightful entries. I love reading this blog! She issued a challenge today: try and concentrate on one specific thing for the next 37 days. So I have decided to put pen to paper on my Moleskine and see what comes of it. I think I should also try and sit down and add an entry every day to this blog. I wonder what would come of that itself. Perhaps I will try it.