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| 4 of the original 5 - (l to r): Rosalind, Connie, me, and Jeanne. Missing (and forever missed), Erica |
This week, I left my writing group. I had been out of the group since a month ago
when I began my sabbatical. This week,
though, I told them I wouldn’t be coming back for the foreseeable future. It
was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made in a very long time.
This group of women have been a foundation in my life for
the better part of a decade – the longest I’ve ever stayed with any writing
group. In that time, we have become a
community – we have been friends and colleagues and confidantes. Together we have faced the loss of one of our
dearest members to cancer. We've seen each other through health crises, family crises, and loss of confidence. We have shared and worked and laughed together.
We have core
members who have been with the group from the beginning, and we have welcomed new members and lost them to other demands in
life. Together we have read our
writings, critiqued, rejoiced in successes and shared failures and
disappointments. These women are good
people and good friends. The thought of
not sitting with them twice a month to sip tea, laugh, share, and then get down
to the business of work-shopping our writings – that thought fills me with
sadness.
But, in the end, that friendship was not enough reason to
stay with a writing group. I was finding
a need for more and more solitude in my work, and needed to transition to a
different phase in my writing. Over the
years, I have received more from these women than I can possibly ever thank
them for. The closest I can ever come to adequate thanks is to be as true to the development of my work as I can, and, for now, for the
time being, that means working alone.
So, day after day, I’ll sit at my table and work to be the
best writer I can, and though the work may be solitary, I will never feel alone.
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For Rosalind Trotter, Jeanne Bishop, Connie Newman, Carol Massahos, and Morgan Songi. And, as always, for Erica.
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For Rosalind Trotter, Jeanne Bishop, Connie Newman, Carol Massahos, and Morgan Songi. And, as always, for Erica.
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