There were several influences that inspired me to start writing again.
One of these came during a recent trip home to Los Angeles. I had lunch with two high school friends. I hadn't seen one much in the last 13 years. She simply asked me if I was writing these days. In high school, when we spent a lot of time together, I was a writer. I wrote for our school newspaper, school literary magazine, a 'zine (so 90's!) of my own that was included in Zine Scene (a collection of writings), poetry, journals, etc. I was highly influenced by Hillary Carlip (whom I befriended at a reading when I was about 14) and truly saw myself as an author.
I never intended to stop writing. It just sort of happened. I went to college, got busy, started working, got married, became a teacher, blah blah blah. Anyway, that part of my life to a back seat. I did develop other interests, but always felt sad that I wasn't writing.
Anyway, the point of this post is that it feels good to be writing again and I am so excited about the feeling it has been giving me. I am brimming with ideas and have gone back to reading essays by other authors. Of course, right now, I am reading a lot of essays about infertility. My favorite ones are the ones that incorporate a lot of humor into their deeply personal stories. I rely on humor to get me through hard times. It keeps me sane. You can't cry all the time, right? So you might as well laugh.
This is a particularly good example. For those who haven't had a miscarriage it might be a little weird to read. But, I think it is genius. Enjoy.