As I was going through some files: submission guidelines and the like, I noticed the bulging tickler files I have. Tickler files are stories, essays, poems that really hit home, that sparked an idea for my own writing, made me think, helped me look inward. One of the saddest things I noted was how few woman’s magazine still publish short stories and end page essays. Those I have saved are some of the best, heart-filling writing. In my view, certainly worth the paper and time to read. I wonder sometimes if this isn’t the down side of our full lives and squeezing of every dollar. Even on a broader scale.
Was it readers who lost interest or was that the easiest way to cut costs. We are glutted with information, useful, needed information. We have TV magazines, 24-hour news, celebrity watch ever in the news. Couldn’t we do with something lighter, more tuned to what is good news? This is one of the reasons I watch Sunday Morning on CBS. Yes, it’s news, but for those few hours, it is positive news, looking at good, note-worthy stuff. Some of the best celebrity spots have been on that program. Factual, without ignoring the salacious stuff, but not focusing on it, either. I found out what Dustin Hoffman would kill to do, I found out how Vic Firth got into making drum sticks and why.
Can I take this information to the bank, is it information I can use? Will a short story or heart-tugging essay help me get rich? Probably not. But you know what? It may not help me do two things at once, it may not help me save and invest money, it may not get me prepared for the next looming disaster, but it enriches me.
I mean, if there isn’t time to reflect, to read a 500 word essay on a night in the garden, mother-daughter book clubs, boys being boys; if I can’t read a short story about friendship, love, survival, is there time for quality living? Remember ‘gossiping’ over the fence with a neighbor, sitting on the porch at the end of the day, reading a small piece at the end of a great magazine that helps you put life in perspective, delving into a story that makes you laugh and cry and remember.
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