Who among you dreams of being writer? No matter who you are or how old, now is the time to realise your aspiration. You are allowed.
As I tell my story, ask what yours looks like. Take notes. What holds you back?
My parents were publicans and we moved often. Books became my refuge; characters my companions. Sitting high in a mulberry-tree one day at the age of 13, I resolved to become a writer. I wanted to tell stories. But, I did not start writing until my late sixties.
At a recent poetry gig, someone asked me why it was that women who have had families and careers, suddenly decide they can write or become a poet late in life. The question perplexed me. The questioner was a man and he really wanted to understand. Like other men I know, he started writing very young, sometimes in secret or against the odds. It was an imperative.
As I pondered this question, I asked whether it was only women who attempt to realise their dreams late in life. We all have roles to fulfil: being a good girl and mother or a proper man and good father takes energy and time. And, like women, who are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives and lovers, men are fathers, sons, brothers, husbands and lovers.
If there is a difference between the genders, is it to do with how they manage their creative desires? Do the men I speak of,
If I learned anything at school, it was that I would never amount to anything. Yet, deep down that message — compounded as it was by thoughtless words from bosses and husbands —drove me to prove my teachers wrong. It drove me to get into university by special entry (I left school at 15). It drove me to get a PhD which took me in directions I could not have imagined. Still, at university, my supervisor once said that he would have to teach me how to write like a man. So, womanly creativity was out of the question. For a while.
When I first retired, I floundered without all the identities I’d accrued: publican’s daughter, single mother, field researcher, anthropologist, lecturer. Being a Buddhist and anthropologist, I began to teach meditation and life writing, which helped me to turn myself inside out. I gave myself permission to be me.
And, there it is. I climbed back up the mulberry tree.
Did you take notes? If not, take some now.
Try This
- Can you identify key aspects of your life that may have prevented you from following your dreams earlier in life? I don’t mean wealth and time. Look for personal things.
- Are there ways in which the life you have led was necessary to bring you to this moment?
- And, what steps can you take today, to get started?
Remember, it costs nothing to write. If you are reading this, you already have a computer and Internet connection, but all you really need is a pen, paper and a tiny bit of courage to start talking on the page. We have all led amazing lives. If you don’t censor it, what you write may surprise you.
You’ll find another post with tips for a creative and productive old age here.