Once Upon a Time....and How Damn Fine Words Course will Save my Life

Once upon a time there was a sad and lonely little girl who had no home. A house yes, a cold and formidable orphanage where the Sisters of Charity had no mercy. The little girl so longed for a home of her own. She read whatever she could find and loved the words, big words, little words, hard words and soft words, but oh so beautiful words. One day the little girl got an idea. “I will build my house with words” she said, as she put her hands on her hips with determination. And so the little girl started to build her house with words, and books, and pens. On the roof she wrote “I think I can, I think I can,” after reading Thomas the Tank Engine. As she built the walls she travelled to far-away places and magical lands with lush gardens and blue green waters. She needed windows so she thought “I will write some words to let the light in.” So she wrote her words and framed her windows and when others read her words they cried and said “I can see the sun, I can see the stars.” So her windows grew to spread the light. And when the little girl went to school she laughed with glee as there were so many books, so many words, and so many pens. “This must be heaven” the little girl giggled.

As the years went by she read and wrote and found a voice for those who had no voice. She built a deck on her house so those who had no voice could come and be heard in the quiet and have the light of words and pens shine brightly on their hearts. “Now I must learn how to build houses for others” the little girl thought, and off to college she went to learn the skills. She read and wrote some more and said “I know I can, I know I can.”

But the little girl got busy with being smart and forgot to tend her garden and care for her house. The weeds began to grow and the paint peeled as she kept being busy being smart. The windows dimmed and the light started to go out. The little girl would pull some weeds and said “tomorrow I will return and pull all the weeds and clean up the house,” but the days and years went by and her heart grew heavy, but she was now smart and had degrees and titles to prove it.

In the quiet of the night her heart would cry out “you are a writer, so write.” The little girl longed to be back in that magical house but no longer knew the way because the path was covered by weeds. She started seeking and found others who had built homes with words. She toured their homes and celebrated with them, but she so wanted her own home again. One day the little girl found a website Men with Pens with Damn Fine Words and felt the stirring, the deep longing bubbling up to the surface again. She so badly wanted to join with Men with Pens, to sit at their feet and learn their trade, to build more houses with words, and filled with light so all can see.

The little girl, still a little girl, knows she needs some hands to reach out and lead the way, and others to tell the stories of how they made words come to life. She needs Damn Fine Words training to build the foundation for the houses she will build to share with others, and to fill her with the confidence she needs to go forward. She will study and learn and be the most excellent apprentice, who is willing to bleed ink – red, blue or black. She is forsaking all else to take this path, for she is a writer and she must write.

(This story is not an allegory or fairytale, it is the story of my life and love).