Elaine Marie Cooper
I walked in my house the other day after a long car trip, and was surprised how dark everything looked. I stared directly at the light fixture over the table and was shocked by the dimness. Had my husband put in new light bulbs of a lower wattage?
But then I noticed everything looked darker. What was going on?
It took me a moment for the light bulb in my head to come on: I was still wearing my sunglasses.
How ridiculous, I thought. Seriously, how could I not be aware I had thick sunglasses sitting on my ears and nose? Then it hit me. Dusk had slowly crept in and I had gradually adapted to the change, completely unaware that my vision had diminished along with the setting sun.
I can be like that in my writing and marketing, adapting to what I’ve grown accustomed to, set in certain ways that blind me to the changing conditions in the writing world. I get comfortable with those “shades” of habit that prevent me from expanding my knowledge, improving my skills, and looking for new ideas and outlets to help my writing reach an ever-greater audience.
Someone at a conference once shared with me that a very popular and well-known author came to a writer’s conference, not as a teacher, but as an attendee. She was asked why and said something to the effect that she can never allow herself to stop learning new things in the writing world. What an inspiration she is!
As writers, we must always be willing to expand our learning and adapt to change. Otherwise, we’ll be like me when I returned from that long-distance trip and left my sunglasses on.
Don’t be left in the dark with your writing. Remove those shades of habit and allow the Lord to shine His light on the words He has inspired you to pen. And may God use your words mightily!
Image of woman wearing sunglasses: Imagerymajestic via freedigitalphotos.net
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4 Comments
Great object lesson. Sometimes I think my brain is in the dark!
Keep learning is one of the goals of my life. Thanks.
It’s one of my goals as well, Jean! And often I feel in the dark and have to pray the Lord’s light illuminates my inspiration, as well as my learning! Thank you for commenting and may the Lord bless your writing.
It’s so easy to get stuck in writerly habits. Thanks for the advice!
You are so right, JPC—easy for ALL of us! Thanks for commenting!