NAMES AND PLACES

It is important to say the names of who we are, the names of the places we have lived, and to write the details of our lives.

"I now live in sunny (usually) San Diego County, California and, since I can not live in my beloved South, I am happy here. For five years, I lived in an Alpine-type village in the California mountains. I walked the streets of that small place in all the lovely seasons--which I miss each year. I have lived in the desert and in the Central Valley, the bread basket of the West. There are some of these places, like the South, that I still long for in an almost hidden part of my heart.

We all have lived; our moments are important. This is what it is to be a writer. A writer must say yes! to life, to all of life. So what if we're middle-aged, slightly overweight, and color our hair to cover the gray? We are also individualists, women with a lot to offer the ones around us, and the world.

There are so many "no's" surrounding us. We, as female writers, must find how to assert the positive realities of our lives, but also accept things as they are--for example, the fact I can't reside where I most desire. If we can do this, we will have the capability to create writing most satisfactorially, out of these loose threads of our existance.

Remember to name the places you call special.