And It Starts...

Well obviously it has been awhile since I last blogged. And after responding to posts, writing a post or two on the writing center blog, and reading Deborah's blog, I have decided to commence once again. I always wonder what to write about on these things, which is somewhat ironic I suppose. (You see, I have recently declared myself to be an English Lit major hoping to receive a PhD from an east coast school).

I love writing creative non-fiction. At the writing center, each assistant spends the semester writing one essay, dubbed the "Blood Essay." Here are the requirements: nothing trivial. Sister Morgan, the writing center director, asks us to look at our lives and think of something we do not want to write about or face, then write about. We then pour into this paper for the semester and revise, revise, revise. After it is polished we read it in front of the other assistants and critique each others' writing. It sounds intimidating, and often it is, but I find it exhilarating.

Last semester I struggled to decide about what to write. I knew I had to deal with my testimony and my struggles with religion, but I didn't want to. The more topics I thought of, the more I realized how trivial they were in comparison to my testimony. So I started to write. Seven or eight drafts later, it still was not finished; and I am fairly certain it never will be finished, but for now it is complete. Maybe one day I will post it.

This semester I am off track and working full-time selling Verizon cell phones (again). Since I am off track, I cannot work at the writing center. However, I really do love that place; and the seminars on Tuesdays and Thursdays are truly the most edifying classes I have been apart of. So, I modify my Verizon schedule just to go to the seminars and not get paid like I used to. In fact, I got to go help out with some sessions last week on my day off, I really do love helping others learn how to improve their writing styles.

Once again, I am struggling to decide about what I should write. This semester she asked us to write on a tension we have in some sort of relationship. With my personality and attitude, I have few if any unresolved tensions in my life. I talked with her about it and after forty-five minutes of discussion, she pointed out to me, "Eric, you use your intellect as a defence mechanism in order to avoid emotion and close relationships." It was like someone turned on a lighthouse of understanding. So that is my topic, a difficult one to write, but worth challenge of self-discovery.