One of the best rules in life is: Don’t force it. If you push too hard you’re libel to break something. This is most true in writing. Sure getting that first draft out is imperative to the success of a career in publishing, but writers must also make certain that the quality of the story being told is as good as possible.

Writing what comes naturally is the key. For a year or two now I have been avoiding a project that has decided to be born today. My non-fiction muscles are aching to be worked and a great opportunity presented itself.

Since I was a little girl I lost myself in the natural world. Getting away from the city is in my blood and my bones, but mainly my heart. One of my favorite escapes from all things man-made is a rehabilitated area called: Rockwoods Reservation. For over 75 years this protected land has been recovering from the devastation caused by humans. What was once destroyed by mining has grown into a beautiful forest full of wildlife.

When my mother first took me I fell in love, and my relationship with the land has only flourished. My relationship with writing cannot compare. Today I linked the two with a piece that I’ve been hoping to write.

For now, the words are flowing to the tune of a short work that will hopefully be accepted into a larger book that I may have a chance in. The words are tumbling along because I am writing about something I love and cherish. Maybe this is why I don’t get writer’s block; instead of pushing where the words wall up, I write streams of stories that are as true and real to me as every person I’ve ever met.

Every good non-fiction story needs some research, but I am dismayed to find that very few people have written about the magical reserve that has always been there for me. Bigger thoughts spark from this…hopes to extend my own ideas into a book someday, but for now this short work will give me the tools I need to live up to my own expectations.

I’m connecting dots and wonder if I might give some credit to one of Richard Smyth’s most recent articles. He basically called out all of us authors for not writing about the issues facing the planet today (with good reason). I instantly wrote a new children’s book in response (something that needs a bit of work and may take forever to find itself in print). But today, the after-effects mingled with my optimism and hope.

People follow examples. My children do as I do not as I say, and when stop lights are out people only treat it as a 4-way stop if someone else does first. Yes we need more literature about pollution, extinction, and overpopulation, BUT maybe if we show people what they can do, how they can help, little by little that positive impact will turn the tide.

Showing everyone how a place like Rockwoods has recovered from mankind may offer the example necessary to get others involved.  I don’t know. I woke up left handed again today so who knows if I’m truly onto anything.

The joys of being ambidextrous.

Even if I go back to being a rightie tomorrow, the idea gives me hope.