Looking forward
A friend recently asked me what I was looking forward to. I was delighted to be able to answer, “Every day!” A big part of that is these few minutes each morning where I sit down to do this. Time for my own thoughts and my own voice have been extremely rare for a long while, and putting them out into the world even more so.
Sometimes, however, you need to look to the future. The writers of the future, that is. When your six-year-old decides to read the Beatrix Potter’s series on his own, you simply have to take time out to explain britishisms and the use of a semi-colon. That lasted about 5 minutes before he switched to a game about a spring-like alien that experimented on people by switching their dominant personality trait to observe the impact that would have on their life and interactions.
Seriously, my son’s brain is fantastically fun. The stories and characters that he comes up with are simply cool. He’s been creating fantastical creatures since he was three (complete with in depth habitats and lifecycles because in his heart he is a serious science geek) and I’ve managed to get at least a few of them down. He will occasionally slow down his story telling enough for me to transcribe at least some of the basics, and his sense of plot development is astounding for his age.
He told me once that he wants to be a writer when he grows up; I had to contain my parental enthusiasm so as not to overwhelm him. This week I think the verdict is dentist. No offense to the dentists out there, but I’m less enthused.
I know, I know, far more financial security and less heartache awaits him down almost any other path he could choose besides writing, but I really want the rest of the world to get to enjoy his amazing stories someday. No matter what he chooses to do with that delightful brain of his, I’ve got his back.