SLOW Magazine

Something wonderful has just happened in my life and I am going to share it with you!  I have been PUBLISHED in a magazine!!  I kind of backed into an opportunity to write an article for a magazine in Australia called, "SLOW Magazine" (www.slowmagazine.com.au).  Almost a year ago the editor of the magazine had gone onto a Green forum on the Internet with a request for thoughts and ideas for articles that would be of interest to feature in their magazine.  I just recently ran across this request and responded, not really thinking anything would come of my ideas not only because of the late date, but also because the Internet is such a gigantic arena, and one's voice is, more often than not, lost in it's labyrinth.  To my surprise and amazement, the editor, Jacqui Mott, wrote back suggesting that I send in a submission, and they would see where things went.  She had read my blog entries and thought that their topics and quality would be perfect for their magazine!  WOW!  I was floored! . . and excited!!  Almost immediately I sat down and wrote my first submission.  Now mind you, I have never submitted any of my writings to anyone!  well, okay . . . there is this blog.  But hardly anyone reads this do they?  The only person to have read anything that I have written was my mother when I was writing weekly 3-page thesis papers for my 11th grade English teacher, Mr. Mraz.  So, with no ego involved, I thought I would submit my article, the staff at Slow magazine would shred it and I wouldn't hear anything more.  Just yesterday, Jacqui sent me an email saying they were going to use my article in their next issue of SLOW magazine!!  WOW again!  My mother, bless her librarian heart, would be so proud!!

I take much delight in writing about what I am thinking.  It has been something that I have enjoyed doing since elementary school.  I have always liked being able to craft my words, with thoughtfulness, before revealing them to someone.  Speaking the words does not allow me to do that, and words tend to tumble out of my mouth, with me often wishing I could scramble after them, clutching them back into obscurity.  But the written word has clarity and it's own space, making it take on a depth that the spoken word does not have.  Both can be interpreted in any fashion, but only the written word can be truly studied, to reveal it's depth and intent.  Crafting with words is a challenging process, trying to tease an idea out of many, and bring definition to it, so that one's original thought is there in clear, abundant, literal, black and white!  All too often, a thought is just too wispy and ethereal to capture in text, but therein lies the challenge that all writers face.  And as of yesterday, I can count myself as one of the members in the league of writers!

I will update you when the issue is circulated!