A 42 Year Detour?
GARRISON KEILLOR’S REPLY
I WAS INSPIRED today by listening to an interview on NPR radio, with the radio host Garrison Keillor. He retired recently from his radio show. He was asked by the interviewer if he liked being on the radio (where he had his NPR show, Prairie Home Companion for many years). He said:
‘I never really wanted to be on the radio. Actually it was a 42-YEAR DETOUR. I wanted to be a writer because… really I’m a loner…Don’t you notice I never look in anyones’ eyes? I am eagerly anticipating my retirement so I can …WRITE!!’
A 42-year detour? WOW. I could relate so much to him. I honestly I feel I was detoured many times in my life too. First by music, then by visual art, but in the back of my mind — throughout it all, I really believed that my first love was always writing.
I kept a diary since I was 8 years old. (I have over 50 full diaries from age 8 to 55.)
- I can’t recall a time when I wasn’t writing.
- I looked forward to writing every night.
- I always felt that by writing I could get to the root of things
- I always had the need to put pen to paper
- I always felt the most ‘me’ while writing.
So, I’ve been writing for over 40 years! DAMN! I guess I have enough writing credits now to call myself a real writer ( ifthe amount of written pages counts.) HA.
To me, writing is the deepest of deep. (More than being on stage, for sure. More than creating and selling my artwork too.) Writing feels the most real, the most honest, and also the most vulnerable, but that’s ok. I’m developing the thick skin and the backbone I need to be a writer in this world.
I published three poetry books last year. The first is a ‘Poetic Memoir’ titled Catch a Poem by the Tale, the other two, Limerick Explosion and Word Explosion just flew out of my brain quickly (exploded!) because I was on such a roll.
Heres’s the link to my AUTHOR PAGE on Amazon if you want to check them out:
https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Monet/e/B01J5X26QS/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
So now that I am on my new life path I am writing every day and loving it.
HAVE YOU EVER FELT DETOURED IN YOUR LIFE?
Did you ever start down one path thinking that was ‘it’ (maybe even feeling so SURE it was ‘it’) and then realized that it might not be it after all ?
Did you sense that when you were on that old path that you were not really on your true path? Then again what is a ‘true path’.?’
My friend Nancy says it’s never a straight line to a goal anyway. It isn’t linear. I agree with this.
Hey, detours are ok. They are there for a reason. Maybe they make us clearer about what we DO want when we stop doing what doesn’t feel right to us.
I think I might be done with detours for awhile–for now anyway.
I’m also glad to know I’m in good company with Garrison Keillor.
Like him, I want to write now so that’s what I’m doing.
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MY AMAZON AUTHOR PAGEhttps://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Michelle+Monet&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Michelle+Monet&sort=relevancerank
