Thankful Thursday - Midnight Edition

Earlier today I was going to write about rejection. Instead, I am writing with gratitude for the three acceptances  that I received today. Three! I don't think this has ever happened before. It seems a miracle except that this morning I realized it had been months since any of my work had come back with a grand yes -- and just this week there had been a snow storm of no thank yous.

Here is one of the strange aspects of these acceptances: two of them are for essays I've written. Is this because after The Alchemist's Kitchen I have not yet found my next poetry focus? I don't know. I do know that writing in another genre feels both strange and fun.  One of the acceptances is for my essay "Blue Gates" exploring my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, West Africa. It will be published this March in The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011 - an anthology that I have travelled with in past years.

I'm thinking of many, many things I'm thankful for as this year comes to an end. It's been a time of exceptionally high highs and low lows. At midnight, it's hard to know how to articulate the emotional  shifts I've been through. I think I need to sleep on it and think on it a bit more.

For now, I will just say that I am profoundly thankful that I get to live this one life as a poet and writer. There's an entire cycle of life with creating, writing, publishing, teaching, mentoring, and publishing others fine work. This year it's finally occurred to me that I am no longer an emerging writer (I am a bit slow) and I've tried to focus some of my energy on working with new voices.

Inventing this blog as I go is something else that I'm grateful for -- my poetry scrapbook is the way that I think about it. A place holder for poems, poets, book reviews, and everything in-between.  While on book tour I met people in Boston, San Diego, and Miami who came out because they'd come to know me through this blog and who were generous (and curious) enough to come out for an event. In every case, it was a true pleasure to meet you.

There's so much more to be thankful for --- this is only the beginning...