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If I Grow Up

I’ve figured out what I want to be if I grow up: a writer. In fact, by writing this I’m living the dream, aren’t I? I guess things have been building up to this my whole life; I’ve been reading since I could, and writing even when I didn’t have to.


Whatever my mood has been, as long as it wasn’t too severe, I’ve always written. When I was down, I wrote depressing poetry or prose. When I was up, I wrote whatever popped into my head. Now that I’m stable, I can take the time to write coherent, sensible articles.


What are you going to write? It’s a good question, and I like it quite a bit. I’m going to write articles here, like the ones I’ve written so far. I’m going to write for HandmadeNews.org, with my first article there out just recently. I’ll always be writing emails. Sometimes I’ll write things down in my notebooks. If I feel like my writing is worthy of it, I might write a screenplay Josh Olson would enjoy reading. I wont bring it to him to read, though. If it’s good enough it might make its way to him.


What about your degree? It took me a bit longer to finish my computer science degree than most, partly because of my involvement with the co-operative education program I was in. I like writing software, and I like thinking and reading about it. The time I spent there I consider formative, and it will certainly help me out in my current endeavour.


What about the other things you enjoy doing? I’ll keep doing them, but with renewed purpose. The electronics projects I work on, my small programming projects and bits of art I produce will all be used to service my writing. When I make something, I’ll write about it. I’ll let the people who want to know hear about it. Anyone else can choose not to read it.


How are you going to make money? A good question, everyone needs money these days. I don’t need much, though. Apart from my love of gadgets, I have simple needs. Food, clothing, shelter. I have the love of my life to keep me well loved, I have my family, and more of that simply couldn’t be bought. I’d really rather be famous for my love of the craft than rich because my work sells well. I wouldn’t mind both, but we’ll see how it all turns out.


“If” you grow up? Never assume you are mature; it’s a very immature viewpoint. And to quote the Peter Pan musical, “If growing up means it would be, beneath my dignity to climb a tree, then I wont grow up, never grow up, not me!” Besides, if you stop taking joy in simple things, then what reason do you have to write?
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Comments

Old-Red-Dog said…
Never trust anyone who claims to be a 'grown up' skwirl42 - one has to become an adult by dint of sticking around on the planet for so long, but considering oneself a 'grown up' is both condescending and an attempt to prove your better than something else.
October 2, 2009 at 9:36 AM
skwirl42 said…
Indeed. My mother had a pin that said "If I get to 50 without growing up, I don't have to."
October 2, 2009 at 10:25 AM
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