Thursday, June 09, 2011

The Three Choices

Tree

Jorth stood at the crossroads, and examined the signpost in front of her. There were three forks in the road. The one directly in front of her went straight on ahead, with no visible turns or twists as far as the road went to the horizon in front. The road was called “Go On As You Are Way”. Hmm, thought Jorth. Even though the road was very well maintained, and the path seemed like an easy walk, the way seemed shrouded with an air of dull predictability. Yearning for a bit more excitement, Jorth looked at the other options.

The road that led off to the right went straight down into a deep gully. Jorth could feel a cold wind coming from that direction, and the road itself was strewn with rocks and potholes. The signpost declared that road was called “Never Take A Chance Street”, and underneath in smaller letters read “To Regret Avenue”. Something about the road itself gave Jorth the heebie jeebies, so she turned and looked at the last option.

This road, called “Give It A Go Lane” seemed to meander about a fair amount. There were, by the looks of things, a series of hills that rose up and then fell quite steeply. Hillwalking, thought Jorth, is pretty hard work, but the view from the top is always magnificent. Looking harder, Jorth realised that unlike the others, this road wasn’t even paved. It was more of a path, and it struck Jorth that if one didn’t keep one’s wits about them, then you could quite easily get lost.

She stood for a few moments, weighing up the options in her mind. Which life path should she choose? Regret Avenue didn’t sound like the sort of place she was keen on visiting, so it came down to the other two. She gazed hard at the sign, and thought about the difficulties each presented. “Go On As You Are Way” seemed clean and prosperous enough, but where, thought Jorth, was the sense of adventure? Would there be any feeling of achievement from walking along a dead straight road? “Give It A Go Lane”, however, seemed to present obstacles of its own. Still, thought Jorth, you’ve only got one life. You may as well do what feels right.

Hoisting her backpack on, she began to walk along the faint path in the grass. The afternoon, it must be said, was a spectacular one. Birdsong filled the warm summer air, and scent of meadow flowers wafted delightfully on the gentle breeze. "Oh!", exclaimed Jorth, "this isn’t too bad at all." She walked on for a while, and was just passing a large tree when a voice spoke out to her. “Yes, it always seems fine at the beginning, when you are full of enthusiasm and optimism, but how will you go after days and days of climbing up hills, then climbing back down hills, picking your way through when the path seems to have disappeared, all the while trying to keep dry whilst storms rage around you, hmmm?

"What the fuck?" thought Jorth in a panic. She was just beginning to open her mouth when the voice said “And PLEASE don’t say “OMG, it’s a talking tree! I expect you authors to be more original that that!”

Jorth shut her mouth stupidly, and gazed at the tree. Even though she couldn’t make out any facial features at all, tree seemed to be looking expectantly at her, so she said “What sort of tree are you, um, Mr. Tree sir?”

The tree waved its arms? branches? impressively around and said in a loud booming voice “I am the tree born of the Seed of Doubt!

"Oh. Hello." said Jorth. “How did you know I wished to become an author?

“Part of my job description”, said the tree "is to know the true desires of the heart of all who pass by." Eyeing her shrewdly, the tree said “The other part of the job description is to warn you – go past me and there is no turning back. The way ahead can be littered with many dangers to aspiring authors like yourself. The path may become faint, or disappear all together. There are rocks and branches that may trip you up, and no helping hands to pick you up again and dust you off. There will even, I dare say, be rejection letters!”

Jorth looked at the path in front. She could see that the journey may indeed be hard, but for all that she felt compelled to continue on. She was just about to open her mouth to speak, when the tree said “But you’ll go on regardless, won’t you? Very well. Use your courage, dear author, when the writing seems hard. Use your imagination, when the words won’t flow. Use your ingenuity to come up with the most incredible plot devices. Use your gift wisely to produce only your best, and let it touch the hearts, the minds, the souls of those who grant you the privilege of reading the words you write. But most of all, I implore you – use recycled paper, won’t you? There’s a dear."

With one last flutter of the branch waving her onwards, the tree fell silent one more. And with nary a backwards glance, Jorth walked on.

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The little tale above is, I suppose, a roundabout way of telling you all that I've been accepted into a professional writing and editing course. So I'll be leaving my job at Tessuti Fabrics and focusing on become a writer. Wooooo! Exciting times ahead! But fear not - there shall still be plenty of crafting and sewing around these parts. In fact, since I figure that I'll need to exercise my writing muscles, I plan to post here on a daily basis (fingers crossed!)
 
Thanks to Tessuti for having me for the last two years - it's been great. But now I must enter the writing wilderness. Wish me luck!

28 comments:

  1. That is such exciting news! And exciting times ahead. Hope the course is everything you want, and more!

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  2. WOW...where is this fork? I think I need to find mine...needing a little excitement around here!

    I have long been an envious fan of your writing skills. You have a great talent, actually with the writing, sewing, photography, knitting and cooking it seems you have quite a few.

    Enjoy your course - tell Colette I'll take your job and best of luck on your new path.

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  3. Great story - clearly you are making the right choice.

    Good luck

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  4. Fantastic! Good luck

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  5. Congratulations, and good luck!

    PS: It's a sycamore tree...

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  6. Congrats! If your post is any indicator, you will do well!

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  7. Congratulations!! I definitely think you've made the right choice - and I've always been very partial to a good hill-climb.

    Send me an email when you've got time for a coffee - I would love to be able to stay in touch.

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  8. Congrats! That's great news.

    Can I have your Tessuti job, though? ;)

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  9. Thank you for all your fine work at Tessuti, we and our customers will miss you and wish you all the very best for the next chapter!

    Here's to many exciting adventures ahead!

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  10. Congratulations on having the courage to make such a choice.

    I doubt you'll encounter many permanent regrets.

    I jumped in my forties and apart from a lot less time for craft ( which still pains me) I have enjoyed a flourishing and very different career.

    I'm so excited for you :)

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  11. It truly has been great. Good, nay, best of luck x

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  12. Marijke7:20 pm

    fantastically written - I was hooked as I am on your blog, I look daily in vain hope that you have posted. You will make my day brighter by adding your delightful prose more regularly. Congratulations

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  13. Congratulations Jorth! May the path ahead be more ups than downs and the view from the top magnificent :)

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  14. Waaaaaaaaa! What will i do without youuuuuu? Oh yeah! We'll hang out more outside of work, drinking coffee and tea, eating cakes and sewing. YIPPEEE!!

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  15. Good on you! and good luck :)

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  16. Congratulations - what a fantastic thing to do.

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  17. How exciting Miss jorth ...I am thrilled for you - you big brave adventurous writer you....

    (I suppose I can be work experience girl at tessuti now?)

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  18. hay jorth..good luck...nothing ventured, nothing gained....we look forward to that first publication...

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  19. How wonderful! All the best. ♥

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  20. yesyes! forge on, my brave jorthy. blaze your own beautiful, hard-won path.

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  21. Wow..I've just been making the same kind of decisions. I've just left my teaching career after 20 years...eek. I think though that making the decision is the hardest part although looking at my depleted bank balance is also pretty scary!!!
    Best of luck!

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  22. Wow - congratulations! What a decision, I am sure you have made a good choice. All the nest of luck with it!

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  23. Anonymous10:31 pm

    Fly, soar, stumble, pick yourself up and forever move along your path. Choose your forks too. Looking forward to reading your tales.

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  24. Great news! I am very happy for you! The reason I actually started following your blog was because I like how you write. Good luck :)

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  25. Jorth, I feel your pain and your doubts, but at the end you do what is rhight for you, good luck,
    love ,Buba
    XXX

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  26. Anonymous12:42 pm

    This is great news! I wish you all the best...grace, synchronicity, inspiration and fortitude. Go go go!

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  27. I love this, I'm at a similar point in my path and I wish you every happiness.

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