Learning from Living
“What have you learned from LIFE that has given you themes, experience, and ideas for stories you can start telling right now“
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from life is motherhood. As a mother I’ve learned about true love, trust, and devotion. I’ve learned what it is to look down on a baby and know you are their whole world and they depend entirely on you for their survival. I’ve learned the heartbreak of saying goodbye on their first day of school. I’ve learned the pride of seeing them achieve something great or do something remarkable.
But LIFE has given me other lessons too. It’s taught me about sisterhood, and the relationship between mother and daughter, between father and daughter, and that my experience of all these is unique and that these relationships are different for everyone.
It’s taught me about death and dying, and grief and loss. I’ve learned about cancer, and mental illness, and stress and fatigue. I’ve learned about diabetes and liver failure. I’ve learned about aged care and aging kindness.
Life has taught me about love and betrayal. I’ve learned about friendship, and the transience of friendship, and the steadfastness of the truest friends.
I’ve learned about work, and home, and hearth. I’ve learned about people, and property.
I’ve learned all this and a million more things and they all touch my writing in some way.
This post is in response to one of Holly Lisle's workshop activities from Mugging The Muse. I highly recommend this short (and incredibly cheap! just 99 cents!) course for any writer interested in developing their writing passion and firing up their Muse.