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JK Rowling

I just watched A Year in the Life of JK Rowling. And I loved it.

(If you're in Canada, you can watch it too at the above link. For all non-Canadians, someone please find a website where the rest of the world can watch it and send me the link!)

This documentary on CBC's The Passionate Eye takes a closer look at JK Rowling, specifically at her childhood and the process of writing the Harry Potter series. It follows her during the year she finished writing the last Harry Potter novel. It's a very personal and intimate look at her life.

I enjoyed it because it takes a special look at her inspiration and challenges as a writer. I was struck by the situation of pain and brokenness that led her to begin creating the character of Harry Potter and the battles he would fight. I was surprised by some of her fears and goals as a writer. And I related to some of the wounds she's suffered, like the loss of a parent, which went on to add depth and nuance to her stories.

Talk about heavy stuff!

But here's what made me smile: When she talked about failure. Yes, failure makes me smile.

Rowling summed it up in two satisfyingly frank comments (roughly paraphrased):

1) When wondering whether to sit down and write her first novel, she figured, "What's the worst that can happen? Every publisher in Britain rejects it. Big deal."

Hmm, I like her style. As a writer-hopeful, I'm the kind who'd temporarily forget my reason for living at my first rejection, nevermind my second. And third. Oh my! But hey, if she can handle a whole country worth of rejections, then so can I!

Here's the other thing she said (also roughly paraphrased):

2) "In order for some people to love the book, some have to hate it."

In other words, if you try to please everyone, chances are no one's going to like your work. I knew this of course, but it's always comforting to hear again. If you turn out a quality product and pour yourself into it, you'll inevitably have fans as well as critics.

So I'm feeling reasonably affirmed (again) that it's okay to have critics. The only thing I really have to worry about is whether I'll be willing to learn from the critics, even those who get up on the wrong side of the bed the day they read my stuff.

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure - which is: Try to please everybody.
- Herbert Bayard Swope

As a kid I was surrounded by nature and culture, both of which seized my imagination every waking moment. During that time, any writing I did was consumed in fantastic stories and fairy tales. A while later, when adolescence made life more complicated, my pen was fueled by loneliness, discouragement, and self-consciousness. I found solace in writing. The page was a willing listener and faithful confidant, and unlike some of my high school peers it did not mock my hopes and dreams.

For the ten-plus years since high school I have been busy typing scholarly papers, research reports, and presentation notes. I'm a big-picture thinker. Literature is my oxygen, and ideas are like brain candy. I'm still mourning the end of my university career. I find the 'real' 9-5 world rather cruel and mind-numbing after ten years of feasting at a banquet of rich discovery, limitless knowledge, rigorous discussion, and other heart-palpitating thrills. On the up-side, this lets me reacquaint myself with my old friends, Imagination and Creativity. Now with university finished and behind me, I am free to write about anything. Anything! It feels liberating even to type that word!

Meanwhile, Hardship and Grief have been my companions these last few years. They caused a growth spurt of sorts (complete with growing pains), and I'm a better person for having met them. That said, I'm ready to part ways with those two, at least for a while.

If you've already peeked around my blog, you may have noticed my focus on heavier issues. As John Ruskin observed, "All great and beautiful work has come of first gazing without shrinking into the darkness." Maybe I gaze into that darkness a little too much, but for some reason I'm captivated by that moment in time when the human spirit collides with pain and is faced with the question of how to respond. It seems anything of meaning in life stems from these moments.

I'm still captivated by those stories and daydreams of my childhood. I long to be surrounded by nature and culture, myth and adventure, epics and fairy tales, laughter and wonder, and I'm working on bringing more of that to this blog. C. S. Lewis would approve, I'm sure.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

In a desperate attempt to escape my policy paper I tried out Tickle's Classic IQ test for the first time. Here's what they told me:

131: Your Intellectual Type is Word Warrior. This means you have exceptional verbal skills. You can easily make sense of complex issues and take an unusually creative approach to solving problems. Your strengths also make you a visionary. Even without trying you're able to come up with lots of new and creative ideas. And that's just a small part of what we know about you from your test results.

Wait a minute, how did they know about that little, black notebook I keep beside my bed in which I scribble away each night about my grand vision to spark a new enlightenment around the world? Bizarre.

IN A NUTSHELL
I'm a wife, caregiver, book worm and global nomad. I'm a missionary kid & pastor's kid. A fan of history, science, travel and HGTV. I'm a Christian who hates labels. I'm also a student of every subject under the sun.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT
Churchy stuff
I love reading, thinking and discussing the Church--our church history, our present-day church, the global church, pretty much every church topic under the sun.

I'm nowhere near being a theologian and I don't pretend to have all the answers.

But for 20+ years, as a missionary kid & pastor's kid, I observed the church's public face and its behind-closed-doors face as well.

And thanks to my Dad's interaction with others in ministry, I've sat through countless ministry retreats, meetings, and dinner table talks about church as well.

So I've got this experiential foundation in church stuff, and now I'm trying to fill in the gaps by learning as much as I can. I also write a blog about church.

Being a young caregiver
I'm crawling my way up from total burn-out after 2.5 years of helping my parents get through the most chaotic and agonizing phase of my Dad's dementia.

I'm also struggling through the grief of losing my Dad so early in life; he's 64 now, and his downward spiral began when he was only 57.

Now he's in the advanced stages of dementia. I miss being able talk with him (we used to talk about church and all kinds of other things) and I miss getting advice from him too.

These days I barely know how to respond to what he's being forced to endure; getting my brain to accept what dementia does to a human being is like telling a computer to bake a cake. It doesn't compute.

What keeps me blogging
I often wonder, how do I...
• Live in the moment with an eye to eternity?
• Ground myself in the Word while staying open to the Spirit?
• Overcome evil with good, especially the stuff hiding behind 'Christian' attitudes, trends and traditions?
• Lead a lifestyle of passionate wisdom *and* worship?
• Love God with all my mind, heart, soul and strength?

So here at widsith I write to find answers to these questions and (when you comment) I get to hear how they're being answered for you too.