As I write this, Squiders, it’s snowing outside. Not just a little snow, but big, heavy flakes, drifting down in a rather determined fashion. It snowed yesterday as well.
Here in Colorado there seems to be a point where we just kind of mentally give up on winter. There’s no clear seasonal delineation, so it can be 70 degrees one day in the middle of November or February or March, and then blizzard the next day and drop two feet of snow (as it did last week). So everybody eventually gets to a point of It’s Not Winter Anymore and sticks to it.
This is often why you’ll see pictures of Coloradoans wearing shorts or no coat in the middle of snowstorm. Winter is mentally over for those people, and evidence to the contrary shall not sway them.
The thing to take away from this is not that Coloradoans are insane (though, admittedly, we probably are–lack of oxygen and all), but that sometimes it’s okay to keep a little bit of optimism even when everything tells you to give up.
I feel as writers this can be especially useful. So many of us get into these ruts where we expect rejection. I’m not saying that’s not realistic, but it can be depressing. If we get too far into said rut, we may fall into a “why bother?” mentality, where we figure it’s not worth it to send that story out again, or move on to the next agent on our list.
Holding on to a bit of optimism can help us send that story again, knowing that maybe this time we’ll find that agent/editor/publisher who’s willing to give us a try. It can be what we need to move on to the next project.
Sometimes I think that’s all that really separates people who make it versus those who don’t–persistence.
What do you think, Squiders? Have any stories where holding on to that little bit of hope paid off?
As for me, I’m going to go back out into the snowstorm with my windbreaker and nothing else, because dangit, it’s spring.
