http://disqus.com/by/readytoglow/enFri, 17 Jul 2009 02:02:46 -0000http://femmechic.blogspot.com/2009/07/to-everyone-who-left-me-comment.html#comment-12802438<p>Hooray! So very happy you found a copy. Now go buy yourself a large newspaper scrapbook and start collecting your published pieces. So fun.</p><p>I remember my friends annually submitting to the local poetry contest in the newspaper, and just as often encouraging me to submit. I had all kinds of excuses as to why I wouldn't submit. "It's just a local paper. I don't have anything that really represents me, so why submit? What if I send out my writing for a local paper, and then the words somehow become less important, not allowing me to use them later?" Stuff like that. One year they committed me to sending in a piece. They would do the same. Fifteen minutes before the online deadline, I scratched out and submitted a little poem about my day.</p><p>A few weeks later, my girlfriend called and asked if I received the paper that day. No. She informed me that I had won first place in the open category. Shocked, and utterly elated, I went to my local Minit Mart and bought a copy. There it was. My nothing little poem. What most surprised me was the sheer elation I had at seeing my words in print, and in winning the contest. This local paper, and more importantly poetry, meant more to me than I thought it did.</p><p>Your writing is exquisite in its sensitivity and depth and you bring that with you regardless of the topic matter. Bask in the happiness of your publication. Photocopy it and bring it out when you are crouched in the darkness of the closet you know so well. As simple as it seems on paper, it's a life moment for you. Kudos, Miss LFC. :) </p>readytoglowFri, 17 Jul 2009 02:02:46 -0000