Wordy Thursday: This Manuscript Has Made the First Cut

I had given up hope of being a finalist for the Mentor Series contest I submitted to back at the end of April.  I figured I would've heard by the end of May if I had made the cut.  Well, just this morning an e-mail arrived saying that I am one of the 20 finalists!  I let out a whoop so loud it alarmed everyone else in the house, and then I moved faster than I've moved in years to do a funky little victory dance.

Rilke tells us that the writer can't look to others, can't look outside herself, for certification or validation that she should keep on writing.  On the other hand, it's sometimes nice to receive encouragement from the world outside the little corner of my living room where I write.  And for today, I am savoring this small sign from the universe that whispers:  keep at it, girl, keep at it.

P.S. The Mentor Series, sponsored by our friendly neighborhood literary center, is a chance to study and work closely with working poets (sometime referred to on this blog as Grown-up Poets) over the course of the year, with the goal of the mentee improving his/her writing craft and becoming more a part of the local literary community in the process.