Today I received - via email - a polite rejection notice that I am not the chosen one for the award. The missive also reiterated several times: keep writing, keep trying, don't give up, you're creative, you're wonderful blah blah blah...finally I tapped the DELETE key. The timeworn platitudes seemed intended to encourage; I found them patronizing. A helpful comment I might consider for future grant applications would've been more welcome.
I've been published enough times to savor the sweetness of publication. The thrill when someone sees merit in my words warms me inside like hot ginger tea. Rejection stings like a bee: swiftly white-hot. After the pain passes, rejection can motivate or shut down my writing. I'm mindful of this when I provide students feedback on their speech or essay drafts.
My proven remedy is to take a brief break to play with patterns, textures, and colors through the art medium of assemblage. According to my American Heritage dictionary, assemblage is "an art work consisting of an arrangement of miscellaneous objects, such as pieces of metal, cloth, and string. While my ego is still smarting, I tend toward the quick and simple: scrapbooking paper, stickers, and images gleaned from magazines. Cutting and pasting and discerning a pattern and motif gives the rejection release. I'm ready to face the page again. After all, one editor's dandelion is another editor's rose.
Writers commit. We practice our craft. We read widely in a variety of genres. We learn from other writers' process and work. I learn from my students' mistakes and their successes. They learn from mine. I teach what I know, and I don't pretend to know everything. I mistrust writers who do. At the end of the day, all writers, whether we're published or not, award winners or not, understand that writing is still our calling card.
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