Writing Is Contagious

I love it when the first game of an NHL playoff series ends in a win for my Pittsburgh Penguins, and that is just what has happened.  The Penguins have beaten the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in their first game, and it appears that the Sens will be a much easier opponent for the Pens than the New York Islanders were in the first round.  The Islanders were just so fast, and aside from game one of that series, I never really felt like the Pens had control of it until about halfway through game six, the clincher.  The Sens are nowhere near as fast, and once again the Pens power-play has been incredible and really the difference maker.  I am so much more calm than the first round.  That's a good thing for my heart and my stress-level.

In fact, today was stress-free in a lot of ways.  I had a close-out meeting with my former boss (our acting director for the past six months), and she was very complimentary.  I don't take compliments well, because I really feel like they are undeserved, but something she said really caught my attention.  She said that I was a good writer, something that she felt was missing with so many people in management.  I thanked her, but it was a take-away that stayed with me all afternoon.  I've never really thought about it much, but it's true.  There are so many people who just can't write very well, and in our increasingly mobile and short-hand culture, there is less and less incentive for people to know how to type and spell, let alone write.  And that's kind of sad.  But it also explains why a former girlfriend made fun of me for my long texts, finally telling me that they're "texts, not emails!"  I still can't intentionally misspell words, even in a text.

While I don't consider myself a great writer by any means, I do feel like I can put my thoughts into my writing and get ideas across to my audience, if that's what being a good writer is all about.  And I've tried to do that with this blog.  It has provided an outlet for me to write, much more and better than anything that I have to write in my job, and I believe it's a great way to exercise those creative muscles.  In fact, I made a conscious effort to update the blog on a(n) (almost) daily basis.  If anyone is actually reading these words, and there must be a few of you out there, thank you for your support.  I'd love to receive any feedback, if you'd care to comment.

Apparently this writing stuff is contagious, because my daughter has picked it up and is writing daily.  She is writing a couple of different fictional stories that are downright adorable, and I'm really impressed with her creativity.  I hope to foster this budding talent, because she definitely has that gift.  I think she gets it from her mother, who was a high school English teacher.  Maybe she'll be a teacher someday, too.

Have a great day, everybody!