Here is something to ponder...
If you want peace, prepare for war.
Despite today being Memorial Day, this post is not about veterans or flags. This post is about the battleground that is life. For fifty years, I have believed that life was about keeping the peace. I lived by the adage that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar. Who the hell wants to attract flies, anyway? (But that is besides the point.)
I just finished reading, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The book is fabulous for many reasons. But the piece that struck a chord with me was when Kya asks herself how much she will sacrifice for love/peace/stability/acceptance. Kya learns, as I have recently, that life is not about peace. It is about fighting the battles that need to be fought. Sometimes the battles are against others, but sometimes they are against ourselves. You have to stand up and demand what you want and need from this life- a smile and a curtsey are not enough. Sometimes you have to step on toes. Sometimes you have put yourself first.
As I said earlier, this post is not about wars fought with guns and tanks. But let's go there for a minute. I have never understood war. In my naivete', I couldn't understand why the two sides couldn't just talk things out. Being a woman (yes, I said it), I felt that there was always a compromise. But recently, I have concluded that there is not always a win-win to be had. Sometimes there has to be a loser.
Writing is about battles too. As a writer, I set up the conflict and step back and allow the characters to find their way. A story without conflict, even a romance, would be boring. A life without conflict would be meaningless. The difference between life and fiction though, is that in a book I can devise a happy ending.
