I never really thought I could make a career out of my writing, and I admit that I sometimes fantasize about getting into the University of Iowa Writers Workshop, although I probably am not good enough to get in (and I am not saying that in a self pitying way, I am just stating what’s probably a fact. And even if I could, is it probable that I could go on to a profitable career afterwards? Perhaps that would be as impropable as getting into the workshop.)
Anyhow, not long ago, perhaps a month or a month and a half ago, I found out about the poet and disability activist Laura Hershey. Hershey wrote countless poems and articles and was renowned for the great amount of pieces of writing she did about various aspects of disability. She earned her Masters of Fine arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. It really inspired me to find out about someone with a disability who really did have a serious career as a writer.
I admit I have thought of going somewhere to get my MFA in creative writing but I have always worried that the ends wouldn’t justify the means, that it would be pretty hard to find a job with an MFA, or make enough profit from the writing I would do (if any profit) to make a living wage on. And that’s all probably true. And so I thought of becoming a librarian, which would involve literature and be a more practical field to be in.
Maybe I will go back and get my masters in library science, and then just spend the rest of my life writing on the side just for fun, maybe eventually trying to have something published. Maybe i’ll just take some writing classes at my local community college. Or maybe I will go crazy and apply somewhere to get my MFA, and go broke getting through the program without ever being a successful writer. Maybe not the most logical thing because I wouldn’t know how to make a living, but maybe I’d take a huge risk and do it, because I love to write.
But the point of this post, (as much as it may sound like it) isn’t what I am going to do with my life. It’s that I found out about Laura Hershey, someone with a disability who attempted to and successfully made a career for herself as a writer, and this make me believe just a little bit more that because of that maybe I could to.
I found out just hours ago that Laura Hershey died today, which was the impetus for this post really. In these few hours I had to reflect on Laura’s death, I’ve come to the conclusion that when you truly have a passion for something, you stop talking and thinking about it and you go and do it. It really shouldn’t matter if I ever make to the University of Iowa, or any writing program for that matter. I should keep writing and keep learning. If I keep learning that way I have more to write about. And although I haven’t even begun to read all of Laura’s work, I know one way I can learn more is to do just that. I never even met Laura face to face, yet that’s what her life and her writing, and tragically, her death, taught me.
My thoughts are with Laura’s family and all of her loved ones. Rest in peace Laura.
