In sixth grade, my grade mixed with the fifth grade to form math classes based on skill. Each class went for four to six weeks, then we took a test. If we passed that class, we moved onto the next highest one. If we failed, we stayed in the same class.
Since math was my favorite subject EVER, I always went to the top math class. And that class was always taught by the same teacher— one who also managed a local movie theater / arts center. If you passed his class, he gave you free movie tickets.
The last class of the year was one they had never taught at our elementary school before because it was HARD. And because it was so unbelievably hard, he dangled an unbelievable award in front of us. A special showing for the theater employees of ALL THREE STAR WARS MOVIES! Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, one right after another. It was a never-been-done-before epic event. And since it was a special showing, you
couldn't buy tickets. They had to be given to you. I wiped away the drool and decided right then those tickets were mine.
At its core, math is all about rules. I’m a rule follower. Math and I love each other. We spent a lot of quality time alone together during those six weeks.
At the end, I took the test with all the confidence of someone hanging out with their bff, and passed! On the Saturday morning of the showing, my mom dropped me off at the theater for nearly seven hours of movie watching bliss. I walked in and realized I was the only one in my class who had passed.
Seven hours of movie watching.... alone.
Had I been a wise girl, I would've realized that as a group, we had the power to get every single one of us there if we had helped each other out. If we had used our strengths to help pull up the group, and let other people's strengths help us pull up our own weaknesses. Not only would we have had more fun during the preparing, we'd have had so much fun AT THE MOVIE.
For all of us who have ever had aspirations of being published, we've looked at that elusive book deal, wiped away the drool and decided right then that a book deal was ours.
Writing can be a lonely profession. Most of the time, we write alone. We read books and blogs about the craft alone. We sit in dark rooms or go on walks or do the dishes while plotting and working through scenes alone. But if we work and work and work and finally make it, do we really want to sit in that victory seat all alone?
I’m guessing no.
Which is why it's so great that we have the power to rise together. To use our strengths to pull others up, and to use the strength of others to pull us up from our own weaknesses. Not only does being a part of this amazing writing community help each of us to reach our goals, but makes the journey SO MUCH FUN.
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