As a child I used to write my own stories on the weekends. One of my favourites was titled 'Matilda Mantis'... the autobiography of a praying mantis who meets a lovely boy mantis on her travels around the garden then devours him after the deed is done... Pretty advanced writing (and knowledge) for a ten year old. (I dare say my father or older brother may have helped me come up with that one.)
I remember the excitement in creating the story, re-writing it several times to get it right and then the hours spent re-writing it on special paper, in my neatest handwriting and then drawing praying mantises on each page. I then bound the pages together with green curly ribbon so it was officially a REAL book. Even if no one was ever going to read it, the process of writing, creating and sharing a story lit me up inside. I was as much in love with the writing process as the finished product.
When I hit high school things changed and the focus shifted away from the creative process towards regurgitating words from a textbook and pumping out assignments. Despite attending the young writers' camp in Grade 8 and then dappling in creative writing electives at university, I never actually just sat down and wrote for the pure pleasure of it... that was until I hit 30 and had the ludicrous idea to go on five dates in five weeks for charity.
With all the positive feedback from Five in Five (for my writing and my dating, of course), I have decided to keep on writing. I'll be writing from my soul to yours, sharing my wannabe yoga hippie-take on my encounters, experiences and learnings.
I hope you continue to enjoy these musings... I'll be sure to throw in a few more date stories when the material (read: men) becomes available.
