Edits and A Better Tomorrow

My edits are haunting, though perhaps not in the traditional sense. I now understand a little bit better what author's mean when they say they're "leaving the computer" for a few weeks while they complete their edits. Yeah. But I also learned a lot, too. Not about editing, really, but about myself and the way I write. And again, it's nice to read something you wrote a year ago and still have it make you smile.

Now, on to this: I'm not sure that it's all right for people to live for fun anymore. In this place we live in,  maybe it's time to start really, and honestly, thinking about how life will be in ten, twenty, or fifty years.

Maybe this: 

This: 

Who really knows?

And I guess, truthfully, what has gotten me thinking about this topic is this: selfishness. I guess I never really realized how truly selfish some people can be. Me included. We live in a world where a lot of us would rather spend our money on this for ourselves, instead of donating it. And, let's be honest, that's not because we have options, but because a lot of us don't - we have to spend it on us to survive. But I'm not talking about bills, or homes, or food, or living. But about being selfish by living for things that don't provide a better tomorrow. My generation, specifically, seems like they live only to have fun. Of course, this is just a blanket statement, but it feels true for most. I don't know if it's okay for just live for fun things anymore, for pieces of life that don't impact anyone but ourselves. Laughter, truly, is the best medicine, but what will laughter be in ten years when the world has changed? So many people are not even aware of political, environmental, and equality issues. So many people don't understand the world beyond their own four walls. And I don't feel like that's okay.

I guess my overall point is this: I don't feel like it's okay to live for fun anymore. As a majority, we've done that since the beginning, and it's only gotten us so far. I do, however, think we should live freely, live with our whole hearts, and have fun living the best way we can. But I think we need to think about making a difference - through art, creativity, money, business, protest, anything. Personally, I'm nervous about what the world will look like when my future children are grown, and I don't think that living for the weekend will ease those worries.

So - live life, and live it the best you can and help others live too. Love freely, and give your heart to someone and let yourself put them first. Have fun, and laugh and smile and be happy while you live. Enjoy it. But think about the future and what you're doing to help it, because pretty soon it might be too late to change it.

Editing

Say what you will, but line edits are exhausting. Fun like a puzzle and rewarding and exciting once you see the entire thing coming together - and, of course, it's an incredible feeling when you read a passage you wrote that still makes you smile, even after reading it 58 times.

Still, your butt goes numb and it's exhausting.

Hehe.

Makes me laugh.

I'm tired.

Raven Me This.

After reading THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater, I am at a loss of words to describe how I feel about this book. At first, it felt like I was diving in to another Harry Potter book - a world that felt familiar but very, very different. And then, it was like reading the next volume in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence. That series, I would say, is probably the closest comparison one will find for The Raven Cycle. Truly, though, THE RAVEN BOYS was brilliant. And the entire time I could picture Stiefvater typing at her computer, hand over her mouth, giggling with secrets - because that's the way this book feels. It is a slow-building story. One to be savored. And the reader knows that this is not the end, or even perhaps, the beginning. Although we might not know the whole story, we are certainly given satisfying bits and pieces of it. We might not understand all the clues exactly, but we know a lot of them are there just waiting to be found and understood. 

In fact, the story and the writing are much like the character's quest itself. Both are filled with slow-building mystery. Both are riddled with clues not solved easily. And both are based on the emotional connect of characters - what they want, need, and how they feel. In a word: Timeless.