Today I’m working on a writing lesson plan for an ESL class. The first activity I chose for it is called Free Writing. The idea is that for a predetermined amount of the time, the students write about a specific topic, and keep writing about it, until the time is up. It doesn’t have to be grammatically correct, or perfect; the idea is to get students used to writing and to just keep writing.

Of course, I love to write. I absolutely adore writing. The classes we had on teaching writing gave me so many ideas, and all I could think about was writing. Some of the activities we talked about in class even gave me ideas of how to get around writers block, and even exercises that I could do to help expand my vocabulary, and even remind myself of words I do know. Every now and then, I’ll have a moment where I realize just how many great words I know, and I’ll think, why the hell am I not using these words more often? They’re fantastic! I’m thinking of taking advantage of these exercises to not only help my students when I do teach, but to help myself as well.

My life, as it stands, is going to be taking a number of different turns, and where I’ll end up by the end of all the decisions that will be made, I am completely uncertain. Emotionally speaking, I am not sure whether I will be happier by the end of it, or if I will be plummeted into another spiral  of depression in which I will need to pull myself out of once more. I am hoping, of course, for the former.

The one thing that I will hold onto, with every part of my existence, is that I will always be able to write. I will be able to continue with my writing, my characters, and create new stories. I am hoping that the more I write, the more complete the stories will become, the better they will come with each edit and revision. I am hoping that they will one day be published, even if it may be a ways down the road. I know the struggles, and the difficulties that authors have with getting published the first time, but of all the goals in my life, this is one that I will not give up on lightly.

So to everyone who is struggling, who is having a hard time; it doesn’t matter what it is, what you’ve been through, where you have come from, at some point, better things will come to pass, but you must not give up; you must keep going, keep pushing yourself to not give up. At some point you’ll realize you’re not longer surviving, and you’re actually living.